Η ΕΝΔΟΟΙΚΟΓΕΝΕΙΑΚΗ ΒΙΑ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΩΝ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΩΝ ΩΣ ΑΙΤΙΑ ΑΓΙΟΚΑΤΑΤΑΞΗΣ ΤΟΥΣ ΣΤΗ ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΗ ΑΓΙΟΛΟΓΙΑ

• Authors: Panagopoulos Spyros P.

Title variants

Domestic violence against women as a reason for their canonization in Byzantine Hagiography

• Languages of publication: EL

Abstracts

EN

Domestic violence against women is a taboo topic, normally silenced or ignored in the literature, though socially accepted as a common way of male control over woman in the familiar context. In early Christian literature, it is difficult to find cases of violent behavior, as Christian moral principles could potentially help to conceal domestic violence against women, as it would be illegal and would offend the hierarchs’ statements to avoid violence. The lives of Matrona of Perge, Mary the Younger, and Thomaïs of Lesbos are rare examples of how domestic violence against women could be also interpreted as a reason to sanctify the woman who suffered abuses of this sort. Through the study of these three hagiographical texts, we will observe married life and its difficulties during the Middle Ages, when women actually had to submit to men, thus putting into practice the words of the Apostle Paul, “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord” (Ephes. 5,22).

Keywords

EN

BYZANTINE HAGIOGRAPHY; FEMALE SAINTS; DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; GENDER STUDIES; SANCTIFICATION

• Publisher: Univerzita Konštantína Filozofa v Nitre
• Journal: Konštantínove listy
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 61 - 70

Contributors

author

Panagopoulos Spyros P.

• Byzantine and Patristic Studies, Georgiou Zografou 76, Gr-15772 Zografou Athens, Greece

Identifiers

DOI

10.17846/CL.2021.14.2.61-70