Samson was a character in the Biblical Book of Judges. He is said to have been raised up by God to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. In the story, God grants him unusual strength, which is facilitated by a Nazirite vow prohibiting him from cutting his hair. His strength and violent temper are illustrated in several colorful stories portraying him as dominant over man and nature. He also succeeds in his charge to battle the Philistines, more through acts of personal vengeance than by any formal military strategy. Eventually the Philistines defeat him by bribing his new love interest, Delilah, into extracting from him the secret to his strength. Once learned, the Philistines cut his hair while he sleeps, at which point he is easily defeated.

The stories of Samson have inspired numerous cultural references, serving as a symbol of brute strength, heroism, self-destruction, and romantic betrayal. This article surveys these references in religion and mythology, art and literature, film and music, and folklore.

Traditions and mythology

Samson parades

Annual parades of Samson figure in 10 different villages in the Lungau, Salzburg (state) and two villages in the north-west Steiermark (Austria). For more information see Wikipedia in German :de:Samsonfigur or French :fr:Samson (géant processionnel). Samson is also one of the giant figures at the "Ducasse" festivities, which takes place at Ath, Belgium.

Basque mythology

There is an elaboration of the biblical character in Basque mythology which differs in its features from the original. Quite paradoxically, the Basque Samson does not stand for Christian values, but is represented as a giant living in the mountains far from other inhabitants of the villages and the valley; he is a jentil or Basque pagan of the forest. As told in many folk accounts, endowed with might as he is, he launches rocks that lie at the origin of different prominences and hills all over the Basque Country, especially in the west, while in the east the preferred character to account for similar phenomena is the medieval hero Roland, Errolan in Basque.

Israeli culture

"The figure of "Samson the hero" played a role in the construction of Zionist collective memory, and in building the identity of the 'new Jew' who leaves behind exilic helplessness for Israeli self-determination", Benjamin Balint, a writer in Jerusalem, has written.

Vladimir Jabotinsky (1880–1940), the founder of Revisionist Zionism wrote a 1926 novel in Russian (English translation in 1930), in which the author makes Samson an assimilated Jew attracted by the surrounding, more sophisticated (and un-philistine) Philistine culture. Considered a basic text of Revisionist Zionism, Jabotinsky's followers found in it numerous hints of contemporary Zionist and Israeli politics. Among other things, the family name of present day Israeli politician Dan Meridor is derived from this book. "Meridor" (literally "Generation of Rebellion") is the name given by Samson to a child in the book.

Some important Twentieth century Hebrew poems have also been written about the Bible hero. More recently, elite Israeli combat units have been named "Samson", and the Israeli nuclear program was called the "Samson Option".

Noam Chomsky and others have said Israel suffers from a "Samson complex" which could lead to the destruction of itself as well as its Arab enemies.Balint, Benjamin, "Eyeless in Israel: Biblical metaphor and the Jewish state," review of Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson, by Benji Segal, The Weekly Standard, October 30, 2006, pages 35–36 Israeli journalist and historian, Yoav Rinon, is also critical of the prominent role played by Samson, alongside the Masada myth, in the Israeli society.

Art

Samson has been a popular subject for painting and sculpture:"Links to Images of Samson", "The Text This Week Lectionary, Scripture Study and Worship Links and Resources". Accessed November 2, 2006

Alexander Anderson, Samson Fighting the Lion, ca. 1800 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Jean Audran, after F. Verdier, The Burial of Samson, ca. 1700 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Guercino), Samson and the Honeycomb, ca. 1657 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Niccolu Boldrini, after Titian, Samson and Delilah, ca. 1540–1545, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Boucicaut Master, Samson and the Lion, 1415, Getty Museum Hans Burgkmair the Elder, Samson and Delilah, ca. 1500 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Lovis Corinth, Samson Blinded, 1912 Giuseppe Caletti (Il Cremonese), Samson and Delilah, ca. 1625 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Lucas Cranach the Elder, Samson and Delilah, 1529 Samson's Fight with the Lion, 1520–25 Salomon de Bray, Samson with the Jawbone, 1636 Getty Museum Gerard de Jode, Samson Tying the Firebrands to the Foxes' Tails, ca. 1550 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Etienne Delaune, Samson Setting Fire to the Wheat of the Philistines, ca. 1575 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco H.B. (John Doyle), Samson and Delilah, ca. 1800 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Gustave Doré, Death of Samson, 1865 Samson and Delilah, 1865 Samson Carrying Away the Gates of Gaza, 1865 Samson Destroying the Philistines, 1865 Samson Destroys the Temple, 1866 Samson Fighting with the Lion, ca. 1496 Samson Slaying a Lion, 1865 Albrecht Dürer, Delilah Cuts Samson's Hair, 1493 Josephus Farmer, Samson, 1982, Smithsonian American Art Museum Philip Galle, Samson Fighting the Lion, ca. 1600 Lutheran Brotherhood's Collection of Religious Art Giambologna, Samson Slaying a Philistine, c. 1562. Luca Giordano, Samson and Delilah, ca. 1675 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Guercino, Samson Captured by the Philistines Samson and Delilah, 1654 (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg) Reinhold Hoberg, Samson and Delilah, ca. 1900 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Lord Frederic Leighton, Illustrations for Dalziel's Bible Gallery, 1881, Tate Gallery: Samson and the Lion Samson Carrying the Gates Samson at the Mill Andrea Mantegna, Samson and Delilah, ca. 1500 Jacob Matham after Peter Paul Rubens, Samson and Delilah, 1613 Matthaeus Merian the Elder, 1625–30, Samson and Delilah Samson and the Gates Samson's Strange Weapon Samson Slays a Lion Michelangelo, Samson and Two Philistines, ca. 1530–50 Aureliano Milani, Samson Slaying the Philistines, 1720 National Gallery, Canada Thomas Nast, The Modern Samson, 1868 Erasmus Quellinus II, Samson Killing the Lion, ca. 1650 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Archie Rand, Samson, contemporary Bernice Steinbaum Gallery Guido Reni, The Triumph of Samson, 1611–12 Rembrandt van Rijn, The Blinding of Samson, 1636 Delilah Calls the Philistines, ca. 1655 The Sacrifice of Menoah, 1641 Samson Accusing His Father-In-Law, 1635 Samson Betrayed by Delilah, 1629–30 Samson Putting Forth His Riddles at the Wedding Feast, 1638 Kirk Richards, Delilah, 1997 Paul Roorda, Samson, contemporary Peter Paul Rubens, The Death of Samson, ca. 1605 Getty Museum Samson is Seized, 1609–10 Jacob Savery I, Samson Wrestling with the Lion, (after), ca. 1595 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Hans Leonhard Schaufelein, Samson Destroying the Temple, Fifteenth to Sixteenth centuries Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Solomon Joseph Solomon, Samson and Delilah, 1887 Walker Art Gallery Jan Steen, Samson and Delilah, 1667–70 Matthias Stom, Samson and Delilah, 1630s James Tissot, 1896–1900. Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Samson Breaks His Cords Samson Kills a Young Lion Samson Puts Down the Pillars Samson Slays a Thousand Men Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1851–60' World Mission Collection, The Death of Samson Samson Kills the Lion Samson Kills the Philistines Samson is Seized Christiaen van Couwenbergh, The Capture of Samson, 1630 Sir Anthony van Dyck, Samson and Delilah, 1620. Gerrit van Honthorst, Samson and Delilah, ca. 1615. Israhel van Meckenem the Younger, Samson and the Lion, ca. 1475 National Gallery of Art Frans van den Wyngaerde, Samson Killing the Lion, ca. 1650 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Claes Jansz Visscher the Elder, Delilah Cutting Samson's Hair, ca. 1610. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Les Drysdale, Samson, contemporary Jean-Michel Basquiat, Obnoxious Liberals, 1982. L. Broad Collection, Los Angeles (A painting mixing a depiction of the shorn Samson in chains with a slave auction and a contemporary art collector). Samson and the lion in Peterhof, Russia. A fountain celebrating the victory over Sweden in the battle of Poltava (occurred on 27 June, St Sampson's Day).

Anonymous: Samson Destroying the Pillars of the Philistine Temple, ca. 1600. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Display Cabinet (with figure of Delilah cutting Samson's Hair), 1620s. Getty Museum. The Women at the Tomb (with scene from Samson and the Lion), Unknown German, c. 1170s. Getty Museum Samson Destroys the Temple, Unknown German Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Books and literature

Non-fiction

Literature In the 14th century in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales", in the Monk's tale, Samson is described. His name is also used to describe the sound of a drunkard's snoring in the Pardoner's tale. In 1656, the Spanish crypto-Jew, Antonio Enríquez Gómez, published Sansón Nazareno: Poema heróico, a Spanish-language heroic epic version of the Samson story.Enríquez Gómez, Antonio. Sansón Nazareno: Poema heróico. Ed. Moshe Lazar. Lancaster, California: Labyrinthos, 2007.There is another modern edition of Sansón Nazareno edited and introduced in Spanish by María del Carmen Artigas. However, riddled with spelling errors, it is less reliable than Moshe Lazar's more recent edition. The Artigas edition can be previewed in Google Books. In 1671, John Milton made him the sympathetic hero of his blank verse tragedy Samson Agonistes. In 1724, Moshe Chaim Luzzatto wrote the first Hebrew play ever written on the subject of Samson. Benjamin Franklin is credited with the witty quatrain: "Jack, eating rotten cheese, did say, / Like Samson I my thousands slay: / I vow, quoth Roger, so you do, / And with the self-same weapon too." In 1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published his poem "The Warning", included in his Poems on Slavery, in which the poet warned Americans of a coming violent outbreak because of Slavery and compared the Black slaves with the chained Samson who pulled down the Gaza Temple. In 1847, Charlotte Brontë compared Rochester to Samson in Jane Eyre: "The caged eagle, whose gold-ringed eyes cruelty has extinguished, might look as looked that sightless Samson." In William Makepeace Thackeray's 1848 novel Vanity Fair, the characters Becky Sharp and Rawdon Crawley are compared to Samson and Delilah. In 1903 Paul Laurence Dunbar published the poem "Black Samson of Brandywine" about a Black soldier during the 1777 Battle of Brandywine in Lyrics of Love and Laughter. In 1926, Vladimir Jabotinsky published his historical novel, Samson (see "Israeli culture" above for details). The Biblical setting served Jabotinsky as a metaphor for contemporary Zionist politics and the current situation in Mandatory Palestine. The book earned Jabotinsky a credit on the 1949 Hollywood movie Samson and Delilah. 2 In 1952, Ralph Ellison made reference to Samson in his novel Invisible Man saying, "Whoever else I was, I was no Samson. I had no desire to destroy myself even if it destroyed the machine; I wanted freedom, not destruction." In 1961, Joseph Heller's Catch-22 includes a character named Kid Sampson, a young, strong soldier who was cut in half by the propeller of a plane by a dare devil pilot flying too close to the beach. In 2006, David Grossman's novel Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson was published. In 2006, David Maine published his novel The Book of Samson, the third of his Biblical series of novels which also includes Fallen and The Preservationist.