The Life of Herod the Great

A never before published novel from beloved author Zora Neale Hurston, revealing the historical Herod the Great--not the demon the Bible makes him out to be but a religious and philosophical man who lived a life of adventure. In the 1950s, after the publication of Moses, Man of the Mountain, Zora Neale Hurston penned a historical novel reconsidering the life of one of the most-well known Biblical figures, Herod the Great, reimagining him in a very different light than his villainous portrayal in the New Testament. In Hurston's retelling, Herod is a forerunner of Christ--a religious and philosophical man who enriched Jewish culture and lived a life of adventure. From the peaks of triumph to the depths of human misery, the historical Herod "seemed to have been singled out by some deity and especially endowed to attract the zigzag lightning of fate," Hurston writes. An intimate of both Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, the Judean king lived in a time of war and imperial expansion that was rife with political assassinations and bribery, as the old world gave way to the new. Setting him within this vivid, colorful world little known to modern readers, Hurston's unfinished manuscript brings this complex, compelling, and misunderstood leader fully into focus. Hurston had been writing to friends about how she would end the novel; text from three of these letters concludes the manuscript in an intimate way. Scholar Deborah Plant contributes "Commentary: A Story Finally Told" as an end note underscoring Hurston's point about how reimagining figures from the past can address the troubles we experience today.
A never before published novel from beloved author Zora Neale Hurston, revealing the historical Herod the Great--not the villain the Bible makes him out to be but a religious and philosophical man who lived a life of valor and vision. In the 1950s, as a continuation of Moses, Man of the Mountain, Zora Neale Hurston penned a historical novel about one of the most infamous figures in the Bible, Herod the Great. In Hurston's retelling, Herod is not the wicked ruler of the New Testament who is charged with the "slaughter of the innocents," but the forerunner of Christ--a beloved king who enriched Jewish culture and brought prosperity and peace to Judea. From the peaks of triumph to the depths of human misery, the historical Herod "seemed to have been singled out by some deity and especially endowed to attract the zigzag lightning of fate," Hurston writes. An intimate