ÎNTRE NUME ȘI DISIMULAREA IDENTITĂȚII. CARTEA ESTERA ÎN PERSPECTIVĂ COMPARATIVĂ
BETWEEN NAME AND THE CONCEALMENT OF IDENTITY: THE BOOK OF EASTHER IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Summary/Abstract: In the literature of the ancient Near East, the names of gods, human heroes, monsters, and all characters in general have different meanings through their etymology and through their roles in the narrative. The name of God is absent in the Book of Esther. In some instances, a character is associated with a multitude of names or titles that are symbolically meaningful or, conversely, a character is associated with a multitude of names of which one is hidden. All these are mechanisms by which the author intends to convey some meaning that is not evident at the surface level of the narrative and that points to some complexity of identity and cultural affiliation or to a conflict between visible and hidden identity. In the Book of Esther, the heroine hides not only her Jewish identity and original name, Hadassah; she also takes a name that allows her to integrate more easily into the Achaemenid Persian context. In this sense, the concealment of identity and the variety of names attributed to a character are common in Mesopotamian literature.

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