Le massacre des Innocents ou comment réécrire l’histoire

The “Slaughter of the Innocents” committed by King Herod of Judea, is an event whose fame owes as much to the fascination generated by such an act of barbarism as to the functional role played by this episode in Christian literature by providing the date of birth of Jesus. The paper shows that this...

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Main Author: Édith Parmentier
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Presses universitaires de Caen 2024-12-01
Series:Kentron
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/kentron/7584
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author Édith Parmentier
author_facet Édith Parmentier
author_sort Édith Parmentier
collection DOAJ
description The “Slaughter of the Innocents” committed by King Herod of Judea, is an event whose fame owes as much to the fascination generated by such an act of barbarism as to the functional role played by this episode in Christian literature by providing the date of birth of Jesus. The paper shows that this massacre has no historical existence. This is demonstrated through an analysis of the sources themselves and their historical contextualization. We begin by examining the contradictions and textual manipulations to which the event has been subjected in Christian tradition. We then consider the historical framework of the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Near East, whose brutal dynastic practices lent credibility to the murder of children in Judea. Finally, the Greco-Roman cultural environment which transmitted this fiction in Antiquity turned it into a commonplace, amalgamating themes of various origins in accordance with the typical phenomenon of black legends. In modern times, these mechanisms have enabled the symbolic reinvestment by the collective memory of a massacre that never took place.
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spelling doaj-art-3688af750c16458bbf839c6443605aab2025-01-30T12:31:37ZfraPresses universitaires de CaenKentron0765-05902264-14592024-12-013911913610.4000/12yp7Le massacre des Innocents ou comment réécrire l’histoireÉdith ParmentierThe “Slaughter of the Innocents” committed by King Herod of Judea, is an event whose fame owes as much to the fascination generated by such an act of barbarism as to the functional role played by this episode in Christian literature by providing the date of birth of Jesus. The paper shows that this massacre has no historical existence. This is demonstrated through an analysis of the sources themselves and their historical contextualization. We begin by examining the contradictions and textual manipulations to which the event has been subjected in Christian tradition. We then consider the historical framework of the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Near East, whose brutal dynastic practices lent credibility to the murder of children in Judea. Finally, the Greco-Roman cultural environment which transmitted this fiction in Antiquity turned it into a commonplace, amalgamating themes of various origins in accordance with the typical phenomenon of black legends. In modern times, these mechanisms have enabled the symbolic reinvestment by the collective memory of a massacre that never took place.https://journals.openedition.org/kentron/7584Augustusabstinence of porkAncient JudaismEusebius of CaesareaGospelsHerod
spellingShingle Édith Parmentier
Le massacre des Innocents ou comment réécrire l’histoire
Kentron
Augustus
abstinence of pork
Ancient Judaism
Eusebius of Caesarea
Gospels
Herod
title Le massacre des Innocents ou comment réécrire l’histoire
title_full Le massacre des Innocents ou comment réécrire l’histoire
title_fullStr Le massacre des Innocents ou comment réécrire l’histoire
title_full_unstemmed Le massacre des Innocents ou comment réécrire l’histoire
title_short Le massacre des Innocents ou comment réécrire l’histoire
title_sort le massacre des innocents ou comment reecrire l histoire
topic Augustus
abstinence of pork
Ancient Judaism
Eusebius of Caesarea
Gospels
Herod
url https://journals.openedition.org/kentron/7584
work_keys_str_mv AT edithparmentier lemassacredesinnocentsoucommentreecrirelhistoire