This volume questions the prevailing 'female empowering' interpretation of Thecla in the Acts of Paul and Thecla. Rosie Andrious examines the way that Thecla is voyeuristically paraded and subjected to a kind of sado-erotic torture, and demonstrates how this perception clashes with any notion that she is presented as a positive role-model for a woman. Rather, Andrious sets this discourse about female 'self-control' and 'chastity' over against the wider narrative of Christian men struggling against the invasive violence of Rome and suggests that the victimized, voyeuristic female representation of Thecla has very little to do with women and is, rather, a complex literary text that represents a power struggle between men. The ideological function of Thecla is therefore, as a constructed body that transcends its 'natural' feminine weakness. Andrious thus provides an original interpretative framework for understanding Thelca's representation, and suggests a completely new way of seeing the saint.

Rosie Andrious is a Research Associate at King's College London, UK

Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
List of Illustrations
Overview
Chapter One - Introduction
Chapter Two - The Acts of Paul and Thecla: Text and Context
Chapter Three - Methodology
Chapter Four - Female Beheadings
Chapter Five - Naked Truths, Pornography and Violence in the Acts of Paul and Thecla
Chapter Six - Bewitched and Bewitching Women: Miracles and Magical Practices
Chapter Seven - Violating the Inviolate Body
Chapter Eight - Conclusion
Bibliography
Index