Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik

In the Old Testament there is the concept of the serpent who tempts Eve in the garden of Eden, but one is not clear if the creature is supernatural or the Devil. In the Judaic Tanakh, the Devil is a heavenly prosecutor who appears on behalf of God. In the Islamic tradition, he is an angel who refuses to bow to man and so incurs God's wrath. And, in later traditions, he is an angel who is allowed to rule over fallen angels and tempt God. The idea of Devil as the opposite of God comes much later, perhaps when the Jewish tribes were exposed in Persia to Zoroastrian mythology where Ahura Mazda has an opposite in the Angra Manyu. All these tales of the Devil, popular in ancient times, do not actually visualise the red-coloured, horned, cloven hoofed Devil as we do so today or see him as living in a 'fiery' Hell, torturing souls. This depiction of the Devil is relatively recent, less than 500 years old.