Adam

In the Old Testament (Genesis 2, 3), the first human. Formed by God from dust and given the breath of life, Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, where Eve was created from his rib and given to him as a companion. Because she tempted him, he tasted the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for which trespass they were expelled from the Garden.

Myths not in the Bible Later Jewish stories introduced fanciful accounts of Adam; for example, that he was of huge proportions, covering the earth completely. According to Jewish tradition, Adam's first wife was Lilith, who fled from him and became a demon when Eve was created. In the Manichaean mythology, Adam is not represented as a creation of God at all, but as the son of Satan, Prince of Darkness, by Sin or Desire. Satan had stolen light from heaven, which passed into Adam, and by diligent fostering by the spirits of good, the prospect of light finally overcoming the power of darkness was held out as the great hope of the Manichaean religion. Eve was given to Adam by Satan, and represents the sensual element. She, however, was seduced by Satan; thus Cain and Abel were said to be the sons of Satan and Eve, the offspring of Adam and Eve being Seth, who carried forward the tradition of light. A Muslim account states that Adam performed a penance lasting 1,000 years in Sri Lanka. St Augustine suggested that the cause of Adam's expulsion from Eden was that, after Satan's victory over Eve, Adam was led by the power of love to share her shame and punishment.