Why is Satan portrayed as the hero in Paradise Lost?

Question

Why is Satan portrayed as the hero in Paradise Lost?

Answer 1

Many have the notion that Satan was a Promethean hero, pitting himself against an unjust God. Most base this on the picture of Satan in the first two books of Paradise Lost. In those books there's no question, Satan is heroic in his initial introduction to the reader.

But Satan can't be the hero of the poem. Satan rebels against God not because of his tyranny, but because he wants what he wants rather than what God wants. Satan is an egoist. His interests always turn on his personal desires. Satan sees everything in terms of what will happen to him. A true Promethean / Romantic hero has to rebel against an unjust tyranny in an attempt to right a wrong or help someone less fortunate. If Satan had been Prometheus, he would have stolen fire to warm himself, not to help Mankind.