Two of the most influential pieces of epic literature ever written, John Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy, have much more in common than might seem at first sight. Upon further examination of both epics, it becomes clear that Milton appears to be on some kind of mission to create the next great Christian epic and to redefine and renew some of the themes and sacred truths discussed by Dante in the Divine Comedy. . One of these prevailing truths was the role of justice, both in the realm of humanity and in the structure of the divine universe. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay It is clear that the two novels have significantly distinct definitions and roles of justice. Throughout Dante's epic, justice is represented as perfect, divine and infallible, especially in the realms of Paradise. Paradise Lost, on the other hand, presents the role of justice as much more diverse and complex than the role of humanity, especially since the book seems to continually present God as a tyrannical and omnipotent figure. If God is so just and so omniscient, the reader asks, then why does he allow man to fall? Or Satan to give in to the temptation of power? To answer these questions, it is necessary to pay due respect to a commonly overlooked but immensely important character: the Son of God. The Son represents the compromise that Milton reaches between two disconcerting theological truths: omnipotence and the omnipotence of the will of God, and the necessity of free will in the existence of humanity. By consistently describing the Son as separate and distinct from God, and through the Son's various demonstrations of mercy and love, Milton manages to capture these two theological truths. Therefore God's justice - to be understood by the human mind, and not to be seen as some kind of tyrannical mystical law - is distributed through the loving and more human hands of the Son. From the very beginning of the epic, the eternity of God's justice is clearly highlighted in the question of angelic warfare. When Satan awakens in the pits of Hell, Milton writes of the exile of the fallen angels, saying, "Such a place eternal justice had prepared / For those rebellious, here their prison ordained / In utter darkness" (1:70- 72). By highlighting such a preordained and omnipotent aspect of God's character, Milton creates the question of God's omnipotence from the very beginning of his poem. The reader of the first book is caught pitying and lamenting Satan, and wonders how God can seem so tyrannical. God's omnipotence and tyrannical nature, however, are quickly forgotten in Michael's account of angelic warfare in his story with Adam. The text makes it quite clear that, even before the angelic warfare began, God knew that Satan would fall into temptation and lead his companions into war. Milton highlights this, saying "And from within the golden lamps that burn / By night before Him they saw without their light / The rebellion arose" (5.713-715), thus emphasizing the knowledge God had before it even broke out the war. In this way, Milton once again raises the question of whether God's intentions are tyrannical, or whether grace and love exist in God's eternal justice. The role of justice in warfare, however, becomes relevant in the following lines when God , “smiling on his only Son” (5.718) informs him of the impending war and how He (the Son) will stop it. When God gives the Son the command to stop the war in Book 6, His words reveal the necessity of the Son's role in thedistribution of justice. “Into you I have transfused such virtue and grace/ immense,” says God, showing that, by becoming the separate entity of the Son, God brings an end to angelic warfare not through severe punishment and complete annihilation, but through “virtue and grace." of the Son (6.703-704). While the exile in Hell may not seem to be the most merciful representation of God's love through justice, it ultimately represents His care for the importance of freedom throughout the universe. The expansiveness of God's will seems to have no boundaries throughout the epic, except for one aspect: the importance of free will. The Angels, instead of being completely destroyed or annihilated, are sent to a place where, although they may be in eternal punishment, they can continue to have free will. Besides angelic warfare, the other obvious example of God enacting His justice through the love and grace of the Son is through the punishment of men after their fall. Even before the creation of man, God knew of their impending fall. When he sees Satan on his way to Earth “through some false cunning pervert,” he recognizes that Satan will succeed and Man will fall into the temptation of Satan and his “unfaithful offspring.” (3,92-96). God's omniscience regarding the fall of Man may seem to complicate matters regarding their punishment. Knowing full well that man has sinned because of his free will, God approaches the task of punishing mankind while at the same time paying attention to the fact that he had always been aware of his fall. Man's free will is His creation, so it is not surprising that He feels at least a small part of responsibility for their downfall. Therefore, God sends His Son to demonstrate the mercy and love needed to bring about His justice. By sending him to judge man, God calls the Son "man's friend, his mediator" (10:60), thus drawing attention to the Son's unique role as a loving interpreter of God's justice towards humanity. Even the Son himself notes how he "will temper justice with mercy" (10.80) and therefore will become God's instrument for distributing divine justice on Earth. In addition to these two specific examples of God using his son to illustrate the loving side of his justice, the Son's volunteering to save mankind in Book 3 also represents one of the most vivid and moving examples of God enacting His justice through love. As God and the Son sit in Heaven watching Satan travel to Earth, their conversation about free will and man's destiny becomes the focus of some of the epic's major themes. One of the most important themes of this conversation, however, is God's discussion of how, although He knows that His glory will excel throughout the universe, He realizes that "mercy first and last will shine brightest." (3.133). Therefore, God makes the decision to ask which being in all of Heaven would be willing to become mortal to show this mercy, and "the just, the unjust to save?" (3.215). It is therefore not surprising that the only celestial being capable of perfectly interpreting and distributing God's justice is God himself, or in this case the person of the Son. When the Son volunteers, then, God makes the difficult decision not only to save a lesser race through his love, but also to stoop to the depths of humanity. God's sacrifice of himself to save Man proves to be the crux of the theme of justice in Paradise Lost. Justice, in the end, is not something determined exclusively by human beings. It is not something tyrannically doled out by the one hand of God. Justice,..