Some of King Herod’s servants are out on the terrace of his palace during a banquet with Roman officials. Two of these servants, the Page of Herodias and the Young Syrian guard, observe that the moon has an unusual appearance that evening. While the Page worries that the moon looks like a corpse, the Young Syrian thinks that it looks like a princess with golden eyes. The Young Syrian is also distracted by watching the Princess Salomé, who is inside attending the banquet. He points out that she looks very pale. Beneath the palace in a cistern, in which the prophet Jokanaan is imprisoned for condemning Herod’s new wife, Herodias. Herodias was previously married to Herod’s brother, who Herod ordered to be strangled in prison, and Jokanaan describes her remarriage as incest. The servants listen to Jokanaan’s prophecies of a coming savior and they discuss their own religious backgrounds. The Page worries that the Young Syrian is watching the princess Salomé too much.

Salomé leaves the banquet, having grown tired of Herod watching her, and comes out onto the terrace. She is intrigued by the

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