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Literary or mythological libertinage in Europe is as old as Homer, but it remained for an Andalusian monk named Gabriel Tellez, writing under the pseudonym of Tirso de Molina, to create the moral drama which crystallized the myth of Don Juan, “the libertine damned.” His work, entitled The Mocker (Burlador) of Seville and the Stone Guest, appeared at the beginning of the 17th Century.
Essentially, the legend as told by Tirso and as elaborated in the many later versions, is the story of a gallant who relies on violence and sardonic trickery - he is first and last the “mocker” - to seduce his numerous victims. Only four seductions are described in Tirso's play, but the most significant feature in each case is that Don Juan achieves his purpose by assuming the identity of a lover or prospective bridegroom, - even posing as his bosom friend, the Marques de la Mota, in an unscrupulous attempt on the latter's beloved.
Now this nuptial or pre-nuptial substitution has a very ancient mythical and ritual background, and it is probable that Don Juan is a latter-day representative of this substitution. In the original myths, the substitute was a hero or god. Thus, Zeus disguised himself as a mortal, Amphitryon, in order to seduce the latter's wife, Alcmene. Later, the gods were ritually represented by priests or kings. The Pharoah disguised himself as the god Ammon when preparing to enter the nuptial chamber. Women were ritually impregnated by priests in the temples of the Ancient Middle East, and in India the Brahmins had the first-night privileges. Briffault writes: “In some forms of the usage, pre-nuptial prostitution is limited to strangers. The unknown stranger is, in fact, in popular tradition, a common disguise of the god.” For thi