One of the strangest paradoxes in the history of the human race is that while men have commonly dominated simply by virtue of their greater strength and aggression, women time and time again have been the cause of their downfall and defeat. It is as if some great universal arbiter constantly wishes to remind us who in the end has the upper hand.
The story of why Adam fell from grace is so well known it hardly needs mentioning. That downfall may have been symbolic of what was to happen throughout history. The examples are many. There is Helen of Troy, of course, whose beauty launched – and sank – a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Ilium. There is Lady Macbeth tempting her infatuated husband into bloody regicide. Perhaps most compelling of all is Cleopatra, Egyptian queen, in whose captivating arms poor, muscular Antony found it preferable to