Look, I don't want to get in a big to-do over this right now, but you may rest assured that all the "correct" Biblical scholars insist that Megillat 'Ester is a historical fable. Just look in any modern Bible with commentary or look online. Look up "Book of Esther" on Wikipedia.
Like I said, it's most people everywhere, very much including non-Orthodox Jews (some of whom don't even celebrate Purim, or at least didn't used to).
This is the natural result of declaring the opening chapters of the Torah mythology adapted from Babylonia and Canaan.
OK, ZC. I’m no scholar myself: far from it. I was just wondering if this view were confined to the radical de-mythologizers, or if it were more widespread. You answered that adequately. Thank you.