The Life of Jesus in Harmony |
Index
Herodias' daughter
SALOME
The daughter of Herodias by her first husband, Herod Philip (Josephus Ant.
18.5.4). She is the "daughter of Herodias," mentioned in (Mt 14:6) as dancing
before Herod Antipas and securing, at her mother's instigation, the death of
John the
Baptist.
To do honor to the day and to the company Salome broke through the rule of
strict seclusion from the other sex and condescended, though a princess and the
daughter of kings, to dance before Antipas and his guests. One scholar said:
"The dancing then in vogue in both Rome and the provinces, from its popularity
under
Augustus, was very like that of our modern ballet. The dancer did not speak, but acted
some story by gestures, movements, and attitudes, to the sound of music. Masks
were used in all cases to conceal the features, but all other parts of the
body, especially the hands and arms, were called into action, and a skillful
pantomimist could express feelings, passions, and acts with surprising effect. The
dress of the performer was planned to show the beauty of the figure to the
greatest advantage, though it varied with the characters represented" (Geikie, Life
of
Christ, p. 300).
Salome was married first to Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis, her paternal
uncle, who died childless; and, second, to her cousin Aristobulus, son of Herod,
king of Chalcis, by whom she had three sons.