Content Warning: The guide discusses suicide, rape, and sexual assault, which are present in the source text.

In the ancient Hebrew text Alphabet of Sirach, Lilith is Adam’s first wife. She is made at the same time as Adam and refuses to be submissive to him. She sees her role as an equal to Adam, not as an inferior. When Adam tries to force her into sexual submission, she flees. It is after Lilith’s departure from the Garden of Eden that Eve is created from Adam’s rib: Adam needed a partner to assist and to submit to him in the way that Lilith would not or could not do. When Lilith returns to the Garden of Eden, she is banished and cursed to give birth to demons. Lilith does not appear in the Torah or Bible but has come to symbolize the defiant, wanton woman in Judeo-Christian tradition. Another possible origin of Lilith’s legend is Sumerian demonology, in which she appears as a succubus rather than the “first Eve.”

In various literary traditions, Lilith is often portrayed as a symbol of independence, rebellion, and female sexuality, a powerful and enigmatic figure. In Goethe’s Faust, she is portrayed as a seductive demon.