08.29.05
29 Aug - Today in History
Aug 29 30, St. John the Baptist beheaded by Herod rewarding Salome for dance
((c)Copyright 1990-2005 by Robert Heckendorn, All Rights Reserved.)
Out of all the things that happened this day in history, I picked this one to write about because I just saw a documentary about the Bible’s “Scarlet Women” and Salome was one of the women they discussed. (Biography Channel’s “Mysteries of the Bible: Scarlet Women”)
So, the anecdotal story first:
Salome was the daugher of Herodias, wife of Herod Antipas. Herod felt threatened by John the Baptist but was afraid to outright kill him. Herodias, on the other hand (or so the story goes), was sneaky and underhanded and devised a plan. On Herod’s birthday, mum sent sexy, nubile Salome out to dance. So taken by his (step)daughter’s dance, Herod promised her anything. Salome rushed backstage to her mother and asked what she should demand. Mama, being the good stage mother, told her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter. Dutiful Salome did as she was told and voila! That pesky political problem was solved.
The biblical version that’s been handed down for centuries, has John’s undoing as Salome’s doing. But, here is an interesting questions raised by the historians in this program: Why, if Salome’s name isn’t even mentioned in the bible is it her that we remember? Why not Herodias, whose name is mentioned? (See Mark, Chapter 6)
Who put whom up to what?
This is no mere story of a king thinking with the wrong head and letting the women in his life (Salome, manipulated by her mother) take control. This is a story of politics (the Romans were having a very difficult time with those pesky Jews), near-incest (Herodias was Antipas’ half-brother’s wife), divorce court (Antipas divorced his first wife to marry Herodias) and good old fashioned religious dictums (John the Baptist condemned Antipas’ 2nd marriage). It’s rip-roaring good stuff … maybe all blown out of proportion to make a point about … what?
Why does the bible blame a young girl for the ignominious downfall of one of its most important prophets? It was John the Baptist, after all, who was the baptiser of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. What is the point of martyring John in such a fashion?
Unless, it is to put Jesus front and center. The story of John’s death ends rather abruptly in Mark. After his followers pick up his corpse from Antipas, and lay it in a tomb, Jesus gathers his apostles to him and they go for a … rest. And then this leads to the whole loaves and fish for the multitudes and the walking on water and healing the sick … and John is no longer mentioned.
A common thread through this documentary (which began with the story of Eve) was the Bible’s need to demonize women (both literally and figuratively). Paul believed that women were to be subjugated to men because God created man first and then woman out of man’s rib. (Paul had his own issues with women, how’s that for stating the obvious?)
This whole “thing” with women gets sexuality and motherhood and goddesshood all mixed up in a gnarly mess and, through centuries of stereotyping, women get blamed for almost every narsty thing that happens to a man.
I’m not a biblical scholar, or a theologian, nor do I have any answers. Just lots of questions and sometimes I bump into something that makes me go, “hunh.”
Biography Channel
The Catholic Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
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Google: John the Baptist
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Personal Work: San Juan Bautista - named after St. John the Baptist, one of the string of California Missons founded by Fr. Junipero Serra. This project was for my “History of California” class at Foothill Community College.