Trojan Horses: The Counterintuitive Use of Dinah, Helen, and Goliath in Joseph and Aseneth

Abstract

A primary theme of the first story in Joseph and Aseneth (Jos. Asen. 1–21) is the conversion of an Egyptian to the worship of the living God, motivated by romantic attraction. In this respect, Joseph and Aseneth is one among many ancient novelistic writings to use a story about intermarriage, in this case the marriage of a Hebrew to an Egyptian, as a means to explore themes related to hybridity. Though different in tone, I propose that the second story (Jos. Asen. 22–29) is equally concerned with hybridity and that it can likewise be read as expressing an intercultural sensibility that is open to gentile incorporation and intermarriage through its imitation—and subversion—of literary models from two different cultural domains, the Jewish Scriptures (the rape of Dinah; the slaying of Goliath) and classical Greek literature (the abduction of Helen).