This paper explores patterns of religious violence and sacrifice in Paradise Lost by incorporating Rene Girard’s theory of mimetic cycles in ritual sacrifice. By focusing on Satan as a communal scapegoat, I argue that Satan is the victim of circumstance accused of causing religious discord already latent in Heaven. After the fall Satan exploits this mimetic desire to corrupt eve. He does this through the vessel of a serpent, rendering the snake a ritual victim, an imitation of the original victim. As symbols of mimetic desire, Satan and the snake are reified as evil. Yet, the true enemy lies in our desire for those things we do not have but covet nonetheless: The mimetic desires of which sin and scapegoats are made.
