Woman in the Alphabetic and Systematic Collection of the Apophtegms of the Desert Fathers

Abstract

In the light of the two collections of the apophthegms of the Desert Fathers the author seeks show the attitude of the Egyptian monks towards women in the beginnings of a monastic life. They avoided women, seeking to preserve their identity of hermits. This was not misogyny. Many apophthegms speak about women with respect. Women have their voice in apophthegms, they have written many of them.