ABSTRACT
Many aspects of her Passio are clearly legendary and conform to well-known hagiographical topoi. However, even if she is a composite figure, Katherine can be shown to have achieved independent existence by the seventh century when her name is found in a Syriac litany, probably composed in the Antioch. Commemoration of Katherine within the liturgy is the first indication that the saint was regarded as an identifiable individual, worthy of remembrance, and it is through the liturgy that people can see something of the early growth in the cult. The most novel theme in Katherine’s Passio is that of a woman bearing public witness and defeating learned men in public debate. Both the debate with Maxentius and the subsequent debate with the philosophers show Katherine taking an active role rather than the more usual reactive one expected from a woman.
