Creature features : monstrosity and the construction of human identity in the "Testament of Solomon"

Apart from the abbreviated gender reading of the Testament of Solomon by Todd Klutz in 2005, scholarly endeavors to apply modern hermeneutical methodology to the Testament have proven scant. The narrative’s abstruse story line, complex structure, and bizarre imagery are likely explanations for why scholars have been reluctant to make sense of the narrative’s final form. My aim here, therefore, is to continue breaking the ground started by Klutz. My reading of the Testament of Solomon draws on insights from masculinity and monster studies. What I argue is that, while Solomon’s ring grants him the power to control the supernatural fiends he lures to his realm, we find intimations of his struggle with self-control during his scenes with Ozybouth and the queen of Sheba that foreshadow his downfall in chap. 26. In making my case, what I submit is that the literary threads are in place to read this text as a collective unit and not simply as a compilation of independent sources.