Harvard divinity professor Amy Hollywood examined the multiple roles of Mary Magdalene for the annual Suzanne Zantop Memorial Lecture Monday.
Photo: Andy Foust/The Dartmouth Staff
Harvard Divinity School professor Amy Hollywood analyzed conflicting interpretations of Mary Magdalene for the annual Suzanne Zantop Memorial Lecture, given in honor of Zantop, who was murdered in 2001. Hollywood originally intended to discuss Magdalene’s actions during Christ’s crucifixion but hoped to speak on “something more hopeful that would bring us forward in the memory of Suzanne,” she said. Zantop, a professor of German and comparative literature, and her husband, Half Zantop, a professor of earth sciences, were murdered in their home in 2001.
Hollywood, who specializes in Christian thought, mysticism and feminist theory, examined the contradictory roles of the biblical sisters Mary and Martha Magdalene, basing most of her lecture on various medieval interpretations of a passage in the gospel of Luke.
Hollywood noted that medieval interpretations of Mary and Martha Magdalene conflict — some interpretations relate the sisters to the Old Testament figures Rachel and Leah, while others see Mary and Martha as allegories for philosophy and action, respectively.
“When you’re talking about Mary Magdalene of the Middle Ages, you’re talking about all these compilations of all these different gospel accounts,” Hollywood said.
Hollywood also discussed the role of women in early medieval religious life, emphasizing the restrictions placed on the actions of religious women.
“The view was, if a woman’s out there and she doesn’t have a male with her, she’s going to start having sex with somebody, whether by accident or on purpose,” Hollywood said.
The Suzanne Zantop lecture series was created in 2002 by faculty and students in the comparative literature department to commemorate the murdered professor. Zantop and her husband were stabbed to death in their Etna, N.H., home in 2001. Robert Tulloch, then 18, was found guilty of the murders and sentenced to life in prison. James Parker, then 17, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to being an accomplice in the murders and testifying against Tulloch.
Tulloch and Parker said they were looking for money to fund a trip to Australia and gained entrance to the Zantop residence by claiming they were conducting an environmental study. Half Zantop, who prided himself on his hospitality towards students, allowed the students to enter the residence, The New York Times reported.
Suzanne Zantop was a guiding force behind the establishment of the College’s Masters program in comparative literature, according to Wanda Bachman, the administrative assistant for the Comparative Literature Program.
Graduate students in the Comparative Literature Program meet each year to discuss possible candidates for the Zantop Memorial Lecture, graduate student Carson Thomas said. The students chose Hollywood based on her reputation in her field and her skill as a lecturer, Thomas said.
