Herodias

Herodias (c. 15 BC-after 39 AD) was a Jewish princess of the Herodian Dynasty.

Contents 1 Relationships 2 Marriages 2.1 Herod II 2.2 Herod Antipas 3 In the Gospels 3.1 Modern scholarship 4 In medieval literature 5 References 6 Further reading 7 Herodias in fiction

[edit] Relationships

• Daughter of Aristobulus IV (one of the two sons of Herod the Great and the Hasmonean princess Mariamne I)
• Daughter of Berenice (a daughter of Herod's sister Salome I, and of Costabarus, governor of Idumea)
• Full sister to Herod V (king of Chalkis), Herod Agrippa (king of Judea), Aristobulus V, and Mariamne III (possibly the first wife of her uncle, Herod Archelaus, ethnarch of Judea).

[edit] Marriages

[edit] Herod II

[edit] Herod Antipas

[edit] In the Gospels

In the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, Herodias plays a major role in John the Baptist's execution, using her daughter's dance before Antipas and his party guests to ask for the head of the Baptist as a reward. Antipas did not want to put John the Baptist to death, for Antipas liked to listen to John the Baptist preach (Mark 6:20). Furthermore, Antipas may have feared that if John the Baptist were to be put to death, his followers would riot.

[edit] Modern scholarship

At least one biblical scholar has doubted that the Gospels give historically accurate accounts of John the Baptist's execution.^[1] According to the ancient historian Josephus, John the Baptist was put to death by Antipas for political reasons, for Antipas feared the prophet's seditious influence.^[2] Some exegetes believe that Antipas' and Herodias' struggle with John the Baptist as told in the Gospels was some kind of a remembrance of the political and religious fight opposing the Israeli monarchs Achab and Jezebel to the prophet Elijah.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] In medieval literature

In medieval Europe a widespread belief held Herodias to be the supernatural leader of a supposed cult of witches, synonymous with Diana, Holda and Abundia.^[3] See Cult of Herodias.

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Gillman, Florence Morgan. Herodias: At Home in the Fox's Den. Interfaces. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2003.
• Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume Two: Mentor, Message and Miracles. Anchor Bible Reference Library, New York: Doubleday, 1994.
• Theissen, Gerd. The Shadow of the Galilean: The Quest of the Historical Jesus in Narrative Form. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987.

[edit] Herodias in fiction

• Hérodiade, opera by Jules Massenet.
• Hérodias, story by Gustave Flaubert, one of the Three Tales (Trois contes), published in 1877.
• Salomé, play by Oscar Wilde, French (1894), translated into English by Lord Alfred Douglas, 1895.
• Salome, opera by Richard Strauss, based on a German translation (by Hedwig Lachmann, grandmother of Mike Nichols) of the play by Oscar Wilde.
• Herodias is the name of an outcast devil in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.