What biblical story is dramatized in Paradise Regained?

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Engraved portrait of John Milton by Jacob Houbraken, showing Milton with shoulder-length hair, a lace collar, and period clothing, facing forward in an oval frame. — John Milton John Milton, engraving by Jacob Houbraken, 1741.

Paradise Regained dramatizes the biblical account of the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness, as recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.1

In the poem, John Milton depicts Jesus resisting the persistent efforts of Satan to subvert him through various temptations, including those appealing to pleasure, worldliness, and power. The work is structured as a series of debates or a dialectic in which Jesus uses faith and reason to refute Satan’s arguments. By doing so, Milton illustrates the concept of Christian heroism as an internal state of mind, characterized by patience, fortitude, and a constant reaffirmation of faith in God. The poem also draws thematic inspiration from the Book of Job, paralleling the trials of Job with the temptations faced by Jesus.1