The Wiles of Women/the Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore [Hardcover]

Shalom Goldman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1995

One of the world's oldest recorded folktales tells the story of a handsome young man and the older woman in whose house he resides. Overcome by her feelings for him, the woman attempts to seduce him. When he turns her down she is enraged, and to her husband she accuses the young man of attacking her. The husband, seemingly convinced of his wife's innocence, has the young man punished. But it is precisely that punishment that leads to the hero's vindication and eventual rise to power and prominence.

In the West we know this tale--classified in folklore as the Potiphar's Wife motif--from its vivid narration in the Hebrew Bible. But as Shalom Goldman demonstrates in this book, the Bible's is only one telling of a story that appears in the scriptures and folklore of many peoples and cultures, in many different eras, including ancient Egypt, classical Greece, and ancient Mesopotamia, as well as post-Biblical Jewish literature, the Qur'an, and Inuit culture. Goldman compares and contrasts the treatment of this motif especially in the literature and lore of the ancient Near East, Biblical Israel, and early Islam, at the same time touching on gender issues--the status of women in Middle Eastern societies and the varying constructions of male-female relationships--and the vexed question of "originality" in the narratives of the monotheistic traditions.

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About the Author

Shalom Goldman is Assistant Professor of Hebrew Studies at Dartmouth College. He is also the author of Hebrew and the Bible in America and coauthored the libretto of the American opera Akhnaten, music by Philip Glass.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 189 pages
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791426831
• ISBN-13: 978-0791426838
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,979,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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This review is from: The Wiles of Women/the Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore (Paperback)

The Wiles of Women, The Wiles of Men, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern Jewish and Islamic Folklore by Shalom Goldman. One may be surprised to find a whole book written on a single event, in a single chapter 39 of Genesis, comprised of only 23 verses. But that's not the most of it, as this is the second such book written on that subject. The first was 'In Potiphar's House' by James Kugel. An even greater testament to the power of this story, and the Joseph story in general is Thomas Mann's Quartet of novels under the title of 'Joseph and His Brothers'.

If one were to select one over the other, I would say that is a very tough choice, but Goldman's book has a few advantages. The first is that it was written after Kugel's book, so it has the advantage of quoting from it. The second is its greater reference to Arabic sources, especially the Qur'an. And this predates the modern upsurge in interes therein, as the book was published in 1995.

Where Kugel limits himself largely to Jewish midrashic writings, Goldman scans a much broader field of writings which may have contributed to the writing of Joseph's encounter with Potipher's wife. He considers, for example the very similar Egyptian 'Story of Two Brothers', but notes how there are subtle differences, and another Egyptian story, 'The Romance of Sinuhe' is much closer (Note that 'The Romance of Sinuhe' was probably the basis for the 1954 film 'The Egyptian', whose hero was named Sinuhe.) He even goes so far as to draw a parallel with an episode in The Iliad regarding Bellerophone. I am always cautious when comparing Biblical stories and themes with Greek myth and literature, but Goldman is not implying influence, only the broad range of popularity for the story.

Rather, the contrast between the Hebrew and the Greek hero, between Achilles and Joseph, for example, is that one spurns the Gods and fails through hubris while the other benefits from his God's favor.

Like the text, the Bibliography is broad, bringing in both Jewish and Islamic sources. This is important, because it is truly amazing how a Jewish midrash story (appearing nowhere in the Hebrew Bible) crops up in the Qur'an. This is the story of how Potiphar's wife parades beautiful Joseph in front of her friends who (in modern terms) seem to be visiting for cocktails. They are so struck by his beauty that they cut themselves while slicing open fruit. One wonders how much Hebrew (or Aramaic) Mohammed read or read about as he was dictating the Qur'an.

The book is scholarly, yet very easy to read. It is the one to pick on the subject, unless your interest is limited to Jewish midrashic trends, where Kugel is your man.