Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
~ Genesis 4:11
Early stories of brotherly betrayal have been ingrained upon our society's psyche. Like the biblical story of Cain and Abel, when brother betrays brother, the act is especially heinous.
Stories of brotherly betrayal survive in popular culture. In the recent movie Thor by Paramount, based on the comic book series by Marvel, the god Thor is betrayed by his adopted brother Loki.
However, the legends of Norse Mythology do tell of betrayal between these two gods. As the myth goes, Thor is poisoned by a snake, whom he fights partially due to the deception of Loki.
Loki is tied up by the gods and forced to drink the poison of a snake as punishment. When the poison falls on him, his body trembles, causing earthquakes, according to the Norse myth.
Another ancient story of brother betraying brother comes from Egyptian mythology. Osiris was tricked by this brother-in-law Set into a coffin, and was drowned in the Nile.
Osiris was later resurrected by his wife, Isis, after she found the jeweled coffin and put together the dismantled pieces of his body.
Jesus warned of brotherly betrayal when he spoke to his disciples before his crucification:
"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death."
~ Mark 13:12
Another biblical reference to brotherly betrayal comes from
Jeremiah 12:6
"For even your brothers, and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; even they have cried aloud after you: don't believe them, though they speak beautiful words to you."
From Greek mythology, the ultimate tragic betrayal perpetuates the sad tale of Oedipus. Eteocles and Polyneices, the sons of the cursed Oedipus, vow to share their kingdom after Oedipus falls into grief.
The tale climaxes when Eteocles and Polyneices battle for Thebes, and kill each other in the process.
Tweets about being "betrayed by a brother"
Over the last month, I have collected tweets from Twitter.com that came up on the search of the keywords "brother" and "betrayed".
Lucifer @BunkBuddy come to that because that pesky
brother of his would find a way to "fix him" and he did. By finding the other angel that
betrayed him. =
Ezra Capucion @jadeaezra Grabe. I feel like a
betrayed Ate. My
brother blocked me off facebook. I hate his girlfriend forever!! If I see her in this house I swear..
Shamiya Neely @lovelylooksz Lion King, scar
betrayed mufasa. Legend of the Guardians, that one
brother betrayed the other. These movies teach u can't trust family. Lol
Tifa Wirarini @tifa_wirarini Whoever advises his
brother concerning a matter, knowing that correct guidance lies in another direction, has
betrayed him.
On a Personal Note
Some of my favorite brotherly stories come from movies I watched as a kid. The relationship between the brothers in Legends of the Fall is fascinating to me.
Not to mention there's just something about Brad Pitt as a vengeful farmer-boy.
And in The Lion King, my heart hurt when Mufasa pleaded with Scar to save his life.
I enjoyed the movie Four Brothers, a movie based on The Sons of Katie Elder, and is the story of four brothers who seek to avenge the murder of their adopted mother in Detroit.
Not to mention that I'm in love with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Enjoy books and movies about #brothers and #betrayal?
Check out Brother Betrayed on Amazon!
