Paradise Lost temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men". In his introduction to the Penguin edition of "Paradise Lost", the Milton scholar John Leonard notes, "John Milton was nearly sixty when he published Paradise Lost in 1667. The biographer John Aubrey (1626–97) tells us that the poem was begun in about 1658 and finished in about 1663. However, parts were almost certainly written earlier, and its roots lie in Milton's earliest youth." Leonard speculates that the
Creation, Man and the Messiah can proceed as planned. This second part is the longest section of the epic poem. It follows the life of Adam and Eve, and their recognition as kindred spirits; this section also details Adam's fall in pride and Wergeland's version of the fall of man, here solely on the male account. Then, there are parts of Biblical history detailed, such as Cain and Abel, the great flood, and so on. This part consists of two monologues, one considering secular power, and one considering clerical power, over people's goods and thoughts. This part tells of the archetypical "man", who is both