While Genesis, the first book of the Bible, appears to follow a distinct (male-dominated) historical pattern in the story it tells, first tracing Adam and Eve and their sons and then Abraham, his son Isaac, Jacob son of Isaac, and Joseph son of Jacob, he often digresses to tell smaller vignettes, often focusing on the house. The authors of Genesis share this common literary technique with Homer. Two particularly interesting stories in Genesis that depart sharply from the main story are the rape of Dinah in chapter 34 and the story of Tamar and Judah in chapter 38. These domestic stories connect ideas about women, sex, and their role in biblical society, in addition to the common themes in Genesis (and also the common Homeric themes) of family, lineage, cultural identity, disguise, and honor or kleos. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Dinah is Jacob's only daughter besides his twelve sons, conceived with his wife Rachel's sister Leah, who is actually also his wife, although it is clearly stated that Jacob "loved Rachel more than Leah" . (29:30) At the beginning of chapter 34, Dina goes "to visit the women of the region." (34:1) It is unclear what exactly this means, although it could mean that Dinah is engaged in some kind of sinful or sexual activity, unescorted and unprotected by men, especially her twelve brothers. This could be seen as Shechem's provocation of rape in the next verse. But after the rape, "Shechem's soul was drawn to Dinah, Jacob's daughter; he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her." (34:3) This love felt by the rapist for the victim is disturbing; he never actually apologizes or expresses any remorse for his vulgar actions, but seems to see the rape as his method of wooing and claiming the woman he loves, the woman he wishes to marry. It is also disturbing that Jacob, Dinah's father, remains silent despite knowing about his daughter's traumatic experience: Now Jacob learned that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were in the field with his cattle, so Jacob remained silent until they came. (34:5) The message here is that Jacob is an unconfident male figure, who does not act to protect his daughter because he values ​​his sons more than his daughter or his sons' opinions over his own. His sons then take the initiative to organize the circumcision of the males of the tribe of Hamor, although the Bible explicitly states that this was done "by deception". They subsequently massacre the men of Hamor, capture their women, children, and sheep, and return with Dinah. Perhaps their anger stems from guilt over letting Dinah go into town unescorted, or from being the children of the less favored Leah. Nonetheless, they allowed internal tensions to degenerate into antagonism against all the people of Shechem. It is disturbing that Jacob does not chastise them for their violent actions, but rather for the new possibility of being attacked in revenge by the other inhabitants of Shechem. “I will be destroyed, both me and my family,” he says in 34:30. The goal is not to protect Dinah but to protect himself, his children and his name. A finally disturbing aspect of this story is that Dinah's voice is never heard, nor is God's voice. The story of Tamar and Judah is equally disturbing in many ways. It begins with Onan, the brother of Tamar's late husband Er, being asked to become the father of her children. It seems strange, but it is actually a biblical law:..