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Cain

Biblical
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The biblical firstborn of Adam and Eve who murdered his brother Abel, symbolizing jealousy and fratricide.

Detailed Definition
Cain, son of Adam and Eve, slew Abel after God favored Abel’s offering, becoming a wanderer marked by divine protection. His story explores sin, guilt, and divine mercy. In poetry, Cain symbolizes fratricide, exile, and the burden of inherited violence.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Byron’s "Cain," Cain questions divine justice, embodying human rebellion and existential doubt; In Dante’s "Inferno," Cain is punished in the lowest circle of Hell for fratricide; In Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “A Drama of Exile,” Cain’s curse becomes a metaphor for exile and alienation; In Thomas Hardy’s “The Pedigree,” Cain symbolizes inherited human violence; In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” Cain’s legacy echoes in familial betrayal; In modern poetry like Derek Walcott’s “Omeros,” Cain represents colonial guilt and division.
Additional Notes
Cain, the biblical first murderer (Genesis 4), symbolizes fratricide, exile, and the mark of sin; poets use Cain to explore guilt, alienation, and the burden of ancestral violence—Byron’s dramatic poem Cain reimagines him as a questioning rebel, and the “Cain complex” appears in psychological and existential poetry as a metaphor for inherited shame or outsider status.
Also Known As
Marked Wanderer First Murderer Brother of Abel
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