From my personal journal kept while in Spain:
10-3-07
As I stand in El Retiro Park looking up at the Statue of the Fallen Angel I can't help but feel a little sorry for ol' Lucifer. Not in a religious context, of course, but viewing the whole tale as any other collection of myths- as literature- I must admit I have a little sympathy for the Devil.
Lest we forget, Lucifer was an angel, designed to serve and worship God. Free will not included. In this way he was not unlike the spiritual equivalent of a robot: "Serve your purpose. Do not go beyond specified parameters." Oh, but he did! Like one of Asimov's rogues he broke the Law: he defied God. Why? What motives did he have? Pride, say most. Jealousy, say some, of this new creation called Man, who had the built-in ability to ignore God. Maybe a mixture of both, one feeding the other. 
But the infinite mercy granted this new creation was not enjoyed by the angels who defied God. No, these rebels were cast down. And so we see Lucifer, in the Statue of the Fallen Angel. He is writhing like the serpents that are coiling around his limbs and dragging him below, one tattered wing pointed accusingly toward Heaven while his arms attempt to shield him from his horrible fate.
Like Prometheus, Lucifer defies the King and is punished for it. So, is Lucifer a martyr? I say no. Where Prometheus' treason was for the good of mankind, Lucifer's was self-serving and, of course, proud. Still, whoever carved the Statue of the Fallen Angel must have felt the same tug of pity as I do now, for his depiction of the Devil is a sympathetic one.
