Samson was an Israelite. He was so powerful that single-handed
he could route the Philistines several times. Once he could derive away their
armed hosts with an asse’s jaw-bone as his only weapon. His strength lay in his
hair. The Philistines were much amazed at his prodigious strength and wanted to
know its secret.
Unfortunately, Samson was tempted into marriage by a
beautiful Philistian woman, Delila. First, she persuaded Samson to tell her the
secret of his strength, and secondly, when she knew this secret, she betrayed
it to his enemies. Not only that she cut his hair and thus he was shorn of his
strength. His enemies could easily capture him and make him a prisoner. He was
blinded and kept in a dungeon where he was made to do hard, menial work. But in
course of time, his hair grew and his strength returned. During an annual
celebration, he was taken to the temple where all the Philistines were
assembled. He pulled down the temple over their heads, and thus destroyed his
enemies, as well as himself.
Ever since Delila has been the symbol of feminine seductions and
feminine treachery. This Biblical legend forms the basis of Milton’s
drama Samson Agonistes.
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