Nevertheless, Herod soon abandons the conversation he is having with his guests about religion and politics to try to persuade Salome to join him over wine and fruit.

Herod slips in the blood of the slain Syrian, which he recognizes as an omen. Aware that Salome is nearby, Herod, to his wife's disapproval, asks his slaves that the festivities be moved outside. Herod and Herodias enter, accompanied by their guests. Iokanaan, urging Salome to seek 'the Son of Man,' returns to the depths of the cistern.

Two soldiers rush to hide his body from Herod while the Page, infatuated with the Syrian, mourns the death of his dear friend. Upon seeing Salome's desire for Iokanaan, the Syrian becomes distraught and kills himself. Salome, finding that she is attracted to Iokanaan, begs him for a kiss, but he refuses, recognizing her as the daughter of Herodias, whose incestuous marriage he considers blasphemous. After dismissing the slave who comes to bring her back to the banquet, Salome convinces the Syrian to let her see the prophet by promising him that she will look at him the next day when she is traveling through the gateway of the idol-sellers. They explain that Iokanaan is the prophet who has been shouting 'terrible things' about Herodias, Salome's mother, and tell her that he is imprisoned in the palace cistern. She asks the Young Syrian and the Second Soldier questions about the body behind the voice. Upon hearing the shouting of Iokanaan, Salome becomes curious. Salome enters, explaining to the group on the balcony that she grew tired of the banquet, during which her step-father Herod was constantly staring at her.

When one of the men asks to see the prophet, another soldier explains that Herod has forbid anyone from visiting or even looking at his prisoner. The prophet is now imprisoned in the palace cistern, which one of the soldiers reveals is the same place Herod had his brother (who was his wife Herodias's husband at the time) imprisoned for twelve years before he had him strangled. One of the soldiers reveals that it is the voice of Iokanaan, a gentle prophet whom Herod had captured in the desert alongside his sizable following of disciples. They begin a conversation about religion, which is interrupted by an offstage voice shouting prophesies about the coming of the Messiah. While the Syrian and the Page discuss the moon, a figure for the princess Salome with whom the Syrian is infatuated, four soldiers discuss a group of Jews in Herod's court, who are loudly 'disputing their religion.' They become anxious that the Tetrarch is 'sombre' because he is looking at someone, and they try to determine who it is. Offstage, Herod is conducting a banquet with many international guests. The Young Syrian, the Page of Heroidias, and some soldiers are gathered on a balcony at King Herod's palace, overlooking a walled cistern (a well).

Salomé by oscar wilde