Lilith

Before Eve, there was Lilith.

God created Adam and Lilith from the earth, and therefore were considered equals. Adam, with his man ego, demanded that Lilith be underneath him during intercourse. Lilith, enraged, cursed and flew away.

Adam complained to God, "The woman you gave me has run away!" Immediately God sent three of his angels - Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof - after Lilith. They found her beside the Red Sea, where she became a lover to demons, producing many demon children every day.

When told to return to Adam, Lilith refused. As punishment, a hundred of her children will die every day. In return, Lilith took revenge by harming newborn infants of the children of Adam. "I shall have dominion over baby boys for eight days after his birth, and dominion over baby girls for twenty days after her birth. However, if I see your names (the three angels) or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over the infant."

And thus was Lilith brought down generations after generations, as a seducer of men, a symbol of lust, and the killer of children; the lover of demons, producer of chaos, and the mother of all demons.

The above was from a Jewish myth. The widely accepted version of the Bible does not include the tale. However, people have argued that Lilith was hinted early on in the Bible. Genesis 1:27 does state "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." This would not be Eve, as Eve was made out of the rib of Adam later on.

Personally, I am intrigued by this female called Lilith. Giving the old societies that look upon men as dominant and superior, a female like Lilith would have been frowned upon. A docile and less threatening female like Eve would have been prefered instead.

Take away the mythology parts of the legend, namely the demons, the angels and such, and you would be left with a story about a woman running away from her dominant husband with a huge ego, refusing to be treated as inferior. The mythology parts may have been added in as to demonize the attributes of woman that the big-headed males of that time thought undesirable.

Fast forward to the 19th century, where the feminist movement started to make waves. The women demanded equality, something that Lilith demanded from Adam in the first place. If there are people who take offense that I'm comparing them with Lilith the demoness, as she is widely known, I apologize. I, however, would rather like to think of her as the First Woman, the woman that we should have been but was cut down and shaped as Eve.

I found an article in which the writer tweaked the story of Adam, Lilith and Eve a bit. Couldn't find the website back but here's how it goes: Eve managed to climb over the gates of Eden to explore a bit, where she found Lilith waiting for her. The two woman chatted and influenced each other in their own ways, which left Adam puzzled over the changes he found in his usually docile Eve. A bit like Eve getting educated on feminism by Lilith.

As I was reading up as much as I could on Lilith, I also found this wonderful quote by an Armenian writer, Avetik Isahakyan: "But though Adam's lips said Eve, his soul always echoed Lilith." I guess that's why men always tend to stray.