“Absalom and Achitophel” opens with the speaker offering some supposedly solemn praise for ancient “pious times” (Line 1) during which polygamy was still freely practiced (Line 2), recounting how King David of Israel has fathered many sons by many different wives and concubines. From the beginning of the poem, the reader is introduced to the form of Dryden’s famous heroic couplets—rhyming line pairings that imitate the style of classical Greek and Roman epics like “The Aeneid”. These heroic couplets remain the meter for the entire poem and are a crucial formal element in the satiric voice; the couplets create humor through the contrast between their apparent solemnity paired with the sarcastic irreverence of the content. Dryden’s opening praise for polygamy and King David’s lusty ways also signals that this poem is, at its core, satirical, despite its important political points.

The description of Absalom draws attention to both one of the poem’s protagonists and the central dramatic conflict. King David’s favorite son is one of his illegitimate offspring: Absalom, a young man who is full “of manly beauty” (Line 22) and who has demonstrated his battle prowess “in foreign fields” (Line 23) in defense of his father’s kingdom.