In the Renaissance, Michelangelo depicted Lilith as the serpent on the Tree of Knowledge. Lilith's story was a favorite of the Romantics and of the Pre-Raphaelites, and poets, artists and writers continue to use her story -- or some of her stories -- to this day.
19th Century
In 1808, Goethe includes a mention of Lilith as a temptress with long hair in Faust in connection with Walpurgis Night; he has Mephistopholes explain that she is the first wife of Adam. John Keats, using the name Lamia which was used in Latin for Lilith, writes of a mythical heroine trapped in a snake and freed, who tragically dies on her wedding day when Apollonius uses her name.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti depicts her in two paintings and several sonnetts. In 1883, Robert Browning published "Adam, Lilith and Eve," in which Eve and Lilith are friendly with each other. Victor Hugo, Anatole France, Remy de Gourmont, George McDonald and Henry Harland all feature Lilith in stories or novels.
20th Century
In the 20th century, still more writers and artists used Lilith, with stories usually based on the medieval myths of the sexual temptress and Adams' first wife. A number of science fiction and fantasy authors and filmmakers have used Lilith's name and story. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis has Lilith as an ancestor of Jadis the White Witch.
Modern Paganism
Aleister Crowley mentions Lilith in his work. Gerald Gardner, in his assertion of the continuous worship of goddesses, includes the allegation that Lilith was worshipped from ancient times into the present as a goddess. Others in modern paganism see Lilith as a childbirth or sexuality goddess.
More Lilith
See also: Jewish Feminism and Lilith
About Lilith (Overview) | Lilith in Ancient Sources | Lilith in Medieval Sources | Modern Depictions of Lilith | The Feminist Lilith
