[Avodah] Sodom bed [was Torah Homeschooling|
Yitzhak Grossman
celejar at gmail.com
Thu Jun 18 12:38:45 PDT 2009
On Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:41:11 EDT
T613K at aol.com wrote:
...
> With a bit of research I could find a lot of examples of parallel stories
> in Jewish and non-Jewish ancient sources, but it's late and I'm tired so I
> will just mention a few that pop into my head, and the erudite talmidei
> chachamim (and secular historians) who people these august pages will surely
> be able to cite chapter and verse and correct my mistakes if I have messed
> up some details.
>
> A. Romulus and Remus, twins suckled by she-wolf -- founders of Rome
http://books.google.com/books?id=6MGM64ceEYAC&pg=PA29
> B. Phoenix -- bird that dies in fire and is reborn from the ashes
> C. Salamander that is immune to fire
http://www.jewishpress.com/pageroute.do/22677/
> D. Adonis or Narcissus -- handsome man who sees his reflection in water
> and falls in love with his own image
I'm not sure what you have in mind here; perhaps the story of Shimon B.
Shetah and the Nazir?
http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A9%D7%9E%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%9F_%D7%94%D7%A6%D7%93%D7%99%D7%A7#.D7.A0.D7.96.D7.99.D7.A8_.D7.A6.D7.93.D7.A7
or
www.kitzur.com/22mpj
But in that story, the Nazir didn't exactly fall in love with his
image; rather, he felt an overwhelming temptation toward sin.
> E. All twelve signs of the Zodiac
In any event, the examples you give are very different from my point
about the stories of the beds of Procrustes and Sedom. The former are
merely instances of beliefs common to Hazal and gentiles, the existence
of which is hardly surprising; the latter is a narrative which appears
in one form as an organic part of Greek mythology, and in another as an
organic Talmudic Aggadah about a Biblical narrative.
Yitzhak
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