Classics Commons^™

Sounds Of Battle And Battle Of Sounds: Belliphonic In Tolkien, Ali Mirzabayati

Journal of Tolkien Research

This paper explores the concept of the belliphonic—a term denoting the acoustic dimensions of warfare—within the context of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, focusing on the Battle of the Five Armies. While modern war studies have mainly centered on the mechanized soundscapes of twentieth-century conflict, this study engages with recent scholarly efforts to recover the sonic textures of medieval battle. Drawing on theories of wartime acoustics and examples from medieval literature, the paper examines how Tolkien, informed by his expertise in Old and Middle English texts and his lived experience in World War I, crafts a dynamic and psychologically …

Casar Student Discussion Series #7: Censored Classrooms - Should Parents And Community Members Have A Say In Restricting Certain Books In Schools, Based On Factors Such As Religion, Age Appropriateness, And More?, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Every semester, CASAR AUC holds miscellaneous student debates discussing the hot controversial topics in the US, Egypt and from around the world in hopes of raising awareness about these topics & broadening the perspectives of our students as they learn to engage in fruitful discussions as they share different opinion on the topic being deliberated.

On April 10th 2025, at this CASAR Student Discussion event #7 in light of the current book bans in the US happening from Trump's administration, we debated this question: 'Censored classrooms: Should parents and community members have a say in restricting certain books in schools …

Lubiya (El-Khirbeh): A Late Hellenistic, Roman And Early Byzantine Village In Lower Galilee, Yardenna Alexandre, Michal Oren-Paskal, Gil Tsioni

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

A small archaeological excavation carried out in 2005–2007 on a hilltop in the Lavi Forest in Lower Galilee uncovered a small area of the village of Lubiya that was settled in the Late Hellenistic to early Byzantine periods. The earliest exposed building complex was constructed on the bedrock and comprised parts of two residential units with a shared long wall, an internal courtyard and several rooms. An underground complex beneath the units comprised individual basement storage elements that were subsequently joined to form an underground hiding complex, dated by the associated finds to the time of the First Jewish Revolt …

The Grand Narratives: The Rise And Fall Of Universal Philosophical Systems, Gavin S. Litchford

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis reviews the development of narrative and systematic methods of argumentative legitimation in the Western tradition of philosophy from its conception until the present day. Utilizing both primary sources from central figures in key movements within this development process and supplementary secondary sources, this analysis notes which systems were used as appeals to higher authority and the trends in the adoption and transformation of new models. It is demonstrated that the Enlightenment era punctuated a progression begun in the premodern era from simple, cultural narratives to individualized, subjective, and self-perpetuating Grand Narrative systems, and that it generated the preconditions …

Mythic Arcana - A Tarot And Mythology Guidebook, Kiya Whitaker

English Student Scholarship

Mythic Arcana is part of my senior thesis show and the culmination of my writing and design journey at the college. It is a creative spin on the Major Arcana tarot deck and features mythological characters from around the world. Tarot is used for spiritual guidance, and the Major Arcana cards represent the Soul’s journey from naivety and vast potential (starting with 0, the Fool) to success and fulfillment (ending with 21, the World).

Enjoy this celebration of our world's rich and diverse cultures. Immerse yourself in enchanting art and storytelling. Allow this work to bring you to the past, …

Rediscovering Ancient Greek Pigmentation, Cynthia-Rose Seeds

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This thesis paper will discuss various questions relating to pre-Greco-Roman Ancient Greek paint pigments. In recent years discoveries of paint samples on Ancient Greek sculptures and architecture are becoming increasingly common, contradicting the stereotype that history has made of Ancient Greece having a pristine white aesthetic in their artwork. (Brinkmann, 2008) The various paint pigments that can be found throughout excavations in Greece, as well as the general history of pigments, create a new narrative when it comes to the art of Ancient Greece. Using various evidence such as pigment samples, artworks, textual primary sources, and scholarly research, this thesis …

Long Live The Good King: Arthur’S Niebuhrian Kingship And Pursuit Of Justice In The Once And Future King, Camille Bewley

Harding Undergraduate Research Conference

The classic The Once and Future King, written by T.H. White, is a selection of four fantasy novels with one, linear plot: the story of Arthur, the mythological King of England. Reinhold Niebuhr’s book Moral Man and Immoral Society details the Christian realism of a world in need of justice without the ability to achieve perfect application. Through good education, Arthur is well endowed with Niebuhr’s requirements for a functional society: knowledge, honor, wisdom, and compassion. Such king-like qualities make him one of the most influential mythological characters in history, and a grand exemplar for maintaining ethical goals and personal …

For The Birds, Charlotte L. Middleton

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

For the Birds is a homogenous material exhibition of porcelain pottery that explores the relationships between, expectations of, and roles placed upon women and pottery. Using traditional craft processes, still life imagery, and the language and limits of porcelain, I create arrangements that expose the viewers assumptions of both subjects. Pottery- pitchers, cups, and vases—is a product of anthropocentrism and anthropomorphism and can be entirely taken for granted- their role is assumed and unquestionable—to serve. The language and expectations of these objects are the medium I build with.

The title of the show, For the Birds, is both a …

The Ascent Of The Balthi: The Emergence Of Visigothic Kingship In Late Antiquity, William Deloach

Tenor of Our Times

The first four centuries of the First Millennium AD witnessed the rapid development of political infrastructure among the Gothic people. Emerging from Scandinavia, Gothic group consolidated into more nuanced political confederations by the third century. Challenges to these power structures, both internal and external, became the catalyst for further consolidation. The adaptations of the third and fourth centuries resulted in the emergence of a more easily recognizable political unit: the Visigoths under a Balthi monarchy. These challenges, and forthcoming adaptations, places the Goths within the tradition of the Late Antique world. Late Antiquity, therefore, should not only be thought to …

Race And Greek Mythology: An Analysis Of A Racialized Hierarchy In Literary And Artistic Depictions Of The Line Of Io In Archaic And Classical Greece, Angie Pierre

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

Following the emergence of the Greek alphabet in 8th century B.C.E, Greece produced literary works which demonstrated contemporary beliefs, customs, and practices. Additionally, pottery during this era began to be more expressive. The use of geometric shapes and imagery from Egypt were later used to create stories and induce emotions in pottery. Following the Archaic period, the Classical era has produced a plethora of literary and artistic material that expands on material from the Archaic era while simultaneously providing commentary on its own period. While not in a consistent manner, an underlying theme within the art and literature of the …

Beware The Wandering Woman: Depictions Of Female Spatial Transgression In Athenian Public Dramas Of The 5th And 4th Centuries Bce, Anne E. Mcgrath

Comparative Literature M.A. Essays

This paper explores how ancient Greek literature and culture construct autonomous, mobile women as threats to the ideological and spatial order of the polis. Referencing mythological precedents and closely reading Classical texts, I propose the category of “excepted women” to address the threads of female transgression woven throughout this extensive literary corpus. Focusing on figures who transgress imposed spatial boundaries, I examine how such women are positioned as disruptors of gendered norms and civic stability, thus reflecting deep cultural anxieties about female agency and movement into spaces coded as masculine. The paper engages theoretical frameworks from Althusser and Butler to …

Masthead

New England Classical Journal

No abstract provided.

A Letter From Cane President Thomas J. Howell

New England Classical Journal

No abstract provided.

An Aulete Takes Flight: The Iconography Of Music And Myth In A Myrina-Type Terracotta In The Mead Art Museum, Loren Isotalo

New England Classical Journal

A Myrina-type terracotta figurine of a flying aulete held in Amherst College’s Mead Art Museum exemplifies a new body of evidence relevant to the study of ancient Greek music. I propose that this coarse figurine indicates possible musical funerary practices of Myrina and that the aulete may be a depiction of the god Eros. As the aulos inhabits a complex space in Greek social thought, a connection between Eros and the aulos would open up new ways of understanding how the ancient Greeks received and understood Eros as a god through music and sound.

Review Of Jared Hudson. 2021. The Rhetoric Of Roman Transportation. Vehicles In Latin Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp Xvi, 353. Paperback. (Isbn 978-1-108-72323-7) $46.59., Ray Laurence

New England Classical Journal

No abstract provided.

Review Of Julie Stone Peters. 2022. Law As Performance. Theatricality, Spectatorship, And The Making Of Law In Ancient, Medieval, And Early Modern Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. Xv, 350. Hardcover. (Isbn 9780192898494) $130., Donald Lateiner

New England Classical Journal

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

New England Classical Journal

No abstract provided.

The Life Of Terence, Revisited, Hannah Čulík-Baird

New England Classical Journal

Suetonius’ biography of Publius Terentius Afer, i.e., Terence the African (c. 195-159 BCE), identifies the Roman comic poet as a former slave from Carthage, describing him physically as a slim man of medium height and “dark color” (colore fusco). Yet classicists have historically denied Terence’s blackness out of a belief that “humanistic” or linguistic excellence could not be reconciled with blackness and African identity. This article addresses the Eurocentric logic underpinning classical scholars’ treatment of Terence, ultimately affirming both the ancient and modern traditions which make legitimate claims on the black poet as an ancestral figure.

Out With The Old, In With The Young? Youth And Old Age In Vergil’S Eclogues And Georgics, Charissa Skoutelas, Anthony Smith

New England Classical Journal

Scholars have noted that Silenus’ entrapment by Chromis and Mnasyllos (Eclogues 6) and Aristaeus’ ambush of Proteus (Georgics 4) share distinct elements. Both passages portray youths forcefully binding an old figure with chains to compel a song. In comparing old Silenus and Proteus with the “boys” Chromis and Mnasyllos and “most daring of the youth” Aristaeus respectively, this paper traces such physical compulsion alongside the metaphorical confinement of Tityrus (Eclogues 1) and the Corycian senex (Georgics 4) to argue that Vergil mobilizes the clash of youth and senectitude to comment on the effects of literary tradition …

Basilissa: Exploring Cleopatra Selene’S Complex Identity Through Her Coinage, Btari Laksono

New England Classical Journal

No abstract provided.