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Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons™

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2022

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Articles 1 - 30 of 41

Full-Text Articles in Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity

The "Write" Stuff: The Plausible Capability Of Jesus’ Followers To Author The Gospels, Charles D. T. Miller Dec 2022

The "Write" Stuff: The Plausible Capability Of Jesus’ Followers To Author The Gospels, Charles D. T. Miller

Liberty Theological Review

It is common for critics of the New Testament to cite William Harris’ 10% literacy rate for first-century Greco-Romans as evidence for the implausibility of Jesus’ followers to write, publish, and circulate the New Testament. This “evidence” is often used to dismiss the entire New Testament as a second-century fabrication that cannot accurately represent the true teachings of Jesus. Is this an accurate portrayal of Galilee during the time of Jesus? The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that Jesus’ followers possessed the “‘Write’ Stuff”—the ability to read, write, and memorize, as well as, access to the technology needed …

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Phaedra: The Influence And History Of A Dramaturgical Mystery, Kierstan K. Conway Dec 2022

Phaedra: The Influence And History Of A Dramaturgical Mystery, Kierstan K. Conway

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Many have debated the possible performance of Seneca's plays. Theatre Historians have polarizing opinions on whether Seneca wrote them intending to perform for Roman Audiences. A comparative study of Euripides' Hippolyte, Seneca's Phaedra, and Sara Kane's Phaedra's Love demonstrates the flexibility of this story and its translation to different historical audiences. This further historical analysis illuminates clues within Seneca's text and proves the possibility of staging, offering a new take on plays previously thought of as "closet dramas."

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Something Borrowed: The Origins Of Christian Wedding Rituals, Brooke Leany Nov 2022

Something Borrowed: The Origins Of Christian Wedding Rituals, Brooke Leany

Studia Antiqua

No abstract provided.

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Elementary New Testament Greek, Owen Ewald Oct 2022

Elementary New Testament Greek, Owen Ewald

Faculty Open Access Books

This open-access textbook helps students learn to read New Testament Greek at the elementary level. It includes clear, concise explanations of grammar and syntax, helpful examples, and essential vocabulary, with no assumption of previous language study, and it does not require accents for most forms. At the end of each of its twenty chapters, students will find short Greek-language episodes from the life of a fictional early Christian family of Jewish ancestry, short readings from the Greek New Testament and Septuagint, and review/homework exercises that can help reinforce new concepts and vocabulary. This book can help students prepare to read …

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The Purpose Of Hell: Control Of Communities Through Apocalyptic Literature., Madison S Fogle Oct 2022

The Purpose Of Hell: Control Of Communities Through Apocalyptic Literature., Madison S Fogle

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Literature depicting Hell in late antique Christianity reveals more than the theological concern for one’s eternal soul, revealing the underlying values and morals of the growing society. Borrowing from Roman, Greek, and Jewish culture, Christians were seeking to set themselves apart while also grappling with their past around them. Through visions of Hell, apocalyptic literature in late antique Christian society exhibits the control exercised over parishioners, specifically control over their bodies and their wealth. The moral laws from Greek, Roman, and Jewish influences is evident through early Christian literature, which dictate the ways in which people are regulated by Christianity …

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The Intersection Of Prose And Poetics In Apollonius’ Argonautica, Stephen B. Ogumah Sep 2022

The Intersection Of Prose And Poetics In Apollonius’ Argonautica, Stephen B. Ogumah

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Detecting allusions in the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes is not quite new except for the fact that it has been carried out for long mostly within the poetic tradition. Looking at the proem of the epic, where there is mixing of genres, this mixture suggests that scholars may need to look beyond the Homeric epics and the poetic tradition for better appreciation of the Alexandrian epic. This dissertation explores the relationship between certain features and episodes of Apollonius’ Argonautica and the prose tradition, and seeks to show that the prose tradition, particularly Herodotus’ Histories, is germane to the …

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Creolization And Romanity: The Continuities And Changes Of Roman Egypt., Travis M. Kaelin Aug 2022

Creolization And Romanity: The Continuities And Changes Of Roman Egypt., Travis M. Kaelin

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Past scholarship has analyzed Roman Egypt through the process of Romanization, but my research evaluates the province through creolization instead. The process of creolization is complex but affords indigenous populations more agency than terms like romanization. The thesis addresses the Egyptian and Greek continuities in language, religion, and way of life to display the extent of creolization. Analysis of Roman Egypt through the post-colonial lens better represents the changes that took place and the intent of the Roman principate. Much of the research derives from papyrological and archaeological sources to create a more nuanced understanding of what Roman Egypt looked …

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In Search Of The Pelasgians: Discursive Strategies And Greek Identities From The Archaic Period To The Roman Imperial Era, Tristn Lambright Jul 2022

In Search Of The Pelasgians: Discursive Strategies And Greek Identities From The Archaic Period To The Roman Imperial Era, Tristn Lambright

Theses

In ancient literature, the Pelasgians appear as an ambiguously defined and geographically ubiquitous primeval ethnic group or tribe. Various classical writers describe the Pelasgians as simultaneously pre-Hellenic and non-Hellenic –– ancestral and barbarian, chronologically earlier and essentially different. The ongoing ideological and rhetorical negotiations of Pelasgian identity in ancient literature played a critical role in discussions of Greekness –– discussions rooted in the distant past, informed by fluid and contradictory myths, and shaped by intellectual, social, and political transformations of the period. By contextualizing these discussions, this study attempts not simply a reconstruction of the mythological Pelasgians, but a reconstruction …

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Ancient Dying And Rising Gods: An Analysis Of Physicality, Similarity, And Causality Jun 2022

Ancient Dying And Rising Gods: An Analysis Of Physicality, Similarity, And Causality

Liberty Theological Review

Cook, John Granger. Empty Tomb, Resurrection, Apotheosis (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018) xvi +717 pp. ISBN 978-3-16-156503-8, 164,00 €. (=WUNT 410)

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The Vestal Virgins And The Transition From Republic To Principate Under Augustus C. 30 Bce - 14 Ce, Jamie R. Ditzel Jun 2022

The Vestal Virgins And The Transition From Republic To Principate Under Augustus C. 30 Bce - 14 Ce, Jamie R. Ditzel

University Honors Theses

For centuries, ancient historians have been intrigued by the Vestal Virgins, a priestess order older than Rome itself that was dedicated to Vesta, Roman goddess of the hearth. From our ancient sources we can glean that the cult, though shrouded in mystery, was regarded as playing an invaluable role in the prosperity of Rome and notions of what it meant to be Roman. Scholars such as Mary Beard and Ariadne Staples have been pioneers in studies of the Vestals, proposing the widely accepted theories that the Vestals served as physical embodiments of republican values, Roman people, and the city of …

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The Cosmic Catastrophe Of History: Patristic Angelology And Augustinian Theology Of History In Tolkien's "Long Defeat", Edmund M. Lazzari May 2022

The Cosmic Catastrophe Of History: Patristic Angelology And Augustinian Theology Of History In Tolkien's "Long Defeat", Edmund M. Lazzari

Journal of Tolkien Research

Much of the poignancy of J.R.R. Tolkien's literary universe comes from its atmosphere of tragedy. The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings take place in a universe where noble and heroic actions are most often small candles lit against the inexorable march of evil. This backdrop of tragedy, which Galadriel names "the long defeat," is certainly influenced by Tolkien's views of Germanic mythologies, but it also draws much from the medieval notions of evil in Patristic Angelology and St. Augustine's theology of human history. These twin understandings of evil ultimately lead to one conclusion in Tolkien: the need for …

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Preserving The Polychromy Of Antiquity: An Analysis Of Collections Stewardship And Colored Classical Antiquity Sculptures, Angelina D'Angelo May 2022

Preserving The Polychromy Of Antiquity: An Analysis Of Collections Stewardship And Colored Classical Antiquity Sculptures, Angelina D'Angelo

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Over the past centuries, scholars have worked to understand that the remaining pristine white marble of ancient Greece and Rome was once brightly colored. Through archeology, classical studies, art history, and conservation science research, several discoveries have been uncovered regarding polychromy and classical antiquity sculptures. In a parallel research track, museum professionals refine their understanding of collections stewardship, making preservation policies and procedures beneficial for various object types. Collections stewardship practices and polychromy research must converge to care for the remaining color on these classical antiquity sculptures. This research project works to connect the fields of polychromy research and collections …

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Isocrates's Place In Postmodern Advertising, Christopher Barkley May 2022

Isocrates's Place In Postmodern Advertising, Christopher Barkley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study in communication and rhetoric seeks to ascertain constructive applications for distinct advertising practices by examining Isocrates’s work and place in postmodern advertising. The focus uses 5 principles known to Isocrates which are: 1) commonwealths of households, 2) integration of reputation, elegance, substance and style, 3) education and public discourse, 4) phronesis and praxis, and 5) truth and verisimilitude. These 5 principles can form a constructive and practical advertising approach. This study is important. It examines Isocrates through the lens of advertising and extends the research done about him by leading Isocrates scholars who have looked primarily at his …

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Mercy Otis Warren’S Marcia(S) And Cornelia(S): A Case Study In Women’S Internalization Of Classicism In Early America, Brittany Ellis May 2022

Mercy Otis Warren’S Marcia(S) And Cornelia(S): A Case Study In Women’S Internalization Of Classicism In Early America, Brittany Ellis

Honors Theses

The connection between people in early America and classicism is a field of study that has been heavily documented, although it has remained a very male-focused field with little research done about how women in early America formed a relationship with antiquity. This thesis reveals that elite white women had a deep emotional and intellectual attachment with mothers and matrons from ancient Greece and Rome as a basis for expressing political thoughts and identity; classicism formed a common language that many women could relate to each other before, during, and after the American Revolution. This assessment is achieved through a …

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Look To Your Own: Human Limits And The Danger Of Overambition In Herodotus’ Histories, Alex Christopher Brinkman May 2022

Look To Your Own: Human Limits And The Danger Of Overambition In Herodotus’ Histories, Alex Christopher Brinkman

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The final clause of the proem to Herodotus’ Histories promises that the work to come will, among other things, set out “the reason for which [the Greeks and the Persians] fought against one another” (δι᾽ ἣν αἰτίην ἐπολέμησαν ἀλλήλοισι), a story which will be told through the gradual expansion of the Persian empire, its encounters with foreign lands and their peoples, and its eventual conflict with the Greek states. Throughout this narrative, a key theme becomes that of the rise and fall of arrogant kings who, driven by past successes and overconfidence in the course of future events, go a …

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Pride Before The Fall: A Historical Fiction Novel, Brenna Smith May 2022

Pride Before The Fall: A Historical Fiction Novel, Brenna Smith

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

The Mycenaean civilization (1650 BCE-1200 BCE) was the first advanced Greek civilization with many features that characterized Classical Greece such as palace states, art, a writing system, intercultural contact, and more. The focus of this capstone project is the ancient Mycenaean civilization, particularly capturing both the build up to and the actual rise of the Greek Early Iron Age (1200 BCE-800 BCE) period, or the Greek Dark Ages. This project takes the form of a historical fiction novel which seeks to offer a possible explanation for how the collapse came to be, using archaeological evidence in partnership with creative writing. …

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Anthropomorphism In Architecture: An Investigation Into Anthropomorphism Through Ancient Greco-Roman Religious Structures, Emily Wilcox May 2022

Anthropomorphism In Architecture: An Investigation Into Anthropomorphism Through Ancient Greco-Roman Religious Structures, Emily Wilcox

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper will outline and detail an investigation into religious Greco-Roman structures of antiquity through the lens of anthropomorphism. Through defining anthropomorphism, three lenses of thought have presented themselves as means of inquiry: metaphor, scale and proportion, and ergonomics. Previous research into these structures and cultures has shown that there was indeed consideration for the human body in designing in construction; this project hopes to solidify these claims and present new supporting information regarding specific relationships to the body using anthropomorphism. Many contemporary buildings approach the relationship to the human body as a mask or an afterthought, disregarding what reflecting …

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Plague And Devastation In Ancient Greece: Why Mourning Matters, Hannah Kallin May 2022

Plague And Devastation In Ancient Greece: Why Mourning Matters, Hannah Kallin

Honors Scholar Theses

In 430 BC, The Plague of Athens swept through the city and left tens of thousands dead. Ancient historian Thucydides gives his account of the plague, detailing the consequent breakdown of order in the capital. Bodies could not be buried or mourned in the ideal traditional ceremonies, leaving surviving citizens unmoored and terrified. This paper explores the impact of interrupted mourning on ancient Greek society. These interruptions range from war and changing laws to periods of plague and widespread devastation. The emotional wellbeing of individual citizens depends on their ability to process death and associated grief with freedom and support …

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A Point In Time Filled With Significance: The Application Of Kairos In Contemporary Rhetoric And Civic Pedagogy, Bryant Smilie May 2022

A Point In Time Filled With Significance: The Application Of Kairos In Contemporary Rhetoric And Civic Pedagogy, Bryant Smilie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

This study examines how kairos continues to operate in contemporary discourses and disciplines despite its inadequate treatment as a normative principle in modern studies. Notwithstanding James Kinneavy’s revival of kairos encouraging many scholars to revisit the term in search of a complete definition, there is still an absence of conclusive application of the concept in contemporary pedagogy. I argue that, over time, the two versions of kairos have become entangled, contradictory, and thought of as too flexible to be taught in a modern setting because they have resisted concrete methodology. While the idea that kairos possesses two dimensions has already …

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By The Power Vesta-Ed In Me: The Power Of The Vestal Virgins And Those Who Took Advantage Of It, Elena M. Stanley Apr 2022

By The Power Vesta-Ed In Me: The Power Of The Vestal Virgins And Those Who Took Advantage Of It, Elena M. Stanley

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

Vestal Virgins were high ranking members of the Roman elite. Due to the priestesses’ elevated standing, Romans made use of their inherent privileges. Through analyses of case studies from ancient authors and archaeology, I identify three ways Romans wielded Vestal power: familial connections, financial and material resources, and political sway. I end by exploring cases of crimen incesti, the crime of unchastity, which highlight all three forms. The Vestals were influential women who shared access to power in different ways. The Vestals were active participants in the social and political world of Rome.

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Imperator Novus: Charting The Transfer Of Rome’S Imperial Past To The Papacy’S Eighth Century Present, Henry R. Elsenpeter Apr 2022

Imperator Novus: Charting The Transfer Of Rome’S Imperial Past To The Papacy’S Eighth Century Present, Henry R. Elsenpeter

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

When did Roman imperial iconography become part of the position of pope? This thesis will highlight the eighth century as a time of notable change in papal authority and identity. The developing papacy — in competition with rival contenders for Rome’s past — produced two key documents that portrayed the pope as an inheritor of the Roman Empire. In these sources, the bishop of Rome took on an entirely new identity as an imperator novus. While the eighth century continued, the pope gradually appeared increasingly imperial, concluding with a coronation that crowned emperor and pope, alike.

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An Illustrated Metamorphoses, Alexandria Devlin Apr 2022

An Illustrated Metamorphoses, Alexandria Devlin

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

This project was a comic consisting of five different myths from Ovid's Metamorphoses. My goal was to make it easier and more enjoyable for audiences to read classical myths, and give these stories a way to shine in the 21st century. Myths from many different cultures have been adapted into comics, but direct depictions are much less common than shaping mythological figures to fit a new story. I have yet to find a direct comic adaptation of Metamorphoses. Ovid's Metamorphoses is full of rich and interesting stories and deserves to be represented alongside other mythological tales.

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The Rise Of Rome, The Fall Of Spain: Classical Reception In Leopoldo Alas, Galdós, And José Díaz Fernández, Meghan E. Hodges Apr 2022

The Rise Of Rome, The Fall Of Spain: Classical Reception In Leopoldo Alas, Galdós, And José Díaz Fernández, Meghan E. Hodges

LSU Master's Theses

The turn of the century was a period of rapid change and modernization. Spain, unlike neighboring European nations, was collapsing as an imperial force. The ensuing crisis of national identity fueled existing political tensions from the early nineteenth century which would lead to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). This thesis examines various national crises from 1890 and the decade preceding the loss of Spain’s final colonies to 1929 and the decade preceding the Civil War. Both of these periods saw substantial acceleration of modernization and incredible resistance to it. Despite the hyper-presence of modernity within contemporary literary movements, there is …

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A Roman Diary, Sarah Yebin Park Apr 2022

A Roman Diary, Sarah Yebin Park

Montserrat Annual Writing Prize

This collection of diary entries uses historical fiction to capture a glimpse of Roman life in the year XV B.C. through the eyes of of a young man Felix who was visiting Rome with his father Julius, a libertus (or emanicapted slave).

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The Presence And Absence Of Animal Sacrifice In Jesus Films, James W. Barker, Daniel C. Ullucci Apr 2022

The Presence And Absence Of Animal Sacrifice In Jesus Films, James W. Barker, Daniel C. Ullucci

Journal of Religion & Film

This article illuminates an overlooked polemic embedded in many Jesus films. Filmmakers show little comprehension of the architecture of the Jerusalem temple. When the temple does appear, animal sacrifice is either eradicated entirely or grossly misrepresented. Since contemporary audiences are increasingly unfamiliar with animal sacrifice and butchery in general, ancient Jewish rituals can be interpreted as unscrupulous and barbaric. Also, the temple and priesthood are often expressly depicted as greedy and corrupt. A related motif anachronistically attributes the Christian rejection of animal sacrifice to Jesus himself. Some of these mischaracterizations arise from gaps, ambiguities, and ideologies within the written Gospels. …

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New Myths And My Religion, Pallas Lane Umbra Apr 2022

New Myths And My Religion, Pallas Lane Umbra

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

New Myths and My Religion
Pallas Lane Umbra
Faculty Advisor: Katie Mitchell

As every civilization has had its myth and legends, this creative thesis project introduces a new mythology. This world is born of our own, shaped by the experience of growing up queer in the Appalachian South. There is a specific exploration of love, rage, and spirituality. Inspired by Greco-Roman mythology while also reflecting on personal experience, this body of work shares a visual, symbolic language that is interpretable; one myth can tell many stories. Along with this new iconography, the work strips the viewer of ease and comfort …

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Faceless Man And Infinite God: Till We Have Faces A Subversion Of Greek Anthropocentrism, Hunter Hogsed Apr 2022

Faceless Man And Infinite God: Till We Have Faces A Subversion Of Greek Anthropocentrism, Hunter Hogsed

Senior Honors Theses

C. S. Lewis’s novel Till We Have Faces directly subverts the Greek anthropocentric view of both God and man. The Greek myths of Hesiod-Homer and platonic philosophy hold to a view of man being morally superior to the gods. The character of Orual in Till We Have Faces represents Greek anthropocentrism. Orual opens the story accusing the gods of stealing her beloved sister Psyche but, through an encounter with the madness of the divine, sees herself as the true destroyer of her sister’s face. The illusion of her own moral superiority crumbles away as she sees how her love is …

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The Power Of Mothers: A Comparison Of The Egyptian Goddess Isis And Virgin Mary During The Roman Empire Through Literature And Art, Katherine Burdick Apr 2022

The Power Of Mothers: A Comparison Of The Egyptian Goddess Isis And Virgin Mary During The Roman Empire Through Literature And Art, Katherine Burdick

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

The Egyptian goddess Isis and the Virgin Mary are two mother figures that were an essential part of Roman culture. Isis rose to prominence in Roman religion when the Republic expanded into Egypt in 30 B.C. She was adopted into the Roman pantheon alongside many other deities from other cultures. Mary rose to prominence in a very different way. A majority of early Christian worship was heavily persecuted and not accepted by many Roman emperors. However, eventually, Christianity eclipsed cult worship of deities. Isis and Mary were both seen as comforting mother figures for not only their sons, Horus and …

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Augustan War And Peace: Analyzing The Role Of The Military In Maintaining The Pax Augusta In The Augustan Age, Maxwell Hovasse Apr 2022

Augustan War And Peace: Analyzing The Role Of The Military In Maintaining The Pax Augusta In The Augustan Age, Maxwell Hovasse

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

The end of the Roman Republic was affected by decades of civil war, leaving the Roman population desperate for an end to the violence. Augustus’s rise to power was the solution for this violence. Augustus’s victory over Marc Antony both effectively ended the Roman Republic and the long period of civil unrest. As the new sole and undisputed ruler of the Roman world, Augustus sought to bring Rome into an era of peace, which would be known as the Pax Augusta, meaning the Augustan Peace. However, given that the Romans viewed peace as existing when an enemy had been completely …

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The Impact Of Women On The Life And Legacy Of Mark Antony, Lauren E. Yaple Mar 2022

The Impact Of Women On The Life And Legacy Of Mark Antony, Lauren E. Yaple

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Throughout the life of Mark Antony, the women he became involved with had a large impact on his political career, life, and legacy. These women, such as Fulvia and Cleopatra, used Antony as a means to achieve their own political, economic, and personal goals and were able to gain power in a very anti-feminist society through their relationships with and manipulations of him, affecting the career of Antony in many ways including his politics and his actions as a military commander, as showcased by the examination of primary sources from the late Roman Republic and early Roman empire periods. This …

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