Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
princess, the daughter of
Herod II and princess
Herodias
Herodias (; , ''Hērōidiás''; c. 15 BC – after AD 39) was a princess of the Herodian dynasty of Judea, Judaea during the time of the Roman Empire. Christian writings connect her with the Beheading of John the Baptist, execution of John the Ba ...
. She was granddaughter of
Herod the Great
Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...
and stepdaughter of
Herod Antipas
Herod Antipas (, ''Hērṓidēs Antípas''; ) was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea. He bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter") and is referred to as both "Herod the Tetrarch" and "King Herod" in the New Testament. He was a s ...
. She is known from the
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
, where she is not named, and from an account by
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...
. In the New Testament, the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas demands and receives the head of
John the Baptist
John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...
. According to Josephus, she was first married to her uncle
Philip the Tetrarch
Philip the Tetrarch (), sometimes called Herod Philip II by modern writers (see #Naming convention, "Naming convention") was the son of Herod the Great and his fifth wife, Cleopatra of Jerusalem. As a Tetrarchy (Judea), Tetrarch, he ruled over ...
, after whose death in AD 34 she married her cousin
Aristobulus of Chalcis
Aristobulus V of Chalcis () was a son of Herod of Chalcis and his first wife Mariamne. Herod of Chalcis, ruler of Chalcis in Iturea, was a grandson of Herod the Great through his father, Aristobulus IV. Mariamne was a granddaughter of Herod t ...
, thus becoming queen of
Armenia Minor
Lesser Armenia (; ; ), also known as Armenia Minor and Armenia Inferior, comprised the Armenian-populated regions primarily to the west and northwest of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia (also known as Kingdom of Greater Armenia), on the western sid ...
.
The
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
story of her dance at the birthday celebration of her stepfather, who had
John the Baptist beheaded at her mother's request, inspired art, literature and music over an extended period of time. Among the paintings are those by
Titian
Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno.
Ti ...
and
Gustave Moreau
Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism ...
.
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
's 1891
eponymous play and its
1905 operatic setting by
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
are among the literary and musical realisations which portrayed her. She also appeared in film, for instance in the
1953 ''Salome'' starring
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer, and Pin-up model, pin-up girl. She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of ...
.
First-century accounts and sources
Salome is commonly identified with the daughter of
Herodias
Herodias (; , ''Hērōidiás''; c. 15 BC – after AD 39) was a princess of the Herodian dynasty of Judea, Judaea during the time of the Roman Empire. Christian writings connect her with the Beheading of John the Baptist, execution of John the Ba ...
who, according to accounts in the
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels, synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from baptism of Jesus, his baptism by John the Baptist to his death, the Burial of Jesus, ...
and the
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...
, danced for
Herod Antipas
Herod Antipas (, ''Hērṓidēs Antípas''; ) was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea. He bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter") and is referred to as both "Herod the Tetrarch" and "King Herod" in the New Testament. He was a s ...
. In his ''
Jewish Antiquities'',
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...
mentions marriages and children of the daughter of Herodias named Salome.
New Testament
According to the Gospel of Mark, Herodias bore a grudge against
John the Baptist
John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...
for stating that Herod's marriage to her was unlawful.
Herodias's daughter had danced before
Herod at his birthday celebration, and in return she was told she could ask for anything. After consulting with her mother, the girl asked for the head of John.
The account in the Gospel of Mark reads:
But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you." And he vowed to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom." And she went out and said to her mother, "For what should I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist." And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
The
parallel passage in the Gospel of Matthew reads:
Some ancient Greek versions of Mark read "Herod's daughter Herodias" (rather than "daughter of the said Herodias"). To scholars using these ancient texts, both mother and daughter had the same name. However, the
Latin Vulgate Bible translates the passage as it is above, and western
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...
therefore tended to refer to Salome as "Herodias's daughter" or just "the girl". Because she is otherwise unnamed in the Bible, the idea that both mother and daughter were named Herodias gained some currency in early modern Europe.
The
New Revised Standard Version
The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is a translation of the Bible in American English. It was first published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches, the NRSV was created by an ecumenical committee of scholars "comprising about thirt ...
follows this, translating Mark 6:22 as "When his daughter Herodias
came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, 'Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it, with a footnote: "
Other ancient authorities read 'the daughter of Herodias herself.
Herodias's daughter is arguably not
Salome the disciple, who is a witness to the
crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...
in Mark 15:40.
However, the apocryphal ''
Book of the Resurrection of Christ'', pseudonymically attributed to the apostle Bartholomew, names a "Salome the temptress" as among the women who went to the empty tomb, perhaps reflecting an early tradition that Salome, the daughter of Herodias, was at the tomb.
Josephus
Salome is mentioned as a stepdaughter of Herod Antipas in Josephus's ''
Antiquities of the Jews
''Antiquities of the Jews'' (; , ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus in the 13th year of the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, which was 94 CE. It cont ...
'' (Book XVIII, Chapter 5, 4):
Herodias ..was married to Herod, the son of Herod the Great
Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...
, who was born of Mariamne, the daughter of Simon the high priest, who had a daughter, Salome; after whose birth Herodias took upon her to confound the laws of our country, and divorced herself from her husband while he was alive, and was married to Herod, her husband's brother by the father's side, he was tetrarch of Galilee
Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ).
''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...
; but her daughter Salome was married to Philip
Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...
, the son of Herod, and tetrarch of Trachonitis
The Lajat (/ALA-LC: ''al-Lajāʾ''), also spelled ''Lejat'', ''Lajah'', ''el-Leja'' or ''Laja'', is the largest lava field in southern Syria, spanning some 900 square kilometers. Located about southeast of Damascus, the Lajat borders the Haura ...
; and as he died childless, Aristobulus, the son of Herod, the brother of Agrippa, married her; they had three sons, Herod, Agrippa, and Aristobulus;
According to
William Smith's ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities
''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' is an English language encyclopedia first published in 1842. The second, improved and enlarged, edition appeared in 1848, and there were many revised editions up to 1890. The encyclopedia covered law ...
'':
A tradition based on Joseph situates her birth in the Spanish city of
Italica
Italica () was an ancient Ancient Rome, Roman city in Hispania; its site is close to the town of Santiponce in the province of Seville, Spain. It was founded in 206 BC by Roman general Scipio Africanus, Scipio as a ''Colonia (Roman), colonia'' f ...
and her death in
Lleida
Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...
.
Coins

A few coins with portraits of Aristobulus and Salome have been found.
Depictions in art and media

The story of her dance before Herod with the head of John the Baptist on a platter led medieval Christian artists to depict her as the personification of the lascivious woman, a temptress who lures men away from salvation.
Christian traditions depict her as an icon of dangerous female seductiveness, notably in regard to the dance mentioned in the New Testament, which is thought to have had an erotic element to it, and in some later transformations it has further been iconized as the ''
Dance of the Seven Veils''. Other elements of Christian tradition concentrate on her lighthearted and cold foolishness that, according to the gospels, led to John's death.
David Flusser, a scholar of early Christianity, believes that her "biographical profile suggests a normal, moral personality". Nevertheless, a similar motif was struck by
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
in his ''
Salome
Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...
'', in which she plays a
femme fatale
A ( , ; ), sometimes called a maneater, Mata Hari, or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and Seduction, seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype ...
, and by Ada L. Harris in her 1906 novel "The Sin Of Salome", who casts her as a predatory
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
seductress. This parallel representation of the Christian iconography, made even more memorable by
Richard Strauss' opera based on Wilde's work, is as consistent with Josephus' account as the traditional Christian depiction; however, according to the Romanized Jewish historian, Salome lived long enough to marry twice and raise several children. Few literary accounts elaborate the biographical data given by Josephus.
Despite Josephus' account, she was not consistently called Salome until the 19th century when
Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert ( , ; ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realis ...
(following Josephus) referred to her as "Salome" in his short story "
Herodias
Herodias (; , ''Hērōidiás''; c. 15 BC – after AD 39) was a princess of the Herodian dynasty of Judea, Judaea during the time of the Roman Empire. Christian writings connect her with the Beheading of John the Baptist, execution of John the Ba ...
".
Painting and sculpture
This biblical story has long been a favorite of painters. Painters who have done notable representations of Salome include
Masolino da Panicale
Lordship of Perugia
, death_date =
, death_place = Florence, Republic of Florence
, nationality = Italian
, field = Painting, fresco
, training =
, movement = Italian Renaissance
, works = frescoes in ...
,
Filippo Lippi
Filippo Lippi ( – 8 October 1469), also known as Lippo Lippi, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Quattrocento (fifteenth century) and a Carmelite priest. He was an early Renaissance master of a painting workshop, who taught many paint ...
,
Benozzo Gozzoli
Benozzo Gozzoli (; born Benozzo di Lese; 4 October 1497) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. A pupil of Fra Angelico, Gozzoli is best known for a series of murals in the Magi Chapel of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, depicting festi ...
, Leonardo da Vinci followers
Andrea Solario and
Bernardino Luini
Bernardino Luini (/82 – June 1532) was a north Italian painter from Leonardo's circle during the High Renaissance. Both Luini and Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio were said to have worked with Leonardo directly; he was described as having taken ...
,
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder ( ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German ...
,
Titian
Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno.
Ti ...
,
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...
,
Guido Reni
Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian Baroque painter, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious works, but al ...
,
Fabritius,
Henri Regnault
Alexandre Georges Henri Regnault (31 October 1843 – 19 January 1871) was a French painter.
Biography
Regnault was born in Paris, the son of Henri Victor Regnault. On leaving school he successively entered the studios of Antoine Montfort, Lo ...
,
Georges Rochegrosse,
Gustave Moreau
Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism ...
,
Lovis Corinth
Lovis Corinth (21 July 1858 – 17 July 1925) was a German artist and writer whose mature work as a painter and printmaker realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism.
Corinth studied in Paris and Munich, joined the Berlin Secessio ...
,
Federico Beltran-Masses and
Henry Ossawa Tanner
Henry Ossawa Tanner (June 21, 1859 – May 25, 1937) was an American artist who spent much of his career in France. He became the first African-American art, African-American painter to gain international acclaim. Tanner moved to Paris, France, ...
.
Titian's version (''illustration'' c.1515) emphasizes the contrast between the innocent girlish face and the brutally severed head. Because of the maid by her side, this Titian painting, like others of the subject, is also considered to be ''
Judith
The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...
with the Head of
Holofernes''. Unlike Salome who goes nameless in the Christian bible, Judith is a Judeo-Christian mythical patriot whose story is perhaps less psychological and as she was a widow, may not be particularly girlish nor innocent in representations.
In Moreau's version (''illustration'') the figure of Salome is emblematic of the femme fatale, a fashionable
trope of
fin-de-siecle decadence. In his 1884 novel ''
À rebours
(; translated ''Against Nature'' or ''Against the Grain'') is an 1884 novel by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans. The narrative centers on a single character: Jean des Esseintes, an eccentric, reclusive, ailing aesthete. The last scion o ...
'', Frenchman
Joris-Karl Huysmans
Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel (1884, pub ...
describes the depiction of Salome in Moreau's painting:
No longer was she merely the dancing-girl who extorts a cry of lust and concupiscence from an old man by the lascivious contortions of her body; who breaks the will, masters the mind of a King by the spectacle of her quivering bosoms, heaving belly and tossing thighs; she was now revealed in a sense as the symbolic incarnation of world-old Vice, the goddess of immortal Hysteria, the Curse of Beauty supreme above all other beauties by the cataleptic spasm that stirs her flesh and steels her muscles, – a monstrous Beast of the Apocalypse, indifferent, irresponsible, insensible, poisoning.
Sacred vocal music
Salome appears as a character in
Alessandro Stradella's
oratorio
An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble.
Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...
(St. John the Baptist), composed in 1676, which includes "Queste lagrime e sospiri", an aria sung by the Salome character.
Theatre and literature
In 1877
Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert ( , ; ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realis ...
's ''
Three Tales'' were published, including "Herodias". In this story, responsibility for John's death is given to Herodias and the priests who fear his religious power. Salome is shown as a young girl who forgets the name of the man whose head she requests as she is asking for it.
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...
's 1881 opera ''
Hérodiade'' is based on Flaubert's short story. Playwright
Doric Wilson created a modern retelling of the Salome story in ''Now She Dances!'', first produced
off-off-Broadway
Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway theatre, Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commerc ...
at the
Caffe Cino
Caffe Cino was an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1958 by Joe Cino. The West Village coffeehouse, located at 31 Cornelia Street, was initially conceived as a venue for poetry, folk music, and visual art exhibitions. The plays produced at th ...
in 1961.
Oscar Wilde's play
Salome's story was made the subject of a
symbolist
Symbolism or symbolist may refer to:
*Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea
Arts
*Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea
** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...
play by
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
that was first banned in London in 1892 while rehearsals were underway and which subsequently premiered in Paris in 1896 under the French name ''
Salomé''. In Wilde's play, Salome takes a perverse fancy for Jokanaan (John the Baptist), and causes him to be executed when he spurns her affections. In the finale, Salome takes up Jokanaan's severed head and kisses it.
At the time, British law forbade the depiction of biblical figures on stage.
Wilde wrote the play originally in French and then published an English translation by his lover
Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945), also known as Bosie Douglas, was an English poet and journalist, and a lover of Oscar Wilde. At Oxford University he edited an undergraduate journal, ''The Spirit Lamp'', that carr ...
(titled ''Salome''). To this
Granville Bantock composed incidental music, which was premiered at the
Court Theatre,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, on 19 April 1918.
Operas based on Wilde's play
The Wilde play (in a German translation by
Hedwig Lachmann) was edited down to a one-act
opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
by
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
. The opera, which premiered in
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
in 1905, is famous for the
Dance of the Seven Veils. As with the Wilde play, it turns the action to Salome, reducing her mother to a bit-player, though the opera is less centered on Herod's motivations than the play.
Shortly after the success of Strauss' opera,
Antoine Mariotte created another opera based on Wilde's original French script. It was premiered on 30 October 1908 at the Grand Théâtre at
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
. This opera was revived only in 2005 at the
Montpellier
Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
Festival.
Ballet
In 1907
Florent Schmitt
Florent Schmitt (; 28 September 187017 August 1958) was a French composer. He was part of the group known as Les Apaches. His most famous pieces are ''La tragédie de Salome'' and ''Psaume XLVII'' ( Psalm 47). He has been described as "one of t ...
received a commission from
Jacques Rouché to compose a ballet, , for
Loie Fuller
Loie Fuller (; born Marie Louise Fuller; January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928), also known as Louie Fuller and Loïe Fuller, was an American dancer and a pioneer of modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques.
Auguste Rodin said of her, "Lo ...
to perform at the
Théâtre des Arts. Another ''Salome'' ballet was composed by the Japanese composer
Akira Ifukube
was a Japanese composer. He is best known for composing several entries in the Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' franchise as well as developing the Godzilla, titular monster's roar.
Biography Early years in Hokkaido
Akira Ifukube was born o ...
in 1948. Danish choreographer
Flemming Flindt's ballet ''Salome'' with music by
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music.
As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...
premiered in 1978.
Poetry
In "Salome" (1896) by the Greek poet
Constantine Cavafy, Salome instigates the death of John the Baptist as part of a futile effort to get the interest of "a young
sophist
A sophist () was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics and mathematics. They taught ''arete'', "virtue" or "excellen ...
who was indifferent to the charms of love". When Salome presents to him John's head, the sophist rejects it, remarking in jest "Dear Salome, I would have liked better to get your own head". Taking the jest seriously, the hopelessly infatuated Salome lets herself be beheaded, and her head is duly brought to the sophist, who however rejects it in disgust and turns back to studying the Dialogues of
Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
.
Other music
A descriptive piano piece by
Mel Bonis entitled ''Salomé'' (1909) is part of her series, .
Archibald Joyce composed three 'valses orientales' throughout his career: ''Vision of Salome'' (1909), ''Passing of Salome'' (1912), and ''Phantom of Salome'' (1945).
Film
Wilde's ''Salome'' has often been made into a film, notably a
1923 silent film, ''Salome'', starring
Alla Nazimova
Alla Aleksandrovna Nazimova (, born Marem-Ides Leventon; June 3 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. May 22 1879 – July 13, 1945) was a Russian-American actress, director, producer and scre ...
in the title role and a 1988
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films were mainly liberal adaptations of ...
play-within-a-film treatment, ''
Salome's Last Dance'', which also includes Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas as characters.
Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff (born Leslie Steven Berks; 3 August 1937) is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director.
As a theatre maker he is recognised for staging work with a heightened performance style known as "Be ...
filmed his stage version of the play in 1992.
In the 1950 film ''
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...
'', the principal character
Norma Desmond is portrayed as writing a screenplay for a silent film treatment of the legend of Salome, attempting to get the screenplay produced, and performing one of the scenes from her screenplay after going mad.
She was portrayed by
Jayalalitha in the
1973 film Jesus.
Among the numerous art references in
Dario Argento
Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. His influential work in the horror film, horror and giallo genres during the 1970s and 1980s has led him to being referred to as the "Master of the ...
's 1977 film, ''
Suspiria
''Suspiria'' is a 1977 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Dario Argento, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daria Nicolodi, partially based on Thomas De Quincey's 1845 essay '' Suspiria de Profundis''. The film stars Jessica Harper ...
'', we can see four of
Aubrey Beardsley
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( ; 21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. ...
's illustrations for
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
's 1891 tragedy,
''Salome''.
Other Salome films include:
* ''
Salomé'' (1918), starring
Theda Bara
Theda Bara ( ; born Theodosia Burr Goodman; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American silent film and stage actress. Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her femme fatal ...
in the title role.
Flavius Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing ''The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Judaea ...
was credited for the story.
* ''
Salomé'' (1953), starring
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer, and Pin-up model, pin-up girl. She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of ...
in the title role.
* ''
Salomé'' (1972), starring
Carmelo Bene
Carmelo Pompilio Realino Antonio Bene (1 September 1937 – 16 March 2002) was an Italian actor, poet, film director, and screenwriter. He was an important exponent of the Italian avant-garde theatre and cinema.
In 1968, his movie Our Lady ...
and
Donyale Luna in the title role.
* ''
Salome
Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...
'' (1986), a French-Italian production.
* ''
Salomé'' (2002), directed by
Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura Atarés (4 January 1932 – 10 February 2023) was a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. With Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be among Spain's great filmmakers. He had a long and prolific career th ...
, using
flamenco
Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...
dance.
* ''
Salome
Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...
'' (2013), a film by
Al Pacino
Alfredo James Pacino ( ; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Known for his intense performances on stage and screen, Pacino is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. His career spans more than five decades, duri ...
. Salomé is played by
Jessica Chastain
Jessica Michelle Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in projects with Feminism, feminist themes, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Jessica Chastain, various ...
.
See also
*
List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources
These are biblical figures unambiguously identified in contemporary sources according to scholarly consensus. Biblical figures that are identified in artifacts of questionable authenticity, for example the Jehoash Inscription and the bullae of B ...
*
List of names for the biblical nameless
Some people who appear to be unnamed in the Bible have been given names in history and traditions.
Hebrew Bible Serpent of Genesis
Revelation 12 is thought to identify the Serpents in the Bible#Eden, serpent with Satan, unlike the pseudepigraph ...
Notes
References
Further reading
* Gillman, Florence Morgan (2003). ''Herodias: At Home in the Fox's Den''. Interfaces. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press.
* Claudel, Paul-André (2013). ''Salomé: Destinées imaginaires d'une figure biblique'', Paris: Ellipses.
* Neginsky, Rosina (2013). ''Salome: The Image of a Woman Who Never Was; Salome: Nymph, Seducer, Destroyer.'' Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
External links
Video Lecture on Salomeby Dr. Henry Abramson
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