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HERODES1. Called Herod the Great, he was king of Judaea from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C. He had several of his own family executed: his wife in 29 B.C. and her mother within a year; his two sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, in 7 B.C.; and his eldest son, Antipater, in 4 B.C. In that year he also had executed all the students who took part in a protest against his Romanization policies. Just before he died, there was a rumor that he had invited all the notable men to the temple in Jerusalem and had them executed, but this proved untrue. It is understandable that the story of the Slaughter of the Innocents should be told of Herod the Great (Matthew 2:1-18).

Absolon plays Herod on the high scaffold or stage in the hope of impressing Alison, MillT 3383-3384. The lines may possibly refer to the play Herodes or to a play about Herod, the Magi, and the Innocents. If the lines refer to Herod of the Passion plays, then Herod Antipas is meant (see next entry). [Absolon2: Herodes2]

Herodes, the ME form in accusative case, occurs medially, MillT 3384.


The Fleury Play of Herod, ed. T. Bailey; A.H.M. Jones, The Herods of Judaea, 1-155.
From CHAUCER NAME DICTIONARY
Copyright © 1988, 1996 Jacqueline de Weever
Published by Garland Publishing, Inc., New York and London.

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