Feminine Evil

1
Feminine Evil

• Bridget Strong
• June Lesney
• Morgan Harrington

2
Lilith

• Lilith refused to be subserviant to Adam during
  intercourse and deserted him
  
• Promiscuous because she had children with many
  demons
  
• Adam sent for her with the help of Angels and the
  threat of killing one of her children for each
  day she stayed away
  
• She countered by threatening to prey on Adam and
  Eves children
  
• She did not return to Adam
• She is also independent and confident

3
Eve

• Eve is given most of the blame for eating the
  apple, while Adam and the snake that tempted her
  are largely ignored.
  
• She is accused of tempting Adam
• She is made in mans image
• Brings misery and toil to the world

4
Jezebel

• Tempts men
• Dominates men
• Strong, independent, and brave
• She threatened patriarchal authority and
  monotheism
  
• She plotted to murder a man to confiscate his
  property
  
• Disrupts social order by assuming power
• She is called a harlot with no evidence of
  adultery because biblical writers compare
  pursuing false gods to "chasing false lovers"
  
• To this day, the name Jezebel implies
  prostitution or sexual deviance
  

5
Pandora

• Pandora was given the box to guard as punishment
  for her husbands brothers disobeyal of the
  gods.
  
• Pandora was a beautiful virgin to entice men and
  then would unleash the box
  
• She was made after men
• She brings misery and toil to her world, by
  design

6
Delilah

• Delilah was bribed by the philistines to find out
  Samsons weakness.
  
• Delilah is seen as the villain of the story.
• Delilah is promiscuous
• Delilah uses her beauty and her emotional hold on
  Samson to nag him into revealing his one
  weakness.
  
• She manipulates Samson with affection just before
  she betrays him

7
Sirens

• In the Odyssy beautiful women called sirens would
  sing enchantingly to drive men mad and cause them
  to crash their ships.
  
• Seduce men
• Earlier in history they were considered
  divinities and represented the souls of the dead
  
• Legend does not carry that concept, they are only
  shown as monsters

8
Circe

• Uses magic
• She is described as a goddess of love- of
  degrading love.
  
• She turned men into animals

9
Medea

• Medea has two illegitimate children.
• She used magic
• She killed her brother so she could run away with
  Jason
  
• Restores Jasons father Creon to youthful
  health.
  
• She then killed Glaucen, hers and Jasons two
  children, and Creon because Jason left her for
  Glaucen
  
• She tempted Jason with her spells
• Medea was also known for murder by poisions.

10
Evil Male

• Uranus locks his children up because he is
  disgusted by them
  
• Cronus eats his children
• Zeus ate his children as well, along with his
  wife
  
• King Creon killed his wife and children because
  of a madness the gods purify him
  
• Cyclopes is unattractive with his one eye
  
  
• Hecatoncheires had extra extemeties

11
In Comparison

• Commonalities
• Murderous
• Powerful
• Courageous
• Independent

• Differences
• Women are beautiful while men are disfigured or
  average in appearance
  
• Women are condemned for being promiscuous with no
  mention of mens sexuality
  
• Women are depicted as manipulative when they have
  or seek power
  
• Some women are created in the image of men never
  in the reverse
  

12
Conclusions

• Although both men and women are portrayed as
  evil, it is easier to find examples of feminine
  evil
  
• Womens sexuality is always used in the depiction
  of feminine evil
  
• Strong, independent women are said to be
  manipulative while men with the same qualities
  are utilizing their abilities