Counter-imperial literature

Miguel Conner on the Rape of Eve

Aeon Byte Gnostic RadioSep 20, 2026

Miguel Conner explores how three ancient Gnostic texts retell the Genesis story with Eve being assaulted by the Archons, the false rulers of the material world. Drawing on Dr. Celene Lillie's book The Rape of Eve, he argues these myths condemned Rome's founding myths of sexual conquest and offered a sophisticated ancient blueprint for trauma survival, dissociation, and healing. Speaking openly as a survivor himself, Conner presents the Gnostics as radically compassionate, refusing to blame or shame the victim and imagining healing through consensual, equal partnership.