Editing Seduction (section)

==History==
[[File:Delila schert Simson die Haare.jpg|thumb|299x299px|''Delilah cutting Samson's hair'', {{Circa|1460}}]]
Seduction is a popular motif in history and fiction, both as a warning of the social consequences of engaging in the behaviour or becoming its victim, and as a salute to a powerful skill.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Villain-Hero in Pamela and Pride and Prejudice.|author=Harmsel, H. T.|publisher=College English|year=1961|pages=23(2), 104–108}}</ref> In the Bible, [[Eve]] offers the [[forbidden fruit]] to [[Adam]]. Eve herself was verbally seduced by the serpent, believed in Christianity to be [[Satan]]; later, Chapter 7 of Proverbs warns of the pitfalls of seduction. [[Siren (mythology)|Siren]]s of [[Greek mythology]] lured sailors to their death by singing them to shipwreck; [[Cleopatra]] beguiled both [[Julius Caesar]] and [[Marc Antony]], [[Dionysus]] was the Greek god of seduction and wine. Famous male seducers, their names synonymous with sexual allure, range from [[The Tale of Genji|Genji]] to [[John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester]]<ref name="Johnson 2004 p. 398">{{cite book | last=Johnson | first=J.W. | title=A Profane Wit: The Life of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester | publisher=University of Rochester Press | year=2004 | isbn=978-1-58046-170-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sxrjd1kvZlQC&pg=PA398 | access-date=2023-06-18 | page=398}}</ref> and [[James Bond]].

In biblical times, because unmarried females who lost their [[virginity]] had also lost much of their value as [[marriage]] prospects, the [[Old Testament]] [[Book of Exodus]] specifies that the seducer must marry his victim or pay her father to compensate him for his loss of the marriage price: "And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins."

The [[Book of Judges]] in the Old Testament describes [[Delilah]] seducing [[Samson]] who was given great strength by God, but ultimately lost his strength when she allowed the Philistines to shave his hair off during his slumber.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+16&version=ESV|title=Judges 16 – English Standard Version|website=Bible Gateway|access-date=24 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718055221/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+16&version=ESV|archive-date=18 July 2017}}</ref>