Cain and Abel
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." "You must therefore remark that at the beginning of the world—I speak of a long time; it is above forty quarantains, or forty times forty nights, according to the supputation of the ancient Druids—a little after that Abel was killed by his brother Cain, the earth, imbrued with the blood of the just, was one year so exceeding fertile in all those fruits which it usually produceth to us, and especially in medlars, that ever since throughout all ages it hath been called the year of the great medlars; for three of them did fill a bushel."--Gargantua and Pantagruel |
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According to Genesis, Cain and Abel were the first and second sons of Adam and Eve, born after the Fall of Man. Their story is told in Genesis 4:1-16, the Qur'an at 5:26-32, and Moses 5:16-41. In all versions, Cain, a farmer, commits the first murder by killing his brother Abel, a shepherd, after God rejects Cain's sacrifice but accepts Abel's.
Allusions to Cain and Abel as an archetype of fratricide persist in numerous references and retellings, through medieval art and Shakespearean works up to the present day.
