Hidden Truth in the Body of Euclia: Page duBoisâ Torture and Truth and Acts of Andrewâ©
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This essay explores the representation of Euclia, a female slave whose story is found within the narrative of Acts of Andrew. I read this early Christian text alongside Page duBoisâ Torture and Truth and Slaves and Other Objects and, through a focus on Eucliaâs story, analyze the relationship among slavery, gender, torture, and truth as represented in this text. In order to explore these issues, I compare the representations of the bodies of Euclia, the slave, with Maximilla, the free elite woman. In doing so I argue that Maximillaâs body is undeniably âuntouchableâ while Eucliaâs body is vulnerable to sexual abuse and torture. Additionally, I track the âtruthâ within the narrative as presented by various characters in the text; I argue that both the gender and status of the character shape the view of âtruthâ found in each characterization. Through this reading I suggest that truth is hidden within the female body of the slave, Euclia. This application of duBoisâ scholarship to an early Christian narrative illuminates the intricate relationship between slavery and gender as well as torture and truth.â©
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2
âPage duBois, Torture and Truth (New York: Routledge, 1991); eadem, Slaves and Other Objects (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003).
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3
âJennifer A. Glancy, Slavery in Early Christianity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 22, 156; eadem, Corporal Knowledge: Early Christian Bodies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 67.
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16
âJ. Albert Harrill, Slaves in the New Testament: Literary, Social, and Moral Dimensions (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2006), p. 2.
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18
âKeith Bradley, Slavery and Society at Rome (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 7.
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20
âHans-Josef Klauck, The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: An Introduction (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2008), p. 3.
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28
âMoses I. Finley, Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology (New York: Viking, 1980), p. 97.
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42
âWhitmarsh, âClass,â p. 85; Harrill, Slaves in the New Testament, p. 25.
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49
âSee also Page duBois, Sowing the Body: Psychoanalysis and Ancient Representations of Women (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988).
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52
âLiddell and Scott (eds.), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, p. 31.
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53
âSolevÃ¥g, Birthing Salvation, p. 194. For the biblical reference, see 2 Kgs 9:36. Additionally, a paraphrase of this text by Evodius of Uzala similarly connects Euclia to Jezebel by making the scene of Maximilla putting makeup on Euclia read like what one finds in 2 Kgs 9:30 (MacDonald, Acts of Andrew and Matthias, p. 347 n. 16).
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59
âCallie Callon, âSecondary Characters Furthering Characterization: The Depiction of Slaves in the Acts of Peter,â JBL 131(2012), pp.797-818.
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60
âGail Labovitz, âMore Slave Women, More Lewdness: Freedom and Honor in Rabbinic Constructions of Female Sexuality,â JFSR 28 (2012), pp. 69-87 (87).
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63
âPage duBois, Slavery: Antiquity and Its Legacy (Ancients and Moderns; London: I.B. Tauris, 2010), p. 143.
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Hidden Truth in the Body of Euclia: Page duBoisâ Torture and Truth and Acts of Andrewâ©
In: Biblical InterpretationSearch for other papers by Christy Cobb in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
This essay explores the representation of Euclia, a female slave whose story is found within the narrative of Acts of Andrew. I read this early Christian text alongside Page duBoisâ Torture and Truth and Slaves and Other Objects and, through a focus on Eucliaâs story, analyze the relationship among slavery, gender, torture, and truth as represented in this text. In order to explore these issues, I compare the representations of the bodies of Euclia, the slave, with Maximilla, the free elite woman. In doing so I argue that Maximillaâs body is undeniably âuntouchableâ while Eucliaâs body is vulnerable to sexual abuse and torture. Additionally, I track the âtruthâ within the narrative as presented by various characters in the text; I argue that both the gender and status of the character shape the view of âtruthâ found in each characterization. Through this reading I suggest that truth is hidden within the female body of the slave, Euclia. This application of duBoisâ scholarship to an early Christian narrative illuminates the intricate relationship between slavery and gender as well as torture and truth.â©
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 420 | 50 | 6 |
| Full Text Views | 302 | 4 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 147 | 7 | 0 |
