ABSTRACT
The whole story of Cain and his descendants is contained in the twenty-six verses of Genesis. The presence of a genealogical mould, which is barely perceptible in the first part of the chapter, devoted to Cain himself, becomes clear when the descendants of Cain are introduced. However, the best-known message of the story is spelt out in the first part of the chapter, which describes the murder of Abel. The Historia scolastica by Petrus Comestor deals with the subject of Cain in an essay that was to inspire many medieval works. The story of Cain has appealed to many playwrights, but it has mainly inspired dramas and mystery plays. To begin with Cain belongs to the plant world, but his punishment condemns him to the coldness of the mineral world. People are thus dealing with a popular and picturesque representation of the origins of civilization.
