Fallen angel

== Literature and popular culture ==
[[File:Paradise_Lost_12.jpg|thumb|[[Devil in Christianity|Lucifer]] being expelled from [[Heaven in Christianity|Heaven]], depicting the "Fall of Lucifer". Illustration by [[Gustave Doré]] for [[John Milton]]'s ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' (1866)]]
In the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' (1308–1320) by [[Dante Alighieri]], fallen angels guard the ''[[Dis (Divine Comedy)|City of Dis]]'' surrounding the lower circles of hell. They mark a transition: While in previous circles, the sinners are condemned for sins they just could not resist, later on, the circles of hell are filled with sinners who deliberately rebel against God, such as fallen angels or [[Heresy in Christianity|Christian heretics]].<ref>Wallace Fowlie ''A Reading of Dante's Inferno'' University of Chicago Press {{ISBN|978-0-226-25888-1}} p. 70</ref>

In [[John Milton]]'s 17th-century epic poem ''[[Paradise Lost]]'', both obedient and fallen angels play an important role. They appear as rational individuals:<ref>Andrew Milner ''Literature, Culture and Society'' Routledge 2017 {{ISBN|978-1-134-94950-2}} chapter 5</ref> their personality is similar to that of humans.<ref name="Biljana Ježik p. 4">Biljana Ježik ''The Fallen Angels in Milton's Paradise Lost'' Osijek, 2014 p. 4</ref> The fallen angels are named after entities from both Christian and [[Pagan]] mythology, such as [[Moloch]], [[Chemosh]], [[Dagon]], [[Belial]], [[Beelzebub]] and Satan himself.<ref>Biljana Ježik ''The Fallen Angels in Milton's Paradise Lost'' Osijek, 2014 p. 2</ref> Following the canonical Christian narrative, Satan convinces other angels to live free from the laws of God, thereupon they are cast out of heaven.<ref name="Biljana Ježik p. 4" /> The epic poem starts with the fallen angels in hell. The first portrayal of God in the book is given by fallen angels, who describe him as a questionable tyrant and blame him for their fall.<ref>Benjamin Myers ''Milton's Theology of Freedom'' Walter de Gruyter 2012 {{ISBN|978-3-11-091937-0}} pp. 54, 59</ref> Outcast from heaven, the fallen angels establish their own kingdom in the depths of hell, with a capital called [[Pandæmonium (Paradise Lost)|Pandæmonium]]. Unlike most earlier Christian representations of hell, it is not the primary place for God to torture the sinners, but the fallen angels' own kingdom. The fallen angels even build a palace, play music and freely debate. Nevertheless, without divine guidance, the fallen angels themselves turn hell into a place of suffering.<ref>Benjamin Myers ''Milton's Theology of Freedom'' Walter de Gruyter 2012 {{ISBN|978-3-11-091937-0}} p. 60</ref>

The idea of fallen angels plays a significant role in the various poems of [[Alfred de Vigny]]. In ''Le Déluge'' (1823),<ref>Henry F. Majewski ''Paradigm & Parody: Images of Creativity in French Romanticism--Vigny, Hugo, Balzac, Gautier, Musset'' University of Virginia Press 1989 {{ISBN|978-0-8139-1177-9}} p. 157</ref> the son of an angel and a mortal woman learns from the stars about the great deluge. He seeks refuge with his beloved on [[Mount Ararat]], hoping that his angelic father will save them. But since he does not appear, they are caught by the flood. ''Éloa'' (1824) is about a female angel created by the tears of Jesus. She hears about a male angel, expelled from heaven, whereupon she seeks to comfort him, but goes to perdition as a consequence.<ref>Bamberger, Bernard J. (2006). ''Fallen angels : soldiers of Satan's realm'' (first paperback ed.). Philadelphia, Pa.: Jewish Publ. Soc. of America. {{ISBN|978-0-8276-0797-2}} p. 4</ref>

The [[Culture of Turkey|Turkish]] [[horror film]] [[Semum]] (2008 ), produced and directed by [[Hasan Karacadağ]], is about a ''shayṭān'' who has been summoned from hell to torment a woman named Canan. The movie is based on the ibn Abbas interpretation of the Quran and depicts the devil as a fallen angel who seeks revenge on humans for being abandoned by God (Allah). The devil accepts ''ʿAzāzīl'' as his new deity, who is praised as the ruler of hell and supporting his minions against God's new creation (humans). However, at the end, the movie affirms in accordance with Islamic teachings, that ''ʿAzāzīl'' has no real power but only to seduce people to follow him. When the ''shayṭān'' battles a human priest (Hoca) in hell, it is God who intervenes on behalf of humanity while ''ʿAzāzīl'' has forsaken his servant. By that, the movie further rejects dualism in favor of Islamic tawḥīd, emphazising that even hell is under God's control.<ref>Erdağı, D. Evil in Turkish Muslim horror film: the demonic in “Semum”. SN Soc Sci 4, 27 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-024-00832-w</ref>