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| “ | Am I my brother's keeper? | „ |
| ~ Cain after murdering his brother, Abel. |
| “ | My punishment is too great to bear! | „ |
| ~ The Bible quote from Genesis 4:13, which is Cain speaking to God on the supposed overbearing nature of his punishment. |
Cain is a major antagonist in the Abrahamic religions, first mentioned within Judaism in the book of Genesis.
He was the older brother of Abel and the firstborn son of both Adam and Eve, and he had a rivalry with his sibling fueled by jealousy that quickly turned to rage. One day, Abel and Cain would come to God with offerings: Abel presented fat from a lamb, and Cain presented fruits from the earth. When God favored Abel and rejected Cain’s offering, Cain’s rage turned to sin as Cain killed his brother in a mixture of anger and jealousy.
According to the Biblical teachings, this was the first true murder mankind committed, and as such Cain has become an immortal symbol of villainy in religious works and is referred to often as "the first murderer". Cain's actions lead humanity further into darkness and in some primitive Biblical texts, Cain is seen as a spawn of "The Serpent" or a son of Satan - even when seen as an ordinary man rather than a demonic figure, Cain is portrayed as a traitorous, corrupt, and cruel individual - in some ways reflecting the darker aspects of humanity.
As punishment for his crime, Cain was cursed to wander the earth by God and bear a "Mark" that forbade any man from killing him (upon Cain's protest to God that he would be killed in revenge by his fellow men) - the exact nature of this curse has been debated for centuries and varies considerably depending on the interpretation: although a popular legend that had its origins in medieval times was the idea of Cain's curse being an immortal one: much like the Flying Dutchman or the Wandering Jew.
Alternatively in Islam, Allah sends a crow to Cain to show him how to hide Abel’s body. He is then marked with intense shame over his actions ans became “of the regretful”. He was warned that he now carried the sins of both himself and of Abel.
Cain is a popular figure in fiction: often repeating fratricide in many different settings - a famous example of Cain in fiction is the character in DC comics, who is portrayed as immortal and doomed to endlessly murder Abel over and over for all of time.
Trivia[]
- Cain, alongside Judas Iscariot, is one of the most infamous traitors in all of theology and just like Judas the name Cain is often used to describe a traitor (especially a murderous one).
- Cain's status as mankind's first murderer in Judeo-Christian tradition parallels the one of Greek mythological figure Ixion, with the difference the person he killed being his father-in-law.
- Cain was believed to be slain by his great-grandson by the name Enoch.
- Taking into account that Adam and Eve were the first humans, this means that Cain was the first child, as his parents were created as adults.
- It is believed that Cain's descendants were just as evil as he was. Thus, in a sense, Cain could be seen as responsible for the Great Flood later in Genesis.
