Category:Salome (subject)

BACK TO THE PEOPLE--INDEX

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

This page is edited by Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan

Overview

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

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

Josephus (who does not 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, and the step-daughter of Herod Antipas after her mother's divorce and remarriage. Salome was given as wife to her uncle Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great. A young widow, she remarried with Aristobulus of Chalcis, from whom she had three sons named Herod, Agrippa and Aristobulus (see Ant XVIII 136-137).

Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan

Salome in Ancient Sources

See Salome (sources)

Salome in Literature & the Arts

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). Salome is one of the most successful and recognizable characters from Second Temple Judaism in modern culture.

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

See Salome (arts)

Salome in Scholarship

From the historical point of view, Salome is part of the scion of powerful and politically engaged women that characterized the House of Hasmoneus and the House of Herod, from Queen Salome Alexandra to Alexandra the Hasmonean, Mariamne, Herodias, Berenice, Drusilla, and others. Research on Salome however is limited by the paucity of historical sources and the legendary nature of the Gospel account.

Scholars have rather focused on the study of the Salome legend and its ramifications in literature and the arts.