What a biblical book may share with 'Fifty Shades of Grey'

Fan fiction thrives online: amateur writers dreaming up new stories based on their favorite characters, from “Star Wars” to “Grey’s Anatomy.” In recent years, fanfic has even ventured offline. The massively popular “Fifty Shades of Grey” franchise, for example, began life as fanfic of the preteen series “Twilight.”

But it’s not a new phenomenon. Storytellers have always been inspired by other storytellers. That even happened thousands of years ago.

Purim, the carnival-like Jewish holiday that celebrates the story of Queen Esther saving Jews in ancient Persia, begins this evening. Esther Brownsmith, an aptly named religious studies scholar at the University of Dayton, explains the surprising similarities between Queen Esther’s story and earlier Mesopotamian myths.

Thinking about the Purim story as a kind of fanfic, Brownsmith argues, teaches us something about the power of stories. From ancient scribes in the Near East to American teens today, people have long enjoyed seeing their own experiences and identities reflected back on page or screen – writing ourselves into beloved tales.

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