ABSTRACT
The dynamics of cross-dressing provide an interesting case-study as far as religion is concerned. Nonetheless, in spite of its being widely attested in ancient religious contexts, it is difficult to find univocal clarification of its actual meaning and significance. Cross-dressing, along with other orgiastic patterns pertaining to Dionysian festivals, is also to be read in connection with the agrarian ceremonials, for in transitional periods, all the forces of nature must be re-awakened. The opposite pattern, namely women renouncing their feminine nature, often by means of cross-dressing, in order to pursue ascetic goals, is much more widespread. As in the case of the emasculated saints, the basic idea is that the true ascetic is genderless. Sometimes the patterns are varied or dramatized for the sake of the narrative, as in the case of Anastasia, who seeks refuge in a monastery near Alexandria to avoid the emperor Justinian's insistent courtship and Theodora Balsamon's jealousy.
