Gospel Of Lukes Role Of Women Essay

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Women in The Iliad, Metamorphoses, and The Gospel of Luke
Throughout literature women are shown in numerous ways, which may demean or empower women. In The Iliad and Metamorphoses women are often shown as objects with a compartmentalized role that they tend not to stray from. In contrast, the Gospel of Luke puts women in a higher position and almost strives for a sense of equality between men and women. Homer’s The Iliad and Ovid’s Metamorphoses both objectify women and show them as weak whereas the Gospel of Luke puts women in a more prominent role.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses sticks to stereotypically assigned gender roles. These roles are present both in mortals and immortals throughout the work. Men are meant to be strong and violent amongst other characteristics whereas women are praised for their beauty and
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They are present throughout and are the protagonist of many lessons and parables taught in Luke’s gospel. Luke’s gospel is the only one to thoroughly mention Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and her relationship with Mary. Throughout his gospel, it is evident that Luke attempts to maintain some sort of equality between men and women: there is a fairly even balance of stories about men that are matched with stories of women. Women are also the protagonists of several parables. One of these being the parable of the lost coin in which a woman loses one of ten silver coins and searches carefully to find it. She then proceeds to call upon friends to celebrate with her for finding the coin. It is important to note here that this parable is a direct parallel to the one told right before it in which a shepherd loses one of one hundred sheep and leaves ninety-nine to find the last, and then calls upon friends to rejoice when it has been found. This further proves the previous point that Luke attempts to balance stories of women with the stories of