Category:Salome (subject)

Salome (1st century CE) was the daughter of Herodias and Herod II, and the step-daughter of Herod Antipas.

Salome in ancient sources

The character of Salome is mentioned both in both the Gospels of Mark and Matthew and in Josephus.

The Gospels of Mark and Matthew (which do not mention her name or any other incidents in her life) suggests her (involuntary) involvement in the death of John the Baptist. They tell us that the girl danced before her uncle (and now step-father) Herod Antipas. At the instigation of her mother, she requested and obtained the head of John the Baptist as her reward from the king.

Josephus (who does mention Salome in his account of the death of John the Baptist) in a genealogical list of the descendants of Herod the Great, talks briefly of her life as the daughter of Herod II and Herodias, the step-daughter of Herod Antipas after her mother's divorce and remarriage, and the wife of Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great, and then, Aristobulos, the brother of Agrippa, from whom she had three sons (see Ant XVIII 136-137).

Salome in Scholarship

Research on Salome is limited by the paucity of historical sources and the legendary nature of the Gospel account. From the historical point of view, Salome is little more than a name in the genealogy of the descendants of Herod the Great.

Salome in Fiction

The character of Salome has been subjected in fiction to a dramatic metamorphosis, from innocent child or indifferent teenager to powerful icon of morbid female seductiveness (and anti-Semitism).

In medieval Christian iconography, Salome is portrayed as an innocent child, the passive instrument of her mother's revenge. By the 16th century, the character has matured into a teenager, now more indifferent than innocent to the drama in which she has been involved. The turning point is the second half of the 19th century when Salome is transformed into an Oriental beauty, fully self-conscious of her power of seduction. In the works of Oscar Wilde and Richard Strauss she becomes the epitome of the femme fatale, a sensual, morbid and sadistic character who destroys the men she loves.

Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan