# Can I -- Should I? -- use Lilith in a story/book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751 "2013-10-09T04:26:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/21 "2013-10-09T12:15:16Z")
Go for it. By the time you finish your book, True Blood may be waning in popularity anyway. As [this page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith_(disambiguation)) shows, it has a goodly number of literary precedents, but there’s nothing as definitive as, says, “Hermione” would be. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/22 "2013-10-09T12:39:39Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > Meh I think of Frasier. _Cheers_ for me, but yeah, same thing. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/23 "2013-10-09T13:52:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I think ONLY of Frasier! Same here - Dr. Lilith Sternin. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/24 "2013-10-09T13:56:18Z")
For what it’s worth, I think of the biblical Lilith first. Not all of us are True Blood fans. I think Lilith being a major character in a book would be awesome. Just be sure that she thinks like a Hebrew woman would 6,000 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/25 "2013-10-09T14:03:13Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > You know, I’ve been a christian for a very long time, but only recently come across this concept of Lilith, which is jewish folklore concept. I mainly know about that Lilith from the [Straight Dope staff report](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1513/whats-the-story-on-lilith-adams-first-wife). To me, “Lilith” is first and foremost the Bebe Neuwirth character from _Cheers_. It’s also the title of a fantasy novel by George MacDonald, which I’ve tried to read but don’t think I really got. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/26 "2013-10-09T14:06:04Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > For what it’s worth, I think of the biblical Lilith first. Refering to “the biblical Lilith” might be a bit misleading, since > [@](#): > > Genesis of course mentions Adam and Eve, but – please note – doesn’t mention Lilith. The idea of Lilith as a “prior first woman” before Eve arises much later. The only reference to Lilith in the Bible (Old or New Testaments) is Isaiah 34:14, probably written around 540 BC; it’s a description of desolation, jackals and ravens among nettles and briers, etc.: “Goat demons shall greet each other; there too the lilith will repose.” (from the Staff Report I linked to above) ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/27 "2013-10-09T14:13:12Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Refering to “the biblical Lilith” might be a bit misleading, since (from the Staff Report I linked to above) _sigh_ You’re being nitpicky. “Biblical” can either mean “from the Bible” or “during Biblical times.” ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/28 "2013-10-09T14:29:28Z")
As a basically literary discussion, I’m moving this from IMHO to Cafe. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/29 "2013-10-09T14:39:01Z")
Just write the story. If it’s good it’ll work, if not it won’t. Won’t know until you do it. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/30 "2013-10-09T14:39:39Z")
[This](http://www.flickr.com/photos/45215582@N06/4153786070/lightbox/) is my Lilith, named after the wife of Adam, although I think my husband went along with it for Frasier-related reasons. We were thrilled one day when a girl at the dog park appeared to get the reference, until she started going on about vampires for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/31 "2013-10-09T14:42:50Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > _sigh_ You’re being nitpicky. “Biblical” can either mean “from the Bible” or “during Biblical times.” Except most of the time I see it used “Biblically”, it’s as a tweak to the standard Judeo-Christian story not because it happened ~5,000 years ago. Personally I’d roll my eyes at it, not out of any shock or blasphemy but because tweaking religion is one of the most hackneyed and uncreative artistic devices around these days. I’m probably a minority in that mindset though. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/32 "2013-10-09T14:43:57Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Except most of the time I see it used “Biblically”, it’s as a tweak to the standard Judeo-Christian story not because it happened ~5,000 years ago. > > Personally I’d roll my eyes at it, not out of any shock or blasphemy but because tweaking religion is one of the most hackneyed and uncreative artistic devices around these days. I’m probably a minority in that mindset though. When I hear the term “Biblically” I assume they’re talking about people doin’ it. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/33 "2013-10-09T14:47:03Z")
It is actually pretty interesting how the concept of Lilith originated. Essentially, it is fanwanking of one of the major problems with the Biblical creation myth - namely, that there are two versions of creation in Genesis, and they aren’t compatible. In the first, the two ur-humans are made at the same time, out of clay. In the second, Adam is made first, then Eve is made later, out of his rib. Postulate that Adam was married twice, and voila! The incompatibility dissapears (well, that one, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/34 "2013-10-09T14:47:34Z")
The wife of Adam first. Frasier second. Then [Lilith bowls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incantation_bowl). I ran across those in college while researching something else. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/35 "2013-10-09T15:09:52Z")
I know a lot of the Liliths mentioned in this thread, except I had no idea there was a character by that name on _True Blood_. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/36 "2013-10-09T16:00:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Prof. Pepperwinkle** : > > it has a goodly number of literary precedents, but there’s nothing as definitive as, says, “Hermione” would be. Yeah, “Hermione” would obviously be a reference to the queen from Shakespeare’s _A Winter’s Tale_. And in addition to all the other references people have brought up, Lilith was also a powerful demoness in the Diablo games (you could fight her, under certain extreme circumstances, in Diablo II-- She looked like Andariel, and did an absolutely insane amount of poison damage). ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/37 "2013-10-09T16:10:34Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > My first thought was of the DC comics character. Oh, good. I thought I was the only one. [http://www.comicvine.com/lilith-clay/4005-12525/](http://www.comicvine.com/lilith-clay/4005-12525/) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/38 "2013-10-09T16:22:19Z")
The first thing I thought of was Lilith, first wife of Adam. Then Lilith from _Cheers_. Then Lilith Fair. And then I ran out of Liliths. Don’t know anything about this vampire stuff. ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/39 "2013-10-09T17:00:43Z")
[Lilith](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058294/reference), a film starring Jean Seberg and Warren Beatty. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751/40 "2013-10-09T17:05:32Z")
[Aliases](http://www.whiterosesgarden.com/Nature_of_Evil/lillith/LIL_misc_info/names_of_lilith.htm)used by Lilith [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-should-i-use-lilith-in-a-story-book/670751.md?page=3)