The prince of darkness has been depicted in many different ways. The satanic figure is the result of hundreds of years of literature and art.
All About History talked to Marina Montesano, professor of Medieval History at the University of Messina in Italy, and Jan Machielsen, senior lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of the U. The historians are experts in the history of Satan.
People have seen Satan through history.
There is a question about where Satan came from.
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The serpent who tempted Adam and Eve with the forbidden fruit is often associated with Satan. The creature who convinces them to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil is not given a name in the original Hebrew text. The only references to "Satn" in the Hebrew Bible are "adversary," "obstacle" or "enemy." The New Testament refers to Satan as a serpent. Serpents and snakes are often associated with the devil.
The book of the Bible says how art fell from heaven. The nations were weakened by how art was cut down to the ground. It's a direct reference to God removing Satan from heaven. "Lucifer, the morning star, is the expression with which the future king of Babylon is defined," Montesano said. The fathers of the early medieval church made the figure of Lucifer a rebel angel and turned him into a pride as the capital sin.
There is a depiction of Satan in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo. Montesano said that the image shows the devil as an ethereal blue angel, but this was eventually shed in favor of a more demonic appearance.
Dragon-like depictions of the devil were common during the Medieval period. According to Hans A. Pohlsander, a professor of classics, an early pope named Saint Sylvester slayed a dragon to impress a group of pagan priests and confirm the Christian faith of the Roman emperor Constantine.
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Real animals were also associated with the devil during the medieval period. The British Library says that many medieval depictions of the devil have animalistic features.
The devil is depicted as a humongous beast in illustrations from a 14th century French manuscript. "Foxes, bears, lions, and many others have meanings that can be associated with the devil," Montesano said.
The 14th-century poem "Inferno," written by Dante Alighieri, recounts a fictional journey through the seven circles that make up hell before the main character comes face to face with Satan. The sails of the sea were so large that Dante couldn't see them. There were no feathers but a bat. Canto 34 is open in a new tab.
The devil's association with Lilith may have caused Satan's wings to come from Babylonian mythology. She said thatlith came from the ancient Babylonian Lilitu demons, who flew through the night and attacked pregnant women and infants.
Greco-Roman mythology is included in Dante's Christian lore. He refers to the devil as "Dis" and to a "City of Dis", which comes from Dis Pater, the Roman god of the Underworld. Dante wrote that Whoe'er betrays for ever in the smallest circle where the point is of the universe. Canto 11:64-65 is open in a new tab.
The Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo is located in Italy and was built in the 6th century. The blue angel to Jesus is in front of three goats while the angel to Jesus is in front of three sheep.
Matthew says the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne when he comes in his glory. All the nations will gather before him, and he will separate the people from each other. The goat is associated with people who are not going to heaven. This is where the devil and his cronies got their horns, according to art historians.
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Others disagree. The goat was involved in a new role around this time. Montesano made a statement. The new role comes from its association with Nordic myths. Some say it could be related to the pagan god Pan, while others think it's related to the neo-pagan revival of the past.
Jeffrey Burton Russell claims in his book " The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from antiquity to Primitive Christianity" that the link between Satan and the goat is due to the devil's association with fertility deities. The horned idols were feared because of their association with the wilderness.
Audiences are used to seeing Satan as a handsome man, like in the 2016 series "Lucifer". The devil was first seen in the 17th century. The poem "Paradise Lost" was published in 1667 and tells the story of Satan's expulsion from heaven and his temptation of Adam and Eve. Nancy Rosenfield's book " The Human Satan in Seventeenth-Century Literature (opens in new tab)" states that Satan is the most attractive of the satanic characters.
There was a revival of interest in the 18th and early 19th century. In order to accompany a version of "Paradise Lost" in which a nude Satan is shown as a handsome, god-like figure, an artist named William Blake created several illustrations.
The image of the devil was used in cartoons during the 19th century. He is being chased by a women's suffragist. He has a pointed beard and carries a pitchfork.
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Theatre productions feature the devil's red tights. The folktale "Faust" was adopted by Charles Gounod as the basis for an opera in which the devil wears a Renaissance-era costume.
A History of Opera: Milestones and Metamorphoses was written by Burton Fisher. Today's popular Halloween costumes have different interpretations of this clothing.
In the 1976 horror movie "The Omen", the devil was put in the guise of mysterious strangers, smart businessmen and even children.
The devil is depicted as a smart but secretive stranger, who is accompanied by a talking cat, in a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. Robert de Niro plays a well-dressed but enigmatic businessman in the 1987 film "Angel Heart"
In 1936, the American writer StephenVincent Benet wrote " The Devil and DanielWebster", a novel in which the character Mr. Scratch fights for his right to a man's soul in a court of law. The 1997 film "Devil's Advocate" features Al Capone as the head of a New York City law firm.
The depictions of Satan as a lawyer have their roots in the Middle Ages. A medieval court drama in which the devil and his council selected a demon learned in the law was described in an article by a historian.
The previous version of this article was published in All About History Magazine. If you want to learn more about some of history's most amazing stories, you should subscribe to All About History.
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