Rescuing the Damsel in the Brothel: Folk Tale Responses to Hadrian's Persecution

Hope Blacker, UCLA

During Hadrian's religious persecution both those who preached Torah and those who public ally proclaimed the Risen Christ were executed. Their female relatives were sent to brothels. This was as much an economic strategy as one designed to degrade the subject peoples: The Roman Imprerium considered prostitution an important sources of revenue. In response, we see two folk tales about women being rescued from the brothel, one in the Talmud and one in the writings of Ambrose. In the Talmud tale, Bruria, the sister of the woman consigned to a brothel, persuades her husband, Rabbi Haniah, to bribe the guards to release her sister. Before rescuing her, he tests her to see if she refuses customers. Commentary has held that he was testing her to find out if she was still a virgin. I do not think the audience for this tale was naive enough to believe it was possible to retain virginity in a slave brothel. I think, rather, he is testing her to find out if she has retained chaste values. They then take off, pursued by Roman soldiers. The prophet Elijah appears disguised as a harlot (!) and rescues the couple. In the Christian tale, a Roman soldier rescues the damsel by assuming her clothes and giving her his clothes. Thus disguised, she escapes. This tale, which has counterparts in Chinese folk tradition, may be a Christianization of an earlier story. Both traditions use folk tales to counter the degradation of being unable to protect their womenfolk from the horrors of brothel slavery. Both tales provide the modern exegete with examples of how prostitution was interpreted in respective cultures and study of these stories adds to our understanding of the construct of gender in antiquity

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