Alexamenos & The Donkey's Head: Interpretation
Intepretation The inscription is accepted by authoritative sources, such as the Catholic Encyclopedia, [ 18 ] to be a mocking depiction of a Christian in the act of worship. The donkey's head and crucifixion would both have been considered insulting depictions by contemporary Roman society. Crucifixion continued to be used as an execution method for the worst criminals until its abolition by the emperor Constantine in the 4th century, and the impact of seeing a figure on a cross is comparable to the impact today of portraying a man with a hangman's noose around his neck or seated in an electric chair. [ 19 ] It seems to have been commonly believed at the time that Christians practiced onolatry (donkey-worship). That was based on the misconception that Jews worshipped a god in the form of a donkey, a prejudice of unclear origin. Tertullian , writing in the late 2nd or early 3rd century, reports that Christians, along with Jews, were accused of worshipping such a deity....
