The Lilith in Dracula, Carmilla, Christabel, Geraldine and The Hunger

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The Lilith in Dracula, Carmilla, Christabel, Geraldine and The Hunger

For centuries Lilith, the Queen of the Night, has been blamed when a child or man dies without certain cause or when a woman refuses to be submissive to her husband. While the Legend of Lilith is not widely known today, it is not difficult to find information about the demoness. However, there are slight variations found from story to story. Here we will focus on the myth as found in Hebrew mythology, and we will particularly emphasize the similarities seen between Lilith and various vampires seen in literature today.

The Hebrew figure of Lilith was actually borrowed from Babylonian and Syrian myths. Lilitu was a Babylonian demon and a spirit of the night and of storms. Lamassu was a Sumerian goddess and the daughter of Anu, the god of Heaven. It is believed that Lilith is a combination of these two demons from earlier legends. However, for the purpose of our study, we will focus on the legend of Lilith found in Hebrew scriptures.

According to Hebrew scriptures, Lilith was Eve’s predecessor and therefore, the first wife of Adam. However, there are two variations on the Hebrew creation myth. The first states that God made man and woman out of the same material (earth or clay), at the same time, thus the two beings were equals in every way. The alternative version of this myth states that Adam was made of clay while Lilith was made of dirt and filth. However, regardless of her origin, the remainder of the myth proceeds much the same way.

Legends states when it was time for the two to have sexual intercourse, Adam insisted that Lilith take the more submissive position. This angered her and in ...

... middle of paper ...

...le from the Garden of Eden, she was doomed to forever prey on newborn children and suck the blood and life fluids from men. For this reason, she is the earliest known force of evil, thus making her the perfect image of the mother of all vampires.

Works Cited

Begg, Ean. The Cult of the Black Virgin. Arkana: Penguin Books, 1996

pp.34-40.

Bunson, Matthew. The Vampire Encyclopedia. New York: Crown Trade

Paperbacks, 1993.

Coulter, Charles Russell, and Patricia Turner. The Encyclopedia of Ancient

Deities. London: McFarland and Company, Inc., 2000, pp. 285-86.

Masters, Anthony. The Natural History of the Vampire. London: Rupert

Hart-Davis, 1972, pp. 170-71.

THE GNOSIS ARCHIVE: Gnostic Studies on the Web. Accessed on May 1,

2003. http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/lilith.html

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