Knowledge makes one godlike, and so does the power of reproduction, according to Satan in Eve's dream. The reference to gods once again parallels the images and language Homeric epic, and the persistence of pagan spirits like Zephyr and Flora in Eden, and Lucifer makes an even cruder, tempting ploy about how reproduction creates new 'godlike' beings (i.e. children):

For Gods, yet able to make Gods of Men:

And why not Gods of Men, since good, the more

Communicated, more abundant growes,

The Author not impair'd, but honourd more?

The knowledge derived from eating from the apple is sexual in Satan's rendition in Eve's dream, not merely an awareness of sexual potential, and his wooing of Eve, much like Adam's waking of Eve, is also highly sexualized, suggesting Eve 'knows' about sexuality to understand the full implications of his temptation, at least in an unconscious level in her dream. Power...
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