gstafleu

Err... isn't that a bit of a non-sequitur? At this point we don't even know if Cucumber Guy existed, so it would seem hard to take that uncertainty as a ground for such a Herculean claim.

The word "really" is a bit problematic, BTW. Say we find a Hercules, but he didn't manage to capture Cerberus. Would that still count as a real Hercules? How about a version that didn't really do any of the 12 labors, but was a really wild and hunky guy nevertheless?

Gerard Stafleu

pkropotkin

I find this thesis pretty hard to swallow, Betiah would be melon and Athronges would be a Ethrog or Citron. They don't seem comparable at all, and I doubt one would describe someone with big fists as Citrons, though melons makes more sense. Therefore I don't think there is any relation at all between these two supposed persons. Athronges' name might have come about because the Citron is thought to be the "majestic tree" of Leviticus 23:40. A majestic tree linked with Sukkot is a good name for a tall man with messianic claims. I know that the Ethrog and Lulav were very popular themes on coins during the Jewish revolt.

I guess, I don't also know how Rapoport knows that these stories about Ben Batiah predate the nephew of Johanan ben Zakkai, who was supposedly a leader of the Sicari during the first Jewish Revolt. I'm guessing that this is Solomon Judah Löb Rapoport(d. 1867), and the Jewish Encyclopedia is the public domain version from 1906, does this thesis have any modern credibility? It seems to me that the sources of these stories are actually written at the earliest at the end of the second century, all the stories could have started with someone from the Jewish revolt, which seems more plausible to me.