In John Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Lost,” Satan’s capital in Hell is called Pandemonium.
Milton introduces Pandemonium in Book 1, where the fallen angels build it after their defeat and expulsion from Heaven. The name comes from Greek roots meaning “all the demons,” marking the palace as a grand center for the devils’ political assembly. Milton presents it as an immense and magnificent structure, but its splendor is part of Hell’s deceptive grandeur.
The fallen angels gather there to debate their next actions against God. The building is constructed under the direction of Mammon, while the architect is described as Mulciber, a name associated with the Roman god Vulcan. The council’s setting gives the opening of the epic an organized, almost governmental character.
Pandemonium later became a general English word for noisy confusion or disorder. It is often confused with Tartarus, a term from Greek mythology associated with a deep underworld region, but Tartarus is not Milton’s name for Satan’s capital. Milton’s poem was first published in 1667.