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The Legends of Samson/Heracles

The Legends of Samson/Heracles THE LEGENDS OF SAMSON/HERACLES by OTHNIEL MARGALITH Ramat-Gan In three articles, "Samson's foxes", VT 35 (1985), pp.224-9, "Samson's riddle and Samson's magic locks", VT 36 (1986), pp. 225-34, and "More Samson legends", VT36 (1986), pp. 397-405, I have endeavoured to show that the legends of Heracles are parallels of those of Samson and probably their source. Some fur- ther examples in illustration follow. The hero bewitched by a woman 's wiles Many commentators have pointed to the motif of Heracles' betrayal by Deianeira as a parallel to Samson's betrayal by Delilah. However, this similarity is superficial and disregards the main points of both stories. Delilah was a treacherous wanton who after- wards enjoyed her profits, whilst Deianeira was an ignorant dupe whose loving innocence was exploited and who committed suicide in remorse. At best, Delilah might be compared to Scylla or Com- aetho (see "Samson's riddle", p.232). The motif of the hero's loss of virility through a woman's wiles appears in another of Heracles' stories, that of his enslavement by Omphale's charms. In the story of his dalliance with Delilah Sam- son "awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Vetus Testamentum Brill

The Legends of Samson/Heracles

Margalith, Othniel
Vetus Testamentum , Volume 37 (1-4): 63 – Jan 1, 1987
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1987 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0042-4935
eISSN
1568-5330
DOI
10.1163/156853387X00077
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

THE LEGENDS OF SAMSON/HERACLES by OTHNIEL MARGALITH Ramat-Gan In three articles, "Samson's foxes", VT 35 (1985), pp.224-9, "Samson's riddle and Samson's magic locks", VT 36 (1986), pp. 225-34, and "More Samson legends", VT36 (1986), pp. 397-405, I have endeavoured to show that the legends of Heracles are parallels of those of Samson and probably their source. Some fur- ther examples in illustration follow. The hero bewitched by a woman 's wiles Many commentators have pointed to the motif of Heracles' betrayal by Deianeira as a parallel to Samson's betrayal by Delilah. However, this similarity is superficial and disregards the main points of both stories. Delilah was a treacherous wanton who after- wards enjoyed her profits, whilst Deianeira was an ignorant dupe whose loving innocence was exploited and who committed suicide in remorse. At best, Delilah might be compared to Scylla or Com- aetho (see "Samson's riddle", p.232). The motif of the hero's loss of virility through a woman's wiles appears in another of Heracles' stories, that of his enslavement by Omphale's charms. In the story of his dalliance with Delilah Sam- son "awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with

Journal

Vetus Testamentum – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 1987

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