Bringing Ancient Greek and Hebrew Literature into Conversation -
An International Conference.
July 6-8 2026, Yearim Hotel, Maaleh Hachamishah, Israel.
Sponsored by Bar Ilan University and the Departments of Classical Studies and Bible.

What might become visible if classical Greek literature and Biblical Hebrew literature were read as mutually illuminating corpora rather than as isolated traditions? This conference aims to bring these two traditions into relationship by exploring common literary forms and themes. Questions that animate the project include (among others):

Narrative theology and heroic ethics
Law, kingship, and divine authority
Nostos and exile traditions
Wisdom literature and philosophical prose
Prophecy
Comparative poetics
Mourning, honor, and status
Religious practices and conceptions (think less monotheism versus polytheism and more tuma’ah versus miasma)
The Hellenistic synthesis of Greek and Hebrew culturesnternation Congress: Bringing Ancient Greek and Hebrew Literature into Conversation

 

​My paper, with the title: 'Heroic Ethos and mythological elements in the story of Samson' has been selected to participate in this conference. I will be giving my lezture online on the evening of the 8th of July.

​

Here an abstract of my lecture:

​

Samson is among the biblical heroes most frequently associated with Greek mythological traditions, particularly with the figure of Heracles. The parallels between the two figures have long been recognized in scholarship. One of the most striking correspondences is the motif of lion-slaying: the first of Heracles’ canonical Twelve Labors finds a clear analogue in Samson’s encounter with the lion. Moreover, the presence of a Heracles-like heroic figure in the Near East predates the advent of Hellenistic cultural influence, as attested by the cult of Melqart, the syncretic deity of Tyre, whose worship is documented from the early first millennium B.C.E.

This study examines a broader feature of Greek heroic traditions, namely the motif of divine parentage, whether derived from the paternal or maternal line. The Samson narrative appears to engage critically with the concept of divine ancestry. The text devotes considerable—and arguably disproportionate—attention to the question of Samson’s parentage and to the role of the angel as a divine messenger. The uncertainty expressed by Manoah concerning the relationship between his wife and the angel further contributes to an intentionally ambiguous representation of Samson’s origins.

This study argues that such ambiguity is deliberate, allowing readers of diverse religious backgrounds to recognize Samson as a heroic figure without requiring the exclusion of possible non-Israelite or foreign traditions that may have contributed to the emergence of the narrative. In particular, the possibility cannot be ruled out that local, archaic traditions of veneration were associated with Samson as a regional heroic figure.

At the same time, the narrative introduces the institution of Nazirite consecration as a functional substitute for divine lineage. Through this framework, Samson’s extraordinary abilities are grounded not in hereditary divinity but in ritual consecration, thereby integrating the hero into the monotheistic legal and theological tradition. The narrative consequently permits the attribution of supernatural qualities to its protagonist without recourse to divine parentage. At the same time, this mechanism provides a means of incorporating what appears to be an important Danite heroic tradition into the broader narrative of the Hebrew people, at an early stage in the formation of Israelite collective identity.

​

The paper will be published soon