This work examines the role of Mary Magdalene in second- and third-century Gnostic texts. Special attention is paid to the way in which Mary is presented in relation to the disciples of Jesus, and how her portrait relates to gender imagery used in the writings. Detailed text analyses, based on a philological study, show that no uniform picture and use of the figure of Mary can be traced. The author argues that Mary's prominence in these texts does not imply a positive attitude towards women in general.