Satan: The Shadow Of God

As a profound and mysterious book, the Bible is not only the sacredwritings of Judaism and Christianity, but also a precious gem in thetreasure house of the Western Culture. It is a literary masterpiece, fromwhich numerous western cultural allusions are derived. In addition, theBible contributes many a subject matter as well as constant inspiration forthe development of literature.Created as an antithesis to the Almighty God, the biblical Satan is theearliest Demon Archetype in the human cultural history. This imagereflects ancient people's knowledge of the opposing forces both in humannature and in the surroundings where they lived. Religion is an inevitablestage in the cultural progress. To start with the biblical devil, we may havea look at how the Hebrews discovered the author of evil, how they saw theopposites of good and evil, and what attitudes they held about thesufferings of individuals and the misfortunes in the world. The WesternCivilization originates in the Hebrew and Hellenistic Civilizations,therefore we get some idea of the westerners'popular viewpoints of theabove-mentioned issues by a study of the biblical Satan.Analyzed by the Jungian collective unconscious and archetypaltheories, Demon Archetype is embodied in various evil characters inliterature. In line with Jungian categorizing criteria of literary products,different villains can accordingly be divided into two modes: thepsychological and the visionary. This paper is going to give an explanationof some typical figures. In the end, we shall evaluate the Demon Archetypefrom religious, ethical and aesthetical aspects.