ABSTRACT
In the mythology of many cultures, the primordial homicide was a fratricide. The antagonists are often portrayed as the first pair of brothers in the history of the world. According to one such tale, still recounted and enjoyed in our society, the killer Cain resented his younger brother Abel’s greater success in currying favor with their god; their conflict is furthermore portrayed as one between pastoralist and crop farmer, as befits the near eastern etiology of this particular variant. In similar stories from other cultures, the quarrel concerns inheritance or women or envy of the brother’s skills.
