Noble Death and Dynasty: A Popular Tradition from the Hasmonean Period in Josephus

The First Book of Maccabees ends its historical narrative with the murder of Simon at the hands of his son-in-law, Ptolemy. Flavius Josephus offers a more elaborate narrative of the same event. According to his account, Ptolemy took Simon’s wife and two of his sons as hostages and tormented them whe...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:  
Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Wilker, Julia (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
Verfügbarkeit prüfen: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Lade...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Veröffentlicht: Brill 2017
In: Journal for the study of Judaism
Jahr: 2017, Band: 48, Heft: 1, Seiten: 69-91
weitere Schlagwörter:B 1 Maccabees Flavius Josephus Hasmoneans John Hyrcanus Hasmonean women martyrdom
Online Zugang: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallele Ausgabe:Nicht-Elektronisch
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:The First Book of Maccabees ends its historical narrative with the murder of Simon at the hands of his son-in-law, Ptolemy. Flavius Josephus offers a more elaborate narrative of the same event. According to his account, Ptolemy took Simon’s wife and two of his sons as hostages and tormented them when John Hyrcanus besieged him in the fortress of Doq. Josephus praises Simon’s wife for taking a heroic stance and stresses her willingness to die for the dynasty. A close analysis of the story suggests that Josephus drew on a popular tradition that emerged shortly after the historical events and adopted stylistic and narratological elements commonly associated with martyrdom stories. The story thus offers insights into dynastic representation in the early Hasmonean period and indicates that the wife of Simon played a prominent role in the propaganda and self-fashioning of the new ruling house.
ISSN:1570-0631
Enthält:In: Journal for the study of Judaism
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700631-12341136