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>G.R.S. Mead noted that the name Helene was philologically interchangeable with Selene and that from there that Salome was translated into Selene. It is clear from the context of many story elements that the final editors of both Life of Jesus and Life of Christ identified Helene with Salome, although a footnote in Life of Christ also seems to confuse her with the first century CE queen, Helena of Abiadne. Mead also noted that his identification was problematic because the queen acted as if her Jewish advisers belonged to a religion she knew nothing about. As far as I know, no one so far has suggested the she could be the Seleucid and Ptolemic queen of Syria, Cleopatra Selene, who, despite the Judean-centered setting the Toledot stories present, would have been closer to Jesus’ Galilean jurisdiction than Salome
>The Gospel of John tells a story about Jesus meeting a Samaritan woman by the Well of Jacob and is able to prophesize that she had been married five times. Robert M. Price has suggested that the five marriages could be a reference to Simon Magus’ companion, Helene, who had formerly been a prostitute, and like Simon, a Samaritan. However, this episode may have an even earlier connection to the Toledot story because, 1) Cleopatra Selene owned the Stone of Jacob, and 2) Cleopatra Selene did have five husbands since the two kingdoms she represented at different points in her life were constantly being forced to forge new alliances due to the political instability. Then, just as Cleopatra Selene became confused as Salome and Helena of Abiadne, the Johannine editors confused her with Simon’s companion Helene, and made her a Samaritan
>Since both Selene and Salome both ruled during the final days of crumbling empires that would eventually be conquered by the Romans, it would make sense for story writers to romanticize personal conversations Jesus might have had with them, comparing their fallen worldly kingdoms to Jesus’ heavenly kingdom
