Classics Commons^™

Compilation As Narrative Art In Medieval Islam: The Redemption Of Kuthayyir In The Book Of Songs, Kirsten Beck

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This article examines the narrative art of Abū ‘l-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī’s Kitāb al-Aghānī through a close reading of the chapter on the poet Kuthayyir ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (d. 723). Though Kuthayyir is mocked throughout for his short stature, unorthodox beliefs, and supposed insincerity, the chapter ends with a surprising scene: his death is mourned by the people of Medina in a large public funeral, suggesting a reevaluation of his character. I argue that this tonal shift is not incidental but the result of Iṣbahānī’s deliberate narrative arrangement. By analyzing the structure of the chapter—including the juxtaposition of genealogical accounts, the gradual …

Beowulf And Théoden: Differing Teaching Methods Of Hrothgar And Gandalf, Ali Mirzabayati

Journal of Tolkien Research

Most studies on the character of Théoden in The Lord of the Rings center on Germanic heroic themes like courage and oath-keeping, often emphasizing his renewal by Gandalf at Meduseld and his death at the Battle of Pelennor Fields. This perspective overlooks Théoden's growth in wisdom and hope between these events. During this period, Théoden learns about the various forces in Middle-earth and contemplates his role in the broader world, leading to a profound sense of humility. Building on Tolkien's inspiration from Beowulf, this paper compares Théoden and Beowulf to explore their learning processes and heroic outcomes. This comparison …

The Fangs Of Philosophy: Religious Experience As A Persuasive Device, Lukas A. Dunford

Comparative Literature Undergraduate Senior Theses

The philosophical systems of Plato and Lucretius use the religious experience to compel readers into their distinct philosophical versions of reality. This compulsion is necessary for philosophy. This study’s three philosophical systems reappropriate this experience from the existing structures of religion to violently produce conviction in readers. The religious experience is not window dressing over the arguments of the philosophical systems, but a necessary component that reorients the audience into a new discursive reality. Ultimately, the philosophers we examine will show how the knowledge structure of philosophy becomes able to grip the audience, consuming them into its reality – how …

How To Walk On Water: Living Through The Absurd, Esther Du

Masters Theses

Set in a speculative world submerged by water, this thesis constructs a fragmented, nonlinear narrative that reflects on survival, memory, and displacement in the aftermath of catastrophe. Through three interwoven chapters—The Outcast, The Researcher, and The World—the project explores the emotional and psychological landscapes of individuals navigating a post-apocalyptic existence where the past is irretrievable and the future uncertain. Using an interdisciplinary form of visual storytelling, writing, and sound, the work draws from personal experience and collective trauma to examine how people reconstruct identity and meaning after loss. Rather than offering a definitive answer to existential …

A Reconstruction Of The Homeric Tradition In Early Greece, Aidan F. Hoey

Student Theses

This thesis discusses the centuries-long historiographical debate that is known to us as the Homeric Question. The identity of Homer, the authorship of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the dating from when the Homeric epic poems were composed, the Homeric diction, and the historicity of the Trojan War has puzzled scholars since Antiquity. Only by the twentieth century, scholars Milman Parry and Albert Lord proved that the Iliad and Odyssey were orally composed. How the written form of the Homeric epic poems came about has become even more of a historiographic puzzle than it has been previously. Building off the …

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 …

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 …

“The Old Lie”: The Effect Of Classical Heroism On The Wwi Soldier, Sage Fikse

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Before the outbreak of World War I, poet Wilfred Owen studied Greek and Roman literature, which presented him with idealized notions of patriotism, glory, and sacrifice. Influenced by classical texts such as The Iliad and the writings of Horace, these ideals of heroism left him unprepared for the brutal realities of anonymous warfare and for what it meant to be a “hero” in the twentieth century. In his poem “Dulce et Decorum Est,” Owen draws on his classical education to challenge the romanticized ideals of heroic sacrifice and glory. However, through the poetic nature of his death, dying exactly one …

The Rescue Of Wahutedew’Á And The Epistemological Reforestation: An Analysis Of Time In A Terra Dos Mil Povos, By Kaká Werá Jecupé, Ivo Cruz

The Coastal Review

It is estimated that in 1500, the year the Portuguese arrived in America, there was a population of 2,431,000 inhabitants, according to historian John Hemming (1978), who occupied the lands that we now know as Brazil. These peoples had their own culture whose cosmology was destroyed and erased over time by a violent process of colonization. Even though entire groups were decimated, much of their influence is still alive in Brazilian culture. This influence can be found in vocabulary, cuisine, and even religious practices. With the aim of rescuing ancestral narratives and knowledge of various native peoples, Kaká Werá Jecupé …

Light And Darkness For Aesthetic Pleasure: An Exploration Of J.M.G. Le Clézio’S Early Writings And Jun’Ichiro Tanizaki’S In Praise Of Shadows, Kenichiro Otani

The Coastal Review

Building upon comparative principles, this semantic reading of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s essay In Praise of Shadows and J.M.G. Le Clézio’s early writings illustrates how both the Franco-Mauritian author and the Japanese writer problematize modern Western perception laden with concepts stifling flexible imagination through the mysterious worldview of light/darkness. They also simultaneously express the hope that another way of life leading to liberation is possible. Delving into the spiritual confinement of the subject, they demonstrate how keeping rich creativity within one’s heart can be an escape from a stagnant society. Albeit in very different mediums, Tanizaki and Le Clézio assert that the …