Jonathan Cahana-Blum is a Post Doc. at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Karmen MacKendrick is Professor of Philosophy at Le Moyne College, NY.

Contents INTRODUCTION 7 Karmen MacKendrick and Jonathan Cahana AESCHYLUS PERSIANS Empathizing with the Enemy, or Orientalizing Them? 11 Manuela Giordano REVELATION AT THE LIMIT Mystery and Matter after the Valentinians 27 Karmen MacKendrick DECOLONIZING ANCIENT SEXUALITY Three Case Studies 47 Jonathan Cahana-Blum MYTHS AS CULTURAL VECTORS Some reflections on Ancient Greece and Modern Eth nographic Traditions 57 Luca Pucci LIBERATING LEVI A Cultural-Evolutionary Approach to Aramaic and Greek Levi Beyond Denominational Essentialism 75 Jessica van t Westeinde RELIGION AND POLITICS IN THE JEWISH-CHRISTIAN WAR IN SIXTH-CENTURY HIMYAR 97 Pieter W. van der Horst THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA Sanctity of Body and Soul in Augustine 107 Makiko Sato A FLUIDITY OF CANON AND TEXTUAL CRITICISM IN THE WORKS OF ORIGEN 117