Part of
The Reality of Women in the Universe of the Ancient NovelEdited by María Paz López Martínez, Carlos Sánchez-Moreno Ellart and Ana Belén Zaera García
[IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature 40] 2023
► pp. 297–328
Women feature prominently in hagiography, either as authors or as protagonists or minor characters. Their social, economic, and cultural condition vary greatly in these works as well as their work and family situations. This diversity seems to be a reflection of “reality”, even in stories that aim at moral and spiritual development. Women occur both in private and public contexts and in both instances they may reach holiness, even though some circumstances require a supposedly manly strength. Women’s potentialities and values are depicted in a positive light by hagiography.