Classics Commons^™

Review Essay: Lewis’S Lost Aeneid: Arms And The Exile, Nikolay Epplée, B. N. Wolfe, Louis Markos

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

An extended review of C. S. Lewis, C. S. Lewis’s Lost Aeneid: Arms and the Exile, ed. by A. T. Reyes (New Haven, 2011). xxiii + 184 pages. $27.50. ISBN:: 9780300167177

Demythologizing Homer: Investigating Religion In Minoan Crete, Elizabeth Rybarczyk

Student Research Submissions

The Minoan civilization of Bronze-Age Crete has, until recently, been obscured in mythological uncertainty. As a prehistoric civilization, the available evidence for historic analysis is sparse and ambiguous. This paper evaluates the material evidence for ritual activity to chart the religious developments of Minoan Crete. In the earliest periods of their civilization, the Minoans practiced animism, which reflected their ideals towards survival and cooperation. As their prosperity grew due to technological advancements, a social hierarchy formed. The emerging elite employed religion to justify their claim to power by appropriating religion, which culminated in a dual-monotheistic Knossian theocracy. This lasted until …

Redefining Female Power And Influence In The Early Roman Empire, Jacqueline Elia

History & Classics Student Scholarship

Jacqueline Elia ’23
Majors: History and Classics
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Melissa Huber, History and Classics

Women are often absent from the ancient Roman literary historical record. Jackie’s research turns to the inscriptional, archaeological remains to add to our larger understanding of the lives of women in the Early Roman Empire. Through a series of case studies on the public contributions of women in cities around the Empire, including GIS maps to track the visibility of female benefactions, Jackie convincingly shows that women in the Early Roman Empire possessed more agency and societal influence than the literary history records.

Review Of The Myth Made Fact: Reading Greek And Roman Mythology Through Christian Eyes, Charlie W. Starr

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Charlie W. Starr: Review of Louis Markos, The Myth Made Fact: Reading Greek and Roman Mythology Through Christian Eyes (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania: Classical Academic Press, 2020). 448 pages. $27.99. ISBN 9781600513954.

The Colours Of Rethoryk: The Medieval World’S Influence On Red And White Color Symbolism In Geoffrey Chaucer’S The Canterbury Tales, Frederick W. Smallshaw

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Chaucer’s use of visual imagery and symbolism in The Canterbury Tales. From a literary approach, scholars point to Chaucer’s diverse and extensive descriptions of visuals in poetry as a primary rhetorical avenue, where he applies commentary to instances where a physical image (known in this case as a symbol) is most appropriate to elicit a desired emotion or convey a certain idea concerning moralit

The Colours Of Rethoryk: The Medieval World’S Influence On Red And White Color Symbolism In Geoffrey Chaucer’S The Canterbury Tales, Frederick W. Smallshaw

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Chaucer’s use of visual imagery and symbolism in The Canterbury Tales. From a literary approach, scholars point to Chaucer’s diverse and extensive descriptions of visuals in poetry as a primary rhetorical avenue, where he applies commentary to instances where a physical image (known in this case as a symbol) is most appropriate to elicit a desired emotion or convey a certain idea concerning moralit

The Colours Of Rethoryk: The Medieval World’S Influence On Red And White Color Symbolism In Geoffrey Chaucer’S The Canterbury Tales, Frederick W. Smallshaw

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Chaucer’s use of visual imagery and symbolism in The Canterbury Tales. From a literary approach, scholars point to Chaucer’s diverse and extensive descriptions of visuals in poetry as a primary rhetorical avenue, where he applies commentary to instances where a physical image (known in this case as a symbol) is most appropriate to elicit a desired emotion or convey a certain idea concerning moralit

What C.S. Lewis Really Did To "Cupid And Psyche", Charles Huttar

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

The story of Lewis's engagement, starting at age 18, with Apuleius's story of Cupid and Psyche.

No Mere Materialism: The Revelatory Nature Of Death In C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, Laurel Wood

Global Tides

This paper explores the role which death plays in the narrative of C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy. During the time of the trilogy’s composition, materialist philosophy was becoming increasingly popular in the Western world as individuals looked to science as the source of absolute truth. As a former materialist, Lewis was alarmed by this development and confronted materialist ideology in numerous fiction and non-fiction works.

Blending textual evidence from the trilogy with scholarly commentary, this paper demonstrates that Lewis uses death, particularly the fear of annihilation and the afterlife which it evokes, to bypass materialist assertions of the atheistic nature of …

"Like A Shadow Or Even A Dream": Memory And Haptic Motifs On Classical Attic Funerary Stelai, Vonne Daszkilewicz

Student Research Submissions

During the third quarter of the fifth century BCE, Athens witnessed the revival of funerary stele reliefs. Sculpted motifs representing touch and interaction, often situated within familial scenes, characterized the grave monuments and contributed strongly to their tactility. Haptic stele motifs promoted the construction of memory by heightening the depiction of lasting bonds between living and deceased individuals. Grave reliefs provide a lasting representation of the deceased, while also serving as conspicuous reminders of the permanence of death. However, Attic funerary stelai provided a physical substitute for the departed towards which the living could direct their continued care and dedication. …

Musical Evidence For Low Boundary Tones In Ancient Greek, Dieter Gunkel

Classical Studies Faculty Publications

Several scholars have suggested that in ancient Greek there was a low boundary tone at the end of a relatively small prosodic constituent such as a clitic group or maximal prosodic word. The boundary tone may phonologically motivate some puzzling pitch-accentual phenomena in the language. One is the diachronic pitch-peak retraction that led to the circumflex pitch accent (HL) on penultimate syllables (the “sōtêra rule”). Another is the intonational phrase-internal downstepping or deletion of a word-final acute accent (H); that conversion of an acute to a grave accent is known as “lulling” or “koímēsis”. If such a low …

Discovering Dune: Essays On Frank Herbert’S Epic Saga., Edited By Dominic J. Nardi And N. Trevor Brierly, G. Connor Salter

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

G. Connor Salter reviews Discovering Dune: Essays on Frank Herbert’s Epic Saga, edited by Dominic J. Nardi and N. Trevor Brierly, considering its new contributions to studies of Frank Herbert's work. Essays included fit into four categories (Politics and Power, History and Religion, Biology and Ecology, and Philosophy, Choice and Ethics) and range from Herbert's use of ecology in Dune to how game theory may help explain certain characters' apparent ability to see the future. Discovering Dune also includes an appendix which contains the only up-to-date bibliography of Herbert's work (primary and secondary sources).

Evolving Identity: Hellenistic Greece Vs. Arthurian Legend, Irene A. Bougatsos

Publications and Research

This paper for a capstone class delves into two iconic figures from contrasting time periods. While Sir Gawain and Alexander the Great are two literary figures separated by several centuries, the theme of identity is present in the stories of The Greek Alexander Romance and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. How identity fluctuates is what this paper strives to answer.

The Pseudo-Aristotelian Kitab Al-Siyāsa Fī Tadbīr Ar-Riyāsa Al-MaʿRūf Bi- Kitab Sirr Al-Asrār “Secret Of Secrets”, Nashwa Deif

Journal of the Faculty of Arts (JFA)

The pseudo-Aristotelian Kitab As-Siyāsa fī tadbīr Ar-Riyāsa al-maʿrūf bi- Kitab Sirr al-asrār “Secret of Secrets” is one of the most influential works of the Middle Ages, both in its original Arabic versions as well as in its many translations and adaptations. In the main preface of the book, the work is presented as an epistle by Aristotle to Alexander the Great. Aristotle is said to have written the epistle when he had become too old to accompany Alexander on his military expeditions. The text replaces him as Alexander’s teacher and gives Alexander all the knowledge he needs to rule successfully. …

Sacrificial Ritual And The Palace Of Nestor: A Reanalysis Of The Ta Tablets, J. Morton, N. G. Blackwell, Kyle W. Mahoney

Classics Faculty Works

The Ta tablets are a series of Linear B documents from the Palace of Nestor at Pylos that inventory vessels, fire implements, slaughtering paraphernalia, and furniture. This article argues that all the equipment documented on the Ta tablets pertains to a single large-scale ritual cattle sacrifice and was not equipment for the banquet that would have followed the sacrifice. The argument is rooted in a reanalysis of the tables listed on the Ta tablets that concludes that they were used for the slaughter and butchery of sacrificial cattle. Discussion proceeds from there to the sacrificial ritual use of the other …

From Derby Tracks To Surf Shacks: Reflections Of California’S Changing Cultural Landscape Through Artistic Renditions Of Recreation 1930s-1960s, David Walls

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this thesis is to analyze works of art originating in the state of California during the 20^th century to better understand how sports and recreation were used as a subject matter to reflect upon the state’s changing cultural landscape. This changing landscape encompasses a wide range of social, cultural, economic, and political topics, however, the topics of race, migration, and economic strife are the most consistently reflected in the artistic production of this time and must be emphasized. Scholarship of art created within this region and timeframe has neglected the impact of recreational subject matter and …

The International Restitution Of Classical Antiquity: Creating Uniformity Within Museum Restitution Policy, Jacob Armentrout

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis will explore the scope of the restitution debate for Greek and Italian classical antiquities and how it has evolved over the past 70 years. Chapter 1 will focus on the scholarly works of well-known figures within the restitution debate, including John Henry Merryman, James (Jim) Cuno, and Patty Gerstenblith. Their work is crucial in developing the terminology that defines the debate and also for understanding their opinions on both sides of the debate. Chapter 2 will center on claims to cultural property and restitution efforts that have been made at both the international and national level. The three …

The Formation Of A Hellenic Identity: The Impact Of Herodotus On The Ancient Greek And The Reception Of His Histories, Conor James

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

The ethnic identity of the ancient Greek is a complicated idea that developed over hundreds of years unbeknownst to the communities that would one day be identified as ‘Hellenes.’ The advent of the polis in the Archaic era was followed by nearly three hundred years of rapid development within the scattered communities of ancient Greece before conflict with the Persian Empire necessitated inter-polis cooperation. This phenomenon prompted a movement in which the aspects of life that were once viewed as mere similarities between different societies were clung to and presented as proof of a common ethnic identity that called for …

Redefining Roman Women: Powerful Benefactresses & Patrons Of The Early Roman Empire, Jacqueline Elia

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

The history of the Roman Empire has thus far been largely dominated by male narratives. With ancient literary sources predominantly having been written by and for wealthy male audiences, a dangerously limited scope of the Roman Empire has been perpetuated as marginalized groups such as women have been left out of the historical record. Despite what mainstream history has been led to believe by authors such as Livy and Tacitus, Roman women were not simply one-dimensional, domestic creatures who acted as passive witnesses to male dominance. Rather, middle-elite women throughout the empire frequently existed outside the bounds of the domestic …

An Investigation Of The Galenic Influence On The Artistic Depiction Of Anatomical Concepts During The Renaissance, Fatima Amjad

Theses and Dissertations

The Renaissance era was a period marked by an intellectual and artistic resurgence in Europe, during which artists sought inspiration from Classical sources. This resulted in a move away from stylized medieval aesthetics and towards a renewed emphasis on accuracy and humanity in art. Renaissance artists developed art styles that emphasized perspective, proportion, and anatomy, creating more lifelike and naturalistic representations of the human figure and the natural world. The adoption of naturalism and individualism in the arts paired with the rediscovery and retranslation of ancient anatomical texts propelled artists and anatomists to deepen their understanding of the human body. …