Enmity between Brothers

A detailed Summary of Enmity between Brothers

The nature of human beings is to struggle with one another. Brothers, and metaphorically all mankind are brothers, are constantly jealous and arrogant toward one another. This can lead to violence; murder, war, and all the evils of mankind. The archetype of enmity between brothers appears again and again in many cultures because human beings are unable to get along.

This archetype of enmity between brothers appears most prominently in the ancient Hebrews story of Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve, the first humans of earth. Abel is a shepherd who offers his meat to the Lord. Cain makes the offering of fruits and vegetables. God, who offers no explanation, chooses Abel's offering. Cain slays his brother Abel out of jealousy. The stored anger that Cain felt led to his doing a terrible thing, killing his own brother. Everybody was against Cain because of his offering. That is certainly not the case. The Hebrew story lacks a viable reason for Abel's offering being chosen above Cain's. God just accepts Abel's offering not specifying why. This miscommunication leads to the death of Abel. Cain and Abel, the first brothers ever, set the standard for violent behavior betwe

The archetype of enmity between brothers appears in the ancient Egyptian tale of Osiris, Isis, and Horus. Osiris is the King of Egypt and Set is his evil brother. Every time Osiris is out of the country, Set tries to take control of the country. When Osiris returns, Set becomes even more determined to take over the country. When Osiris is sleeping, Set measures the length of his body and constructs a beautiful box according to Osiris' measurements. To not sound suspicious, Set says, "Whoever among you would like to own this beautiful box should climb into it"(W.M. 164). Nobody fits exactly in the box except for King Osiris. When Osiris is in the box, Set seals the box closed and throws it in the Nile River. Osiris suffocates and dies. Set is the divine depiction of ultimate evil. All he means is evil. Somehow Osiris returned to life because good always triumphs over evil. But that's beside the point. It's the terrible deed Set did to his own brother. It is jealousy and hate that leads to violence. All brothers go through these acts of violence because the nature of human beings is to struggle with each other

This passage from the Bible portrays God speaking to Cain:

If Zeus spare the towering heights of Troy, if he refuses to take her walls by force and give the Argive troops resounding triumph, let Zeus know this full well- the breach between us both will never heal!

Zeus lays down a top-notch threat to Poseidon. Zeus threatens to come and fight Poseidon if he does not stop the war. Poseidon answers Zeus and says:

The spirit of brothers and brothers of all kinds, constantly fight, argue, and disagree with one another. People are simply unable to get along. When they are jealous of one another, there is violence. Cain killed Abel out of jealousy.

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Approximate Word count = 1206
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English