1. See Herrin, J., ‘In Search of Byzantine Women: Three Avenues of Approach’, in Images of Women in Antiquity, ed. Cameron, A. and Kuhrt, A. (London and Canberra 1983) 167–90;Google Scholar Grosdidier, J. de Matons, ‘La Femme dans l’Empire Byzantin’, in Histoire Mondiale de la Femme, ed. Grimal, P., III (Paris 1967) 11–43 Google Scholar, esp. 12; Pattagean, E., ‘L’histoire de la femme déguisée en moine et l’évolution de la sainteté féminine à Byzance’, Studi Medievali 3, ^eser., 17 (Spoleto 1976) 597–623 Google Scholar, esp. 623 (reprinted in Patlagean, E., Structure Sociale, Famille, Chrétienté’à Byzance (Variorum Reprints, London 1981) XI)Google Scholar.

2. See Oakley, A., Sex, Gender and Society (London 1972) esp. 158–72 Google Scholar.

3. There have been many attempts to provide a comprehensive definition of patriarchy, from seeing it as a purely economic system of subordination, to describing it as a fundamentally ideological structure. See respectively Engels, F., The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (New York 1972)Google Scholar; Mitchell, J., Psychoanalysis and Feminism (Harmondsworth 1975) esp. 412 Google Scholar. Between these two extreme positions other writers have sought more comprehensive definitions. See especially Hartmann, H., ‘The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a More Progressive Union’, in The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism, ed. Sargent, L. (London 1981) 1-41, esp. 14–19 Google Scholar; Firestone, S., The Dialectic of Sex (London 1979)Google Scholar; Janssen-Jurreit, M., Sexism. The Male Monopoly on History and Thought (London 1982) esp. 329 Google Scholar ff; Millet, K., Sexual Politics (London 1977) esp. 23–58 Google Scholar. Perhaps the definition which best succeeds in being both comprehensive and precise is the one formulated by C. Kaplan and expanded by D. Spender. Kaplan defines patriarchy as an order characterised by male dominance and the means — both actual and symbolic — of perpetuating that dominance. Spender adds to this her definition of ‘sexism’ as a term denoting particular manifestations of the order defined by Kaplan, so that examples of bias in favour of males — in language, for instance — is sexism. See D. Spender, Man Made Language (London, Boston and Henley 1980) 15.

4. Fox-Genovese, E., ‘Placing Women’s History in History’, New Left Revue 133 (June-July 1982) 5-29, esp. 15, 14–20 Google Scholar.

5. On the life and writings of Neophytos see Petit, L., ‘Vie et Ouvrages de Néophyte le Reclus’, EO 2 (1898-9) 257-68, 372 Google Scholar; I.P. Tsiknopoullos, Tô 22 (1958) 67-214; Mango, C. and Hawkins, E.J.., ‘The Hermitage of Saint Neophytos and its Wall Paintings’, DOP 20 (1966) 121–206 Google Scholar, esp. 122-9; Stiernon, D., ‘Néophyte le Reclus’, in Dictionnaire de Spiritualité, fase. LXXII-LXXIII (Paris 1981) 99–110 Google Scholar.

6. I will be dealing at greater length with the ways in which language and imagery are used in Neophytos to convey ‘male’ and ‘female’ characteristics, and with the social significance of the relative status of the sexes, in my Ph.D. thesis, ‘Neophytos the Recluse: A Cultural Study of a Byzantine Holy Man’, esp. in the sections ‘Woman made Female’ and ‘“ and all his Attributes’, and the chapters on Family and Sexuality.

7. This is not the place to enter into a debate as to the possible permutations of terms such as ‘culture’, ‘ideology’, ‘reality’, ‘symbolism’. However, a brief definition of some of these terms for the purpose of this essay will be useful. I understand ‘culture’ in the way best expressed by C. Geertz, ‘not as complexes of concrete behaviour patterns — customs, usages, traditions, habit clusters (…) — but as a set of control mechanisms — plans, recipes, rules, instructions (what computer engineers call “programs”) for this governing of behavior’: Geertz, C., The Interpretation of Cultures (London 1975) esp. 44, 3–54 Google Scholar. ‘Ideology’ I use in the sense of a set of beliefs and practises, generated through contradictions within the specific culture of which the ideology is part. Ideological consciousness functions by presenting these contradictions as non-contradictory, as ‘natural’. See generally Larrain, J., The Concept of Ideology (London 1979)Google Scholar; idem, Marxism and Ideology (London 1983); but especially Lovell, T., Pictures of Reality. Aesthetics, Politics, Pleasure. (London 1980) esp. 22 ff., 47–63 Google Scholar; Haldon, J.F., ‘Ideology and Social Change in the Seventh Century: Military Discontent as a Barometer’, Klio (1985 Google Scholar, forthcoming) (I am grateful to the latter for showing me this article in advance of publication). I understand ‘reality’ as being essentially a product of culture. See Berger, P. and Luckmann, T., The Social Construction of Reality. A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge (Harmondsworth 1967)Google Scholar.

8. Foucault, M., The History of Sexuality, I (London 1979) 81–102, esp. 94–95 Google Scholar.

9. Geertz, , The Interpretation of Cultures. 5 Google Scholar

10. Isolating from their context statements which appear to be ‘trivial’ in themselves, helps reveal the assumptions of wider significance which such statements may carry. This is a practise employed by social anthropologists and adopted by feminists as a ‘consciousness raising’ technique.

11. Scholars also point out that other, more popular Creation stories were available at the time of the editing of the Bible. These other stories were suppressed because they did not uphold the image of male supremacy. The same goes for the story of the Fall and the Flood. See Daly, M., Beyond God the Father. Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation (Boston 1974) 44–68 Google Scholar; Chiera, E., They Wrote on Clay (Chicago 1938) 118-34, esp. 119-25, 130–1 Google Scholar; Pagels, E., The Gnostic Gospels (Harmondsworth 1982) esp. 71–88 Google Scholar; Figes, E., Patriarchal Attitudes (London 1978) 35–65 Google Scholar; Stone, M., The Paradise Papers. The Suppression of Women’s Rites (London 1976) esp. 4-25, 119-43, 215–57 Google Scholar; Spender, , Man Made Language, 165–71 Google Scholar. See also Leach, E.R., ‘Genesis as Myth’, Discovery 23 (May 1962) 30-35, esp. 32–33 Google Scholar.

12. Church Fathers could thus refer to the story and conclude that equality between the sexes can only be a bad thing: John Chrysostom, MPG 51, 225-42, esp. 231. Similar statements in Gregory Theologos, MPG 37, 1542-50, esp. 1543. The story of Eve continues to provide moral justification for the subjection of female to male, to this day. See Campbell, J.K., Honour, Family and Patronage (Oxford 1964) 276-8, 150–4 Google Scholar; Boulay, J. du, Portrait of a Greek Mountain Village (Oxford 1974) 101 Google Scholar ff.; Th. Papadopoullos, (Nicosia 1975) 8-11, esp. 10.96-105.

13. So in Cod. Paris. Gr. 1189, fols. 30b-31a, fol. 51b; Cod. Athen. 522, fol. 42b; Cod. Lesb. Leim. 2, fol. 261b; Cod. Coisl. Gr. 287, fol. 39b; Cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr. 1317, fol. 121a; ed. Jugie, M. (‘Homélies Mariales Byzantines’, PO 15, [109]-[114]) [112]. 39-.40 Google Scholar (implied); ed. M.-H. Congourdeau VIII (Nicosia 1975-77) 139-56) 140.36-.46; thereafter abbreviated to Holy Lights.

14. ed. I.P. Tsiknopoullos ( 27 (1963) 75-117) 88-89.

15. Ibid., 88.2-.3. Neophytos was not alone in stressing that Eve’s deceit was directed against a male. To give only one example, Romanos the Melodist depicts Adam as saying that he is not pleased to hear Eve’s announcement of Christ’s birth: her voice is a woman’s voice and she might, as of old, deceive him. Later in the poem, Eve complains to Mary that Adam keeps blaming her for the Fall: Sancti Romani Melodi Cantica. Cantica Genuina, ed. P. Maas and C.A. Trypanis (Oxford 1963): On the Nativity II, 9-16, esp. 11.δ’-13.θ; thereafter abbreviated to Romani Cantica Genuina. Eve also appears as a deceiver in Cypriot folk songs. See (cited note 12).

16. E.G.: (Alexandria 1914) 157-231) 183.35-184.4; thereafter abbreviated to Hexaemeros. See also the Cypriot folk song above, 9.60; 10.100-.103. Note that in reproducing passages from manuscripts I have retained the original orthography.

17. It has been recently suggested that women in early thirteenth century Byzantine provincial society acted with considerable freedom of social movement; and that there was a high participation of powerful and independently-minded aristocratic women in politics. See Laiou, A., ‘The Role of Women in Byzantine Society’, XVI. International Byzantinistenkongress, Akten I/1, Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 31.1 (Vienna 1982) 233–60 Google Scholar, esp. 233-53; idem, ‘Addendum to the Report on the Role of Women in Byzantine Society’, ibid. II/l, 32.1, 198-204; Angelomatis-Tsougarakis, H.N., ‘Women in the Despotate of Epirus’, ibid. II/2, 32.2, 473–80 Google Scholar. The evidence, however, is too fragmentary to allow such conclusions to be drawn, and the above observations remain, therefore, as dubiously valid as any generalisation always is. For the opposite — and prevalent — view see Beaucamp, J., ‘La Situation Juridique de la Femme à Byzance’, Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale 20 (1977) 145-76, esp. 149-53, 175–6 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Buckler, G., ‘Women in Byzantine Law About 1100 A.D.’ B 11 (1936) 391-416, esp. 405-8, 411–2 Google Scholar; Grosdidier de Matons, ‘La Femme dans l’Empire Byzantin’ (cited note 1) 13-18.

18. ed. K.I. Dyovouniotis (Athens 1926) esp. 11.35-15.20; 16.7-.20; thereafter abbreviated to Chrysostom.

19. Chrysostom, 13.10; 11.35-.38, respectively.

20. Expressions of the witch figure are Circe the seductress, Medea the murderess, Ovid’s Dipsias, Aepulios’ Oenothea, Horace’s Canidia and Sagna. The literary tradition of the evil sorceress readily supported the later christian image of the witch. See Russel, J.B., A History of Witchcraft. Sorcerers, Heretics and Pagans (London 1980) 29–32 Google Scholar; Baroja, J. Caro, ‘Magic and Religion in the Classical world’, in Witchcraft and Sorcery, ed. Marwick, M. (Harmondsworth 1982) 73–80 Google Scholar. On the survival of pre-christian images of witchcraft in Byzantium, see e.g. the references to Lamias in children’s fairy tales, and to old women’s magic stories: Michael Psellos, ed. K.N. Sathas V (Venice 1876) 3-61) 17; idem, ed. Sathas, ibid. 289.

21. Basil’s Canon seventy-two, e.g., imposes on a magus the same epitimion as for a murderer: Basil, ed. Ralles, G. and Potles, M. IV (Athens 1854) 232–3)Google Scholar; see also 221-2; thereafter abbreviated to Syntagma. See also the Canons in Syntagma, IV, 250-2, 215. The epitimion is one of twenty years, while one of six years is imposed on one who resorts to magicians or keeps magic drugs at home. The latter is punishable by withdrawal of holy communion for five years according to the twenty-fourth Canon of the Synod of Ankara: Syntagma, III (Athens 1853) 66-68. Gregory of Nyssa’s third Canon places those who resort to magic on a par with the as having no christian faith: Syntagma, IV, 306-7: Gregory of Nyssa, MPG 45, 221-36, esp. 225-8. John Nysteutes specifically included — as did Basil — women amongst those who practised magic. He prescribes withdrawal of holy communion for three years, coupled with fasting and 250 daily metanoiai: Syntagma, IV, 434-5. Theodore Studios prescribed for those practising or resorting to magic withdrawal of holy communion for three years and 200 daily metaniai: Theodore Studios, Kano?new, MPG 99, 1721-9, esp. 1729, Canons twenty-six and twenty-seven. State punishments varied, from the death penalty to confiscation of property and exile, according to the precise nature of the offence. See Ph. Koukoules, 1/2 (Athens 1948) 126-36, 226-37; VI (Athens 1955) 319-25; thereafter abbreviated to Koukoules.

22. Chrysostom, 16.10-.18.

23. Circe is an archetypal bewitching seductress. Before her the Sumerian Lilitu, the Hebrew Lilith and the Greek Lamias had sexual intercourse with sleeping men or seduced those who were awake. Christianity turned Eve into the prototype sensual seductress. Witches, from the classical tradition (Circe, Medea) onwards, were experts in the manufacture of poisons, but also of love filters. Witchcraft and female sexuality continued to be closely related in medieval Western Europe, too — hence Kramer and Sprenger’s ‘All witchcraft comes from lust which is in women insatiable’. See Russel, , op. cit., 31-32, 113–8 Google Scholar; Baroja, Caro, op. cit., 78–79 Google Scholar; Kramer, H. and Sprenger, J., Malleus Maleficarum, transl. Rev. Summers (New York 1971 Google Scholar) (first appeared 1486); Daly, , Beyond God the Father (cited note 11) 62–65 Google Scholar. On the relation of female sexuality to witchcraft see Mauss, M., A General Theory of Magic (London and Boston 1972) 28-29, 38 Google Scholar; Figes, Patriarchal Attitudes (cited note 11) 43-44, 58-65; Ehrenreich, B. and English, D., Witches, Midwives and Nurses. A History of Women’s Healers (London 1973) 13-14, 26–28 Google Scholar.

24. Chrysostom, 16.18-.19.

25. Meyer, P., ‘Witches’, in Witchcraft and Sorcery (cited note 20) 54-70, esp. 67, 69 Google Scholar.

26. Leach, E.R., Social Anthropology (Glasgow 1982) 221 Google Scholar; idem, Political Systems of Highland Burma. A Study of Kachin Social Structure (London 1954) esp. 89-90, 179-82.

27. ed. Anrich, G. (Hagios Nikolaos. Der heilige Nikolaos in der griechischen Kirche, I: Die Texte (Leipzig-Berlin 1913) 392–417 Google Scholar) 399.17-400.5; thereafter abbreviated to Nikolaos.

28. Nikolaos, 403.3-.22.

29. Except in his story of the Angels: Cod. Paris. Gr. 1189, fols. 141a-152b.

30. See Matons, Grosdidier de, ‘La Femme dans l’Empire Byzantin’ (cited note 1) 18–20 Google Scholar; Mango, C., Byzantium. The Empire of New Rome (London 1980) 225–6 Google Scholar.

31. See note 11 and esp. Daly, Beyond God the Father.

32. See e.g. Chrysostom, John, MPG 47, 495–514 Google Scholar, esp. 502 ff.; idem; MPG 51, 225-42.

33. Eustathii Commentarii ad Homeri Odysseam, ed. G. Stallbaum, I (Leipzig 1825) 88.

34. Theognosti Thesaurus, ed. J.A. Munitiz (Corpus Christianorum, Series Graeca, V (Brepols-Turnhout 1979) 11-12, § 11; thereafter abbreviated to Theogn. Thes. See also idem, ‘A “Wicked Woman” in the 13th Century’, XVI Internationaler Byzantinistenkongress (cited note 17) II/2, 32.2, 529-37. Munitiz places the passage within the context of the scandalous affair of emperor John III Vatatzes with a woman known as the Marchessina. Even if this hypothesis is correct, it does not remove the misogynistic character of the passage, but merely disguises it under a pretext.

35. Theogn. Thes., 11, § 10.

36. Procopius, ed. Bonn. For charges of witchcraft see I, 13.9-.10; I, 16.1-.3; III, 25.8-.9 (for Antonina); XXII, 126.16-127.18 (for Theodora). For charges of sexuality, conspiracy, cruelty: I, II, III, IV, V (for Antonina); III, IV, IX, X, XV, XVI, XVII, XXII, XXVII, XXX; and see ed. Loeb, IX.15-.26 (Theodora). Note that Antonina is also accused of incest: I, II, III, IV, V. The reader should not be misled by Justinian’s description as a demon. By presenting him thus, Procopius achieves two things, in gender terms: firstly, he is exonerating Justinian, for the fact that he was born a demon is evidently one which does not involve the taking of any decisions and steps on his part — by contrast to the witches (Theodora, Antonina) who do precisely act consciously and deliberately in order to enter into relations with the forces of evil. Secondly, he is restating the superior male position: a demon is obviously superior to a witch; and, in an inverted reproduction of the Adam-Eve relationship, the witch is an aid and servant of the demon. For Justinian’s depictions as a demon, see XII, 79.12-82.21; XVIII, 106.6-.10; XVIII, 111.2-. 10.

37. Thogn. Thes., 201-3, § 12.1-.5; ed. L. Politis, I (Athens 1975) 174.

38. Cecaumeni Strategicon, ed. B. Wassiliewski and V. Jernstedt (Amsterdam 1965) 54.21-.26; cf. 61.20-.21; 42.26-44.8; 51.8-.11; 55.30-56.30.

39. ed. Hesseling, D.-C. and Pernot, H., Poèmes Prodromiques en Grec Vulgaire (Amsterdam 1968) 30–37 Google Scholar.

40. See e.g. the fifteenth century female portraits painted by Bergadis, of women as frivolous, pretentious, treacherous; by Sachlikes of women as dirty, cruel, envious, using their sexuality in order to enslave, abuse and destroy men; or the sixteenth century misogynist poem ironically entitled ‘In Praise of Women’: Bergadis, ed. S. Alexiou (Athens 1971) esp. 22.143-25.226; Alexiou, S., (Herakleion 1969) 44-45, 48-54, 62–64 Google Scholar; Morgan, G., Cretan Poetry: Sources and Inspiration (Herakleion 1960) 69–86 Google Scholar.

41. See Buckler, , ‘Women in Byzantine Law’ (cited note 17) 415 Google Scholar; Krumbacher, K., Geschichte der Byzantinischen Literatur, II (New York 1970) 715–6 Google Scholar.

42. Comnéna, Anna, Alexias, ed. Bonn, III, 3, 144.9-146.13; III, 6, 7, 8; III, 7, 160.16-161.3; III, 8, 163.12-.18; IV, 4, 198.1-10; XV, 2, 312.10-314.5 Google Scholar.

43. ed. H. Delehaye (Deux typika Byzantins de l’Époque des Paléologues (Bruxelles 1921) 18-105) 34.21-.26; 51.10.

44. Typikon du monastiere de Lips, ed. Delehaye (ibid. 106-140) 108.5-.6; 115.1-.2; Typikon op. cit. 29.30-.32; 49.27-.28; 85.6-.7.

45. E.g. Typikon op. cit. 26.5-. 14; 41.30-.31; 89.20-.31.

46. ed. Delehaye, H. (Les Saints Stylites (Bruxelles 1923) 188–94 Google Scholar) 192.6-.8; thereafter abbreviated to Alypios.

47. Gramsci, A., Selections from the Prison Notebooks, ed. and transl. Hoare, Q. and Smith, G. Nowell (London 1971) 157, 206-76, 348–51 Google Scholar. See also Boggs, C., Gramsci’s Marxism (London 1976) 39–40 Google Scholar. Gramsci was referring to industrial societies, but I believe the gist of his argument as referred to above to be equally applicable to pre-industrial societies. For the continued idea that female submission to the male is ‘natural’ in modern rural Greece, see Campbell, , Honour, Family, Patronage (cited note 12) 56-57, 150-4, 269-72, 276–8 Google Scholar; Boulay, du, Portrait of a Greek Mountain Village (cited note 12) 101-14, esp. 106 Google Scholar.

48. Noailles, P. and Dain, A., Les Novelles de Léon VI le Sage (Paris 1944) N.48, 189–91 Google Scholar, esp. 189. This translation in English by O’Foalain, J. and Martines, L., Not In God’s Image (London 1979) 91 Google Scholar. Similarly, Anna Comnena talks of the Alexiad, ed. Bonn, XII, 3, 143.20-.21; and Chrysostom says in reference to women, MPG 50, 633.

49. VIII (1975-77) 73-185, ed. in 87-112) 89.70-90.86; thereafter abbreviated to N.’s Apocalypse.

50. Apocalypse, 12.1-.17; N.’s Apocalypse, 99.36-101.76.

51. See Egglezakes, op. cit. esp. 82-83. See also Graef, M., Mary. A History of Doctrine and Devotion (London and New York 1963) 27–31 Google Scholar.

52. Egglezakes, op. cit. 82. An ancient reader of the Cod. Paris. Gr. 1189 containing Neophytos’ Interpretation, also considered it to Orthodox beliefs and recorded his disapproval on fol. 68a. See Egglezakes, op. cit. 82-83.

53. N.’s Apocalypse, 101.60-.62.

54. Ibid. 10.40-.43.

55. It is a paradox which persists in various expressions of the patriarchal system. For an example taken from modern Greek society, see Hirschon, R., ‘Open Body/Closed Space: The Transformation of Female Sexuality’, in Defining Females, ed. Ardener, S. (London 1978) 66-88, esp. 74 Google Scholar; and see note 56 below.

56. Expressions of fear of female sexuality, manifested through the conception of female sexuality as essentially polluting, are found in cultures as diverse as the Lele of the Congo, the New Guinea Mae Enga, the Yoruk Indians of California. See Douglas, M., Purity and Danger (London, Boston and Henley 1969) 146–54 Google Scholar. For conceptions of female impurity in Chinese religion, see Sangren, P. Steven, ‘Female Gender in Chinese Religious Symbols: Kuan Yin, Ma Tsu, and the “Eternal Mother”‘, Signs 9/1 (Autumn 1983) 4–25 Google Scholar. With specific reference to fear of female sexuality and ideas of female pollution (e.g. through menstruation or childbirth) in modern rural Greece and Cyprus, see Campbell, , Honour, Family, Patronage (cited note 12) 31-32, 154, 269-72, 276-8, 290–1 Google Scholar; Boulay, du, Portrait of a Greek Mountain Village (cited note 12) 102-3, 105–7 Google Scholar; Blum, R. and Blum, E., The Dangerous Hour (London 1970) 12, 14-15, 19-21, 22, 42, 46 (9), (10), (11), (12), 47 (14), 48 (18), (21), 49 (23), 47-48 (17), 298–300 Google Scholar; Friedl, E., Vasilika: A Village in Modern Greece (New York 1962) 77 Google Scholar; Papacharalambous, G.H., (Nicosia 1965) 30-43, esp. 37-38, 43 Google Scholar.

57. … Cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr. 1317, fol. 32b; and similarly in fol. 25a:

58. Hexaemeros (cited note 16) 225.37-226.4.

59. By ‘taboo’ I mean a categorical prohibition whose breach would bring extreme shame and fear of supernatural punishment. With specific reference to women, see Humphreys, C., ‘Women, Taboo and the Suppression of Attention’, in Defining Females (cited note 55) 89–108 Google Scholar. On what becomes taboo in a society, see Douglas, , Purity and Danger; Google Scholar Tambiah, S.H., ‘Animals are Good to Think and Good to Prohibit’, Ethnology 8 (1969) 423–59 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For an illustration of the way taboos delineate human relationships, see Leach, E.R., ‘Concerning Trobriand Clans and the Kinship Category Tabu’, in The Developmental Cycle in Domestic Groups, ed. Goody, J. (Cambridge 1958) 120–45 Google Scholar. On Biblical cases of incest, see Leach, ‘Genesis as Myth’ (cited note 11) esp. 33-35.

60. Lévi-Strauss, C., ‘Structural Analysis in Linguistics and in Anthropology’, in Structural Anthropology, I (Harmondsworth 1972) 31–54 Google Scholar, esp. 51. The ‘universality’ of the incest taboo has been conclusively refuted: Hopkins, K., ‘Brother-Sister Marriage in Roman Egypt’, Comparative Studies in Society and History 22 (1980) 303–54 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Fox, R., Kinship and Marriage (Harmondsworth 1967) 54–76 Google Scholar; Goody, J., The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe (Cambridge 1983) esp. 39–45 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Leach, , Social Anthropology (cited note 26) 51 Google Scholar.

61. Lévi-Strauss, , ‘Structural Analysis in Linguistics and in Anthropology’, op. cit. 46, 31–54 Google Scholar; idem, ‘Language and the Analysis of Social Laws’, ibid. 55-66, esp. 59-60; idem, ‘Linguistics and Anthropology’, ibid. 67-80, esp. 72-73; idem, ‘Social Structure’, ibid. 277-323, esp. 309.

62. Radcliffe-Brown, A.R., ‘Introduction’, in African Systems of Kinship and Marriage (Oxford 1950 Google Scholar) ed. Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. and Forde, D., 1-85, esp. 70–72 Google Scholar.

63. Leach, , Political Systems of Highland Burma (cited note 26) 136-40, esp. 139 Google Scholar; see also 89; idem, Social Anthropology (cited note 26) 221-2; Radcliffe-Brown, , ‘Introduction’ (cited note 62) 70 Google Scholar; see also Meyer, , ‘Witches’ (cited note 25) 68 Google Scholar.

64. Throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries both Church and State were particularly interested in establishing and enforcing the legislation concerning consanguinity and affinity as impediments to marriage. See Laiou, ‘The Role of Women in Byzantine Society’ (cited note 17) 235. On the prohibition of the marriage called between blood or spiritual relatives, see Balsamon’s commentary on the twenty-seventh canon of Basil and the fifty-third Canon of the Sixth Oecumenical Synod, in Syntagma (cited note 21) IV, 161-4; II (Athens 1852) 428-32; Harmenopoulos, K., ed. Pitsakes, K.G. (Athens 1971) IV, § 7, 231-8; § 8, 238–41 Google Scholar; thereafter abbreviated to Hexavivlos; Koukoules (cited note 21) IV (Athens 1951) 95.

65. Cod. paris. Gr. 1317, fols. 104b-106a. Note that this is an incest based on the kinship structure rather than on the biological family — as was the case with Lot and his daughters — precisely illustrating Lévi-Strauss’ point.

66. ed.H. Delehaye (‘Saints de Chypre’, AB 26 (1907) 221-8) 224.31-225.8.

67. Cod. ‘Athen. 522, fols. 18b-19b. E.g.: Fol. 19b. For an example of a saint’s life modelled on Job’s, see ed. M.-H. Fourmy and M. Leroy (‘La Vie de S. Philarète’, B 9 (1934) 85-170, esp. 113-67) 115.3-137.22.

68. Hexaemeros, 192.3-203.7; 208.21-.23; Cod. Coisl. Gr. 287, fols. 46a-46b.

69. Nicephoros Blemmydes, MPG 142, 605-9. See also Munitiz, , ‘A “Wicked Woman” in the 13th Century’ (cited note 34 Google Scholar).

70. Cod. Coisl. Gr. 287, fol. 39b.

71. ed. I.P. TsiknopouUos (Nicosia 1969) 69-104) 89.1-14; thereafter abbreviated to Typikon.

72. I have made a comparative study of Byzantine monastic Typika in my forthcoming Ph.D. thesis (see note 6).

73. See e.g. Theogn. Thes. (cited note 34) 206-7.

74. For examples of angels’ male names, characteristics etc., see Neophytos’ panegyrics for Archangel Michael and for the Gathering of the Angels: Cod. Paris. Gr. 1189, fols. 7b-12b; fols. 141a-152b; also, Hexaemeros (cited note 16) 171.33-.35.

75. Cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr. 1317, fol. 125a. Similarly: Cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr. 1317, fol. 124a. Similarly: Cod. Coisl. Gr. 287, fol. 55a.

76. Cod. Coisl. Gr. 287, fol. 55a. Similarly, fornication is described as Cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr. 1317, fol. 131b. See similarly Cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr. 1317, foi. 128a; and ed. Delehaye, H. (‘Saints de Chypre’ (cited note 66) 212–20 Google Scholar) 220.10-.20; thereafter abbreviated to Diomedes.

77. Gluttony tries to lure Adam and later Christ in the desert. Vanity also tries to lure Christ and the Angels. Both are defeated. Neophytos even defends Adam, writing that at least gluttony did not find him — in an obvious comparison to Eve who is often called thus (see note 16): Cod. Coisl. Gr. 287, fols. 55b-56a. Likewise:… Cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr. 1317 fol. 121b. In Diomedes the saint is hailed as having defeated the eight evils: Diomedes (cited note 76) 220.10-.23.

78. Holy Lights (cited note 13) 153.478-.481; 155.526-.539.

79. Byzantine eulogies of women tend to be confined to mother figures — such as Michael Psellos’ and Theodore Studios’ eulogies for their mothers; Anna Comnena’s affection for her mother, Irene Doukas; that of Alexios I for his mother, Anna Dalassena. John Moschos’ Spiritual Meadow remains an exceptional and extraordinary text — especially in view of the fact that it was written by an ascete — in that it gives a good role to women, who appear in the narrative as exemplifying christian piety, often leading men away from sin: the reverse of Eve. Michael Psellos, (cited note 20); Theodore Studios, MPG 99, 884-901; Anna Comnena, Alexiad, esp. III, 3, 144.19-146.13; III, 6, 7, 8; XV, 2, 312.10-314.5; John Moschos, MPG 87.3, 2852-3112, esp. 2865, 2877-81, 2889-92, 2904, 2912-3, 2933-6, 2940, 2988-92, 3049, 3057-64, 3068-9, 3089, 3093-100. See also Grosdidier de Matons, ‘La Femme dans l’Empire Byzantin’ (cited note 1) 18-20.

80. An old and resilient patriarchal expression. See, e.g., K. Mentzu-Meimare, ‘H XVI Internationaler Byzantinistenkongress (cited note 17) II/2, 32.2, 433-43. Where in most cases the woman is described in dependent relation to a man (wife, daughter, mother, sister, of a male).

81. John Chrysostom, MPG 61, 151-160, esp. 152.

82. Noailles, and Dain, , Les Novelles de Léon VI Le Sage (cited note 48) N. 112, 367-73, esp. 371 Google Scholar.

83. ed. TskinopouUos, I.P. (“ 30 (1966) 133–7 Google Scholar) 133.18-134.10; thereafter abbreviated to Mamas.

84. Alypios (cited note 46) 189.3-.30; 192.3-.29.

85. ed. Toniolo, E.M. (‘Omilie e Catechesi Mariane Inedite de Neofito il Recluso (1134-1220 c.)’, Marianum 36 (1974) 238–62 Google Scholar) 252.252-.262; thereafter abbreviated to Annunciation.

86. ed. I.H. Hadjiioannou (Athens 1935) 129-39) 129.33-.34; thereafter abbreviated to Odes.

87. Cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr. 1317, fol. 175b.

88. ed. I.P. Tsiknopoullos 30 (1966) 160-1) 160.2-.3; thereafter abbreviated to Marina.

89. Cod. Paris. Gr. 1189, fol. 148b, fol. 149b; ed. I.H. Hadjiioannou (cited note 86) 9-128, 51, Ψ.MAΔ’; Cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr. 1137, fols. 67a-67b. For incidental good women in saints’ lives, see Junioris, S. Stephani, MPG 100, 1069-1185, esp. 1088, 1104-8, 1125-32, 1160-64, 1168–9 Google Scholar; Laudatio in Miracula Sancti Hieromartyris Therapontis, ed. Deubner, L. (De Incubatione Capita Quattuor (Lipsiae 1900) 120–34 Google Scholar) 129.7-.15; (cited note 67) 139.10-143.25, 159.10-.22; ed. Papadopoulos-Kerameus, A. (Varia Graeca Sacra, VI (Leipzig 1975) 1-7.9) 11.12-13.9, 33.17-35.11, 40.22-41.28, 44.22-45.18, 51.22-55.11, 57.26-59.8, 71.8-72.23, 74.19-75.18 Google Scholar.

90. extracts ed. Delehaye, H. (‘Saints de Chypre’ (cited note 66) 178–80 Google Scholar) 179.3-.10, 179.26, 180.14; thereafter abbreviateed to Andronikos and Athanasia.

91. Andronikos and Athanasia, 180.14-.25.

92. Andronikos and Athanasia, 179.3-.10; 179.26; 180.14.

93. We find Andronikos monopolising the myrrh in Theognostos, too: Theogn. Thes., 66.156-67.1.

94. Andronikos and Athanasia, 178.22-.25.

95. E.g.: … Cod. Paris. Gr. 1189, fol. 83a; fol. 83b.

96. Mamas (cited note 83) 133.18-134.10.

97. He chooses, for example, the day of her death as the date on which commemorative services for both his parents should be held; and he refers to her as a nun: Alypios (cited note 46) 193.26-194.2. The phenomenon of holy man’s attachment to mother, expressed through a close and loving relationship between the two, is not uncommon in saints’ stories. Neophytos’ own story of Alypios provides such an example; and see, e.g., Vita S. Stephani Junioris (cited note 89) esp. 1073-81, 1088-9, 1093, 1105-8, 1138, 1156. Modern Greek ballads also contain allusions to intense mother-son relationships, even though there they often explode in violence. See Alexiou, M., ‘Sons, Wives and Mothers: Reality and Fantasy in Some Modern Greek Ballads’, JMGS 1/1 (1983) 73-111, esp. 83–93 Google Scholar.

98. Alypios, 193.26-29, 194.1.

99. Beauvoir, S. de, The Second Sex (Harmondsworth 1972) 16 Google Scholar.

100. Mamas’ mother; Alypios’ mother and maternal aunt; Hilarion’s follower Konstantia, mother of a married daughter; Elisabeth, mother of John the Baptist; Mariam, sister of Aaron and Moses; Susannah, daughter of Helkion. Mamas (cited note 83) 133.18-134.10; Alypios, 189.3-.30, 192.3-.29; ed. Tsiknopoullos, I.P. (“ (cited note 88) 138–47 Google Scholar) 145.20-.24, 145.36-.38; Annunciation (cited note 85) 252.252-.262; Odes (cited note 86) 129; Cod. Paris. Gr. 1317, fol. 175b.

101. By contrast to men’s life cycle, whose identification is not tied up to their sexual status, since they are the generalised sex. See Hastrup, K., ‘The Semantics of Biology: Virginity’, in Defining Females (cited note 55) 49-65, esp. 59–60 Google Scholar.

102. See e.g. Leo’s mention of Noailles and Dain, Les Novelles de Léon VI Le Sage (cited note 48) N. 27, 105-11, esp. 109. Church and State laws provided punishments not only for the rape of virgins, but also — for woman and man — for the cases of virgins willingly losing their virginity. See Hexavivlos (cited note 64) VI, 349-50, § 3.5-.10. See also Syntagma (cited note 21) III, 410-1 and 590-3; IV, 159-61. On praise of and advice on virginity, see Chrysostom, John, MPG 50, 629-49; idem, MPG 51, 225–42 Google Scholar, esp. 235-6; Clemens I, MPG 1, 556-1156, esp. ch. IΔ, 825. On the high esteem placed on virginity in Byzantine times see Mango, , Byzantium (cited note 30) 227 Google Scholar; Koukoules (cited note 21) II/2 (Athens 1948) 10-1; and for a discussion of virginity with specific reference to its importance in early Christianity, see Douglas, , Purity and Danger (cited note 56) 157–8 Google Scholar.

103. Ortiz, A., The Tewa World. Space, Time, Being and Becoming in a Pueblo Society (Chicago 1969) esp. 89-90, 13–59 Google Scholar.

104. Referring to the acquired male characteristics of the Roman Vestal Virgins, Dumézil notes that in many pre-industrial societies virginity is conceived ‘comme un état intermédiaire entre la féminité et la masculinité’ Dumézil, G., La Religion Romaine Archaique (Paris 1966) 560 Google Scholar. Amongst Albanian tribes, a girl could evade marriage by taking a vow of virginity, after which she took over male characteristics: she could dress as a man, associate with men on equal terms, carry guns. Again, a man who had no son, could direct one of his daughters to take the vow of virginity. She then became a ‘son’, the father bequeathing his house and land, to her: Durham, M.E., Some Tribal Origins, Laws and Customs of the Balkans (London 1928) 194–5 Google Scholar.

105. Post-ninth-century hagiography of female saints tends not to stress virginity (as was usual in earlier hagiographical models) but to emphasize other virtues — charity, love, humility, obedience — which to some extent replace it. See Laiou, ‘Addendum to the Report on the Role of Women in Byzantine Society’ (cited note 17) esp. 198-9.

106. Marina (cited note 88) 160-1

107. ed. Toniolo, E.M. (‘Omilie e Catechesi Mariane’ (cited note 85) 210–36 Google Scholar) 228.331-230.343; thereafter abbreviated to Mary at the Temple; Marina, 160.39-.40.

108. Mary at the Temple, 228.331-.333.

109. Mary at the Temple, 230.335-.336.

110. Cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr. 1317, fol. 175b.

111. Annunciation (cited note 85) 252.252-.262.

112. The relevant passage, from Cod. Paris. Gr. 1189, fols. 81b-83a, is too large to publish here, but characteristic extracts are the following: on meeting again after twelve years of separation: fol. 82b. Nephytos himself repeatedly calls Athanasia by her assumed male name, fol. 83a. On female transvestite saints, see Patlagean, ‘L’Histoire de la Femme Déguisée en Moine’ (cited note 1). For expressions of the female saint acquiring male characteristics, see Chrysostom, John, MPG 50, 629-49, esp. 635 Google Scholar.

113. See Baynes, N.H., ‘The Supernatural Defenders of Constantinople’, AB 67 (1949) 165–77 Google Scholar; Cameron, A., ‘The Theotokos in Sixth-Century Constantinople. A City Finds its Symbol’, The Journal of Theological Studies 29/1 (1978) 79–108 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

114. To take only one panegyric as an example, Mary’s virginal status is asserted by her descriptions as ed. Jugie, M. (‘Homélies Mariales Byzantines’, PO 16, fase. 3 (Paris 1922) [104]-[108] Google Scholar) [104].9-.10; [106] .20, .25; [107] .9, .12, .17, .26, .40, .41, .44; [108] .2-.5, .9, .12, .15, .20, .22, .27; thereafter abbreviated to Birth of Mary. Neophytos is of course not alone in his emphasis of Mary’s perpetual virginity. See e.g. Romanos’ poems On the Nativity I and II and his Stichera on the Nativity, and the Akathistos: Romani Cantica Genuina (cited note 15) 1-16; Sancti Romani Melodi Cantica. Cantica Dubia, ed. Maas, P. and Trypanis, C.A. (Berlin 1970) 164–71 Google Scholar; thereafter abbreviated to Romani Cantica Dubia. For the Akathistos see MPG 92, 1335-48.

115. Cod. Lesb. Leim. 2, fols. 261a-261b.

116. The ‘title’ under which Mary’s divine motherhood was officially promoted at the 431 Council of Ephesos; but which had already been present at the Council of Nicaea (325) and is attributed to Origen. See Graef, , Mary (cited note 51) 46, 51–52 Google Scholar; Miegge, G., The Virgin Mary. The Roman Catholic Marian Doctrine (London 1955) 53–67 Google Scholar. Also Cameron, , ‘The Theotokos in Sixth-Century Constantinople’ (cited note 113) 80, 87–88 Google Scholar.

117. On the idea of Mary’s perpetual virginity, which appears in the mid-second century Protoevangelion of James, and which had become established by the fourth century, see Graef, , Mary (cited note 51) 12–19 Google Scholar, 34 ff; Miegge, , The Virgin Mary (cited note 116) 36–52 Google Scholar; Ruether, R., Sexism and God-Talk. Towards a Feminist Theology (London 1983) 150–2 Google Scholar.

118. While e.g., interpreting a passage referring to Christ, Neophytos unexpectedly refers to Mary’s motherhood and virginity, and to how Cod. Athen. 522, fol. 410b.

119. ed. Toniolo, E.M. (‘Omilie e Catechesi Mariane’ (cited note 85) 284–90 Google Scholar) 286.61-.62.

120. ed. Delehaye, H. (‘Saints de Chypre’ (cited note 66) 181–97 Google Scholar) 185.31. Also in Cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr. 1317, fol. 13b. Again, a theme not exclusive to Neophytos. In Romanos’ On the Nativity I and II, Mary herself wonders at the miracle of her preserved virginity: Romani Cantica Genuina, 2. β’ also: Romani Cantica Dubia 164-71, esp. 1661’.1 (cited note 15 and respectively).

121. Cod. Lesb. Leim. 2, fol. 289a. Similarly in fol. 289b.

122. Though they were aware of the physiological causes of pregnancy in animals; and they accepted that the woman must first have sexual intercourse before she can be impregnated by the holy spirit (baloma): Malinowski, B., The Family Among the Australian Aborigines (London 1913)Google Scholar; idem, The Sexual Life of Savages in Northwestern Melanesia (London 1932) 145-66; idem, Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays (New York 1954) 215-37. Roth reported similarly that Australian aborigine tribes of North Central Queensland ignored the causal connection between copulation and pregnancy: Roth, W.E., ‘Superstition, Magic and Medicine’, North Queensland Ethnographic Bulletin 5 (Brisbane 1903) 22 Google Scholar.

123. Leach, E.R., ‘Virgin Birth’, Proceedings of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (1966) 39–49 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

124. Ibid., esp. 41-43. See also Hastrup, , ‘The Semantics of Biology: Virginity’ (cited note 101) 61–62 Google Scholar.

125. Cod. Paris. Gr. 1189, fol. 203b.

126. See Leach, , ‘Virgin Birth’ (cited note 123) esp. 41–42 Google Scholar; Lévi-Strauss, , ‘The Structural Study of Myth’, in Structural Anthropology (cited note 60) 206–31 Google Scholar.

127. Lévi-Strauss, , “The Structural Study of Myth’CrossRefGoogle Scholar, above; Leach, , ‘Genesis as Myth’ (cited note 11) esp. 32 Google Scholar. See also Leach, , ‘Virgin Birth’, above, esp. 41–42 Google Scholar. Douglas, M., ‘Animals in Lele Religious Symbolism’, in Implicit Meanings: Essays in Anthropology (London and Boston 1975) 27–46 Google Scholar (reprinted from Africa 27 (January 1957) esp. 35-38) shows how a ‘mediator’ (in this case an ‘abnormal’ animal mediating between animals and humans) may become the focus of religious cult practise. For an application of the principle ideas discussed above within a social-historical context, see Beard, M., ‘The Sexual Status of the Vestal Virgins’, JRS 70 (1980) 12–27 Google Scholar.

128. M. Douglas developed the concept of ambiguity or interstitiality, whereby interstitial beings (i.e. which partake of more than one cultural category or state) are declared to be dangerous, powerful, holy. She thought that ambiguity or interstitiality is based on a system of binary opposites created between the natural and the man-made. Subsequent anthropological work, however, points out that all types of ambiguity are cultural constructions, man-made opposites creating an abnormality in order that it fulfills a certain function. See Tambiah, , ‘Animals Are Good to Think and Good to Prohibit’ (cited note 59)Google Scholar; Bulmer, R., ‘Why the Cassowary is not a Bird’, in Rules and Meanings: The Anthropology of Everyday Knowledge, ed. Douglas, M. (Harmondsworth 1973) 167–93 Google Scholar (reprinted from Man 2/1 (1967) 5-25). For an application of interstitiality in a historical context see Beard, above.

129. See Graef, , Mary (cited note 51)Google Scholar; Jugie, M., La Mort et l’Assomption de la Sainte Vierge, Studi e Testi, 114 (Rome 1944) esp. 506–82 Google Scholar (a more restricted but also more thorough study); Miegge, , The Virgin Mary (cited note 116)Google Scholar; Warner, M., Alone of All Her Sex. The Myth and Cult of the Virgin Mary (London 1976 Google Scholar) (useful but flawed by errors).

130. Cameron, , ‘The Theotokos in Sixth-Century Constantinople’ (cited note 113) 103–8 Google Scholar.

131. Ibid. 106.

132. Mary at the Temple (cited note 107) 218.145-.155; 220.181-.182; 234.420-.423; Cod. Lesb. Leim. 2, fol. 290a; Annunciation (cited notes 85) 262.405-.406; ed. E.M. Toniolo (ibid., 300-2) 300.20-.22; Psalms (cited note 86) 51, Ψ.MΔ’.

133. See e.g. Birth of Mary (cited note 114) [106].40-[107].7; [107].44-[108].2; ed. Toniolo, E.M. (‘Omelie e Catechesi Mariane’ (cited note 85) 264–82 Google Scholar) 264.21; 270.124.

134. ed. Delehaye, H. (‘Saints de Chypre’ (cited note 66) 162–75 Google Scholar) 163.24-.30.

135. Ibid. 164.2-.4.

136. Typikon (cited note 71) 81.13-.19.

137. Ibid., 103.29-.31.

138. ed. Archimandrite Kyprianos (cited note 16) 34-53, reprinted by Hadjiioannou, I.H. (cited note 16) 137-50 and 150–6 Google Scholar) 142.27-.31; thereafter abbreviated to Theosemia. See also Mango, and Hawkins, , ‘The Hermitage of Saint Neophytos’ (cited note 5) 124–6 Google Scholar.

139. Theosemia, 142.31-.33.

140. Ibid. 147.7-.12.

141. Ibid. 154.27-.28; 155.6-.10; 155.16-.18; 155.23-.28.

142. This is Church dogma, and it is also frequently expressed in the very doxologies that glorify Mary. See Ware, T., The Orthodox Church (Harmondsworth 1980) 262 Google Scholar; Graef, , Mary (cited note 51) 181-201, 322 Google Scholar ff.

143. Theosevios (cited note 120) 185.30-.32. For another expression of this dogma see Romani Cantica Genuina (cited note 15) 9-16, esp. 9-10a’.

144. Cod. Lesb. Leim. 2, fol. 291b. Similarly, Romanos depicts Mary addressing Christ as ‘my son, my maker, my saviour’: Romani Cantica Genuina, 9Kδ.9.

145. An example of ‘false naming’ similar to that which has Eve being ‘born’ of Adam. See Daly, , Beyond God the Father (cited note 11) 47 Google Scholar; Spender, , Man Made Language (cited note 11) 166 Google Scholar.

146. Cod. Paris. Gr. 1189, fol. 203b. A tradition going back to the fourth century.