In the Western imagination Judas Iscariot has always been the archetypal traitor - whether in legend, art of literature. The name Judas stands for the paradigm of evil ready to undermine good from within. In this book, Hyam Maccoby explores the character and story of Judas Iscariot in order to disentangle the historical from the fictitious, and to assess the power as well as the purpose of the myth of Judas the betrayer. Maccoby traces the development of the myth from the Gospels themselves - where a bare idea of the Betrayer changes from Gospel to Gospel growing into a burgeoning saga: to the Middle Ages when a full-blown Judas-saga developed; and finally to the deadly part played by the figure of Judas Iscariot in modern anti-semitic post-Christian movements. Hyam Maccoby is well known as a lecturer, reviewer and writer who has aroused debate amongst scholars and laymen. He is the author of Revolution in Judaea, The Sacred Executioner, The Myth Maker and the controversial television play The Disputation.