The Long, Violent Literary History of Calling Someone a “Cuck” From the Trojan War to Shakespeare, the oft-ridiculed archetype has always had much darker implications. Will Smith's apparent cuckoldry made him a target of derision on the internet earlier this year Three goddesses stood before a young man, naked. They wore nothing but promised him everything. Well, actually, they each promised him one thing: a potent bribe. The stakes had never been higher. This was, after all, the world’s first beauty contest. Goddess number one appealed to the young man’s ambition. If he crowned her most beautiful, she would give him control of Europe and Asia. Goddess number two offered unlimited knowledge. If the young man chose her, he would become the wisest mortal in the world. The third goddess possessed neither the power of the first nor the intelligence of the second. But she had something her peers lacked: a preternatural understanding of the male libido. As she leaned over the young man, ...