Salome, a bad steward, our creation “Stewards are both a ruler and servant; they exist to please their master.” At what age? At what time of life, in what culture, is a person responsible for their choices? Do we have any real choices at all? Are victims, like puppets, responsible – even in a small part – for their actions? Salome’s name is never mentioned in the Bible. Not in Matthew 14: 13; not in Mark 6: 14; and not in Luke 9: 7-9, the narratives of John the Baptist’s beheading. Yet, her name is well-known through the ages, recognised instantly as a ‘fille fatale’ or a younger version of a femme fatale. Her image has become that of a living puppet; a creation that exists for the pleasures of others. Throughout the ages, from Oscar Wilde’s play of her name; Richard Strauss’ opera; Moreau’s painting, and the dance of the seven veils, Salome exists as an icon in male erotic musings and imaginings. Why is this image so well-known and so well-used? First, historically, she was a living, breathing person. The Jewish historian Josephus identifies her and her story is so embedded in our imaginings that she is put in by most readers within the Biblical accounts of John the Baptist’s beheading. Mark tells the story:
For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested…. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him… Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.