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SS Botany Bay-library

Two copies of Paradise Lost (top middle, and second from the left) aboard the SS Botany Bay

For the DS9 episode of the same name, please see "Paradise Lost".
For the comic book, please see Paradise Lost!.

Paradise Lost was an epic poem by the Human author John Milton. The sequel to this poem was Paradise Regained.

In 2024, Kore Soong possessed a copy of the poem and it was seen frequently on her table in her quarters at Dr. Adam Soong's residence. (PIC: "Two of One", "Mercy")

The book seen in the episodes is a 1907 reprint of the poem by Philadelphia-based publisher Henry Altemus Company. [1]

In 2267, Khan Noonien Singh referred to Paradise Lost while discussing if he could "tame a world." His reference was later clarified to Montgomery Scott, by Kirk, when he quoted a statement made by Lucifer when he fell into the pit, "It is better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven." (TOS: "Space Seed")

In 2285, among the small collection of books found aboard the SS Botany Bay, there were two late 20th century editions of the work – one containing both Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, and the other only Paradise Lost. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

In 2287, graffiti found on the entrance to Paradise City was taken from Paradise Lost. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)

In 2370, when showing the USS Enterprise-D's arboretum to a visiting Cairn delegation, Deanna Troi quoted from Paradise Lost: "Flowers of all hue, and without thorn the rose." (TNG: "Dark Page")

Paradise Lost was originally a collection of twelve books based on the biblical stories about the revolt of Satan against God, and Satan's corruption of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.

Nicholas Meyer decided that while Khan had been waiting for a chance to avenge himself upon Kirk, he would have been reading. "I started thinking, 'What books does a superman take with him into exile?' At one point, Khan says, 'On Earth I was a prince', and certainly he's a fallen angel, so I picked all the books that were Lucifer-related – fallen angel – whether it was 'Moby Dick' or 'Paradise Lost' or 'King Lear', and began to build from there. I thought, 'He's probably been obsessively reading these books again and again until every word out of his mouth has been written by Shakespeare or Milton'. Actually, Melville was the one who finally took over; he just becomes completely Ahab."

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