In the Christian mythology, Salome was the daughter of Herodias and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas, emperor of Galilee in Palestine. Her infamy comes from the execution of St. John the Baptist's. The saint had severely condemned the marriage of Herodias and Herod Antipas, as Herodias was the divorced wife of Antipas's half brother Philip. Incensed, Herod therefore imprisoned John, but feared to have the well-known prophet killed. Herodias then pressed her daughter Salome to seduce her stepfather Herod with a dance, making him promise to give her whatever she wished. At her mother's behest, Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Unintentionally, Herod did her bidding, and Salome brought the platter to her mother. The play of Oscar Wilde became the source and inspiration for Richard Strauss's one-act opera also named Salome, which was first produced in 1905.
