Classical Literature and Philology Commons^™

Fear, Trembling, And Wonder: Psalms Of Awe, Solomon Aleph

University Honors Theses

This thesis proposes an expansion of genre form criticism within the Book of Psalms to include an additional category: Psalms of Awe. Building on scholarship that emphasizes the Psalms as expressions of religious experience, it draws from philosophical, theological, and critical scholarship to define the experience of awe as a distinct religious experience not fully captured by form critical scholarship. The thesis argues that awe is reflected in the Psalms through the combination of three key Hebrew roots: ירא (fear/reverence), פחד (fear/dread), and פלא (wonder). This is done by analyzing several psalms to explicate how each term captures a different …

Athenian Women Through The Eyes Of Sophocles (But Not Oedipus), Isabel C. Pereira

Young Historians Conference

Ancient Greece was known for its achievements in democracy, new technologies, and, above all, artistic expression. The works of poets and playwrights in this time period not only reflected the culture and society, but also impacted it. Sophocles, arguably one of the most well-known playwrights in Greece in the 5th century BCE, wrote pieces that provide us with a strong commentary on what life was like for the people of Greece, particularly highlighting the roles that women played in society or were expected to play. This paper focuses on the lives of women in ancient Athens, one of Greece’s most …

The Influence Of Hellenism On The Literary Style Of 1 And 2 Maccabees, Dimitra S. Fellman

Young Historians Conference

The Jewish people living within Hellenistic Greece experienced great freedoms, and many assimilated into the non-Jewish societies around them. Yet, under the Seleucid King Antiochus IV in the 2nd century BCE, the Jewish people experienced oppression and persecution, which has been chronicled in the books 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. At a glance, these books appear opposed to the blending of Hellenistic culture and society into surrounding Jewish communities, but a deeper analysis of both texts reveals that the authors depended on Hellenistic constructs to effectively tell their story. This paper explores the degree to which the authors of 1 …

Renaissance Courtesy And Book Vi Of The Faerie Queene, Matthew S. Martini

Dissertations and Theses

Book VI of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, with its chivalric and pastoral characteristics, has confounded critics for several generations. This thesis provides a chronological reading of Book VI that addresses many of its problems in the context of conduct manuals such as Baldassare Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier and Stefano Guazzo's Civile Conversation. Rather than dismiss many of the tensions and contradictions in the text, this study seeks to embrace them by interpreting them with Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of dialogism as expressed in The Dialogic Imagination.

In chapter one, connections are made between the opening …

Protean Aspects Of Change In Euripides' Medea, Phillip Wilson

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

By drawing on the Homeric tradition, Euripides creates an image of Medea as epic hero with aspects of both Achilles and Odysseus. But this is not enough. As this paper shows, ultimately the portrait that emerges of Medea is that of Proteus. In addition, this paper asserts that not only is Medea a protean figure, but the very shape of the drama that Euripides concocts is protean as well. He shapeshifts the traditional aspects of the tragedy he transforms the form.

Allusions To Homer In The Protagoras, Aaron Johnson

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

This paper traces Plato’s allusions to Homer in the Protagoras. What might seem to be surface details are, in fact, shown to both augment and support the dialogues underlying theme of the nature of virtue. By tracing these seemingly surface details, this paper shows just how Socrates goes about teaching virtue.

Alteration To Exaltation In Euripides' Medea, Jennifer Blakeslee

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

Euripides’s Medea keeps certain aspects of traditional Greek tragedy while radically altering others. This paper shows how he changes the character of Medea into a commentary against both the restrictions of the Greek tragic and epic norms and the ignorance of women upheld in these traditions. In the end, both Euripides and Medea saw the frailty of tradition as compared to the exaltation of individual experience.

Explication Of Plato's Protagoras, Keri Mcmurry

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

In the Protagoras, Plato presents a view of the Classical Greek social and political structures, as well as personal attitudes and morals, by implying them through the narrative frame rather than explicitly stating them. The allusions to Homer throughout the Protagoras fuel this sense of the Classical Greek. Neither the structure nor the philosophical arguments, when taken alone, give a complete sense of the Protagoras. But when combined, a complex view of the Classical Greek world is achieved

Oikos And Polis In The Medea: Patterns Of The Heart And Mind, Debra Blankenship

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

In Euripides’s The Medea, the dichotomy of traditional values associated with oikos and polis serves as a means by which to comment on the issues of fifth century Athenian life. This paper shows how oikos the private domain) and polis (the public domain) come to be separate and conflicting concepts in the democracy of Athens. Euripides shaped The Medea around the idea of Medea throwing off the bonds of oikos as a result of her desire for revenge on Jason. Medea knowingly denies the bonds of oikos in order to assert her power. This paper finishes with a nod towards …

Monsters Of Antithesis, Melody Leming-Wilson

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

This paper traces and interrogates the multiple theories of matriarchy that have arisen in recent years and then turns to the Greek myths to show how matriarchies functioned in this literature. The theories of matriarchy often stem from the pre-Hellenic stories of matriarchy shown in Greek myths. In addition, these theories often suggest that the colonizing force of Indo-Europeans changed these myths into patriarchical ones. The Amazonian women can be seen to upset the patriarchal myth in important and interesting ways which suggest a matriarchal underpinning to their society. The question of whether a historical matriarchy actually existed is shown …

The Gorgias Explained, Dan Zajdel

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

In Plato’s The Gorgias, five forms of language serve to explicitly inaugurate Socrates as a mythic hero. This paper traces these forms, along with allusions to myth and the known body of literature at the time, and shows how Plato achieves his goal.

Protagoras: Recollection Of Return, Roger Zemke

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

The Homeric forms that Plato uses as a template for the Dialogues all contribute to a fictional recasting of the historical figure of Socrates as an epic Hero: the philosopher-king. This paper traces the idea of a recollection of return in the Protagoras as a means by which Plato creates this fictional image of Socrates. The traditional Greek notion of agon, with all its attendant functions and forms, helps Plato reveal a Socrates whose divine right as a philosopher-king would be the best hope for a return to the power and glory of Athens.

Power Bitches Of Ancient Greece, Jennifer Ingram

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

This paper takes the form of a transcript of the Sally Jessy Raphael show on which Nancy Reagan answers questions about Women in ancient Greek Epics. Specifically, this transcript focuses on Medea (as shown by Euripides) and Clytemnestra (from the Agamemnon by Aeschylus). The focus is on strong “masculine” women and how the story of lover’s revenge is played out by both characters.

The Protagoras: Judge ... Jury ... And Explication, Patrick Hamilton

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

The idea of a trial is a strong aspect of the structure of Socrates’s direct conversation with Protagoras in Plato’s Protagoras. Each character in the dialogue assumes a particular role within the trial, with Socrates not as accused but as questioner. This paper uses the trial concept as a means in which to get inside the Protagoras and pry open the differing aspects of its characters.

Euripides: Master Of The Discrepant Event, Osa Skyberg

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

In Euripides’s Medea, a seemingly normative form of a traditional Greek tragedy is disturbed by a disruptive layer that shakes the audience to its core. Integral to the story of Medea is her revenge on Jason. One knows this, but Euripides adds a disruptive layer that increases the tragic tension of the story. This disruptive layer is the killing of innocent boys by their mother. And not only that, but the Mother being rewarded for this act. This paper shows how Euripides takes the traditional form of the Greek tragedy, adds disruptive layers, and makes the form his own.

Perception And Power, Marisela F. Nyoka

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

In Virgil’s Aeneid, the hero is epic enough but is importantly different enough from the tradition of the Greek epic hero to warrant investigation. At the crux of it is that Virgil utilizes a Roman approach to the Greek cosmos. Thus the hero reflects the political changes and moods of the times. This paper traces how Virgil’s use of language constructs this Roman vision of the Greek cosmos. In the end it suggests that humans in Virgil’s world have a greater task than they did before and that only the pious will survive.

The Phaedo: A Painting In Three Parts, Sharon Parker

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

This paper argues that Plato’s Phaedo might be interestingly viewed as a painting: a landscape in three parts. This triptych is unified through the central question of the immortality of the human soul. This paper traces this conception of the Phaedo through an interrogation of the textual markers that might lead to an understanding of the whole. In the end, The Phaedo is seen as ascending from the corporeal to the ethereal.

Investigations Of Self, Merlin Douglass

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

While Margery Kempe, fourteenth century English country wife and mystic/pilgrim, and Lady Nijo, thirteenth century Japanese imperial concubine and itinerant Buddhist nun, might at first seem disparate subjects, this paper argues that the themes of pilgrimage and the act of writing an autobiography link them together in interesting ways. By tracing the ways in which both authors form their autobiographies and by using critical theories of autobiography a theme repeatedly appears, that of the welcoming nature of the wilderness of the faith pilgrimage and of the wandering paths both women took in their search for salvation

The Protagoras: An Explication, Victorya Khary

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

The paper explores themes of Athenian life, Socratic philosophy, and the theme of Knowledge leading to power in the Protagoras. The setting of the Protagoras is primarily a portico at Callias’s home and Socrates debates Protagoras on numerous subjects. This paper shows that those possessing the most knowledge, Protagoras and Socrates, have the most power by invoking a pyramid structure where both Protagoras and Socrates are at the peak and give the lengthiest speeches. All of the speeches, whether by those at the top of the pyramid or the bottom, provide a glimpse into the unique nature of Athenian intellectual …

An Explication Of The Phaedo, Thahn Ngo

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

Plato’s Phaedo has multiple meanings and uses its narrative framework, sets up debates, and implements myths and allusions in order to present this multiplicity of meaning. This paper looks at the above characteristics in the Phaedo and interrogates their use. The Phaedo is nominally about the last hours of Socrates’s life, but it contains far more than mere biography. This paper traces the ways Plato uses this basic framework to create a multi-faceted work.

The Argonautica: Apollonius' New Epic, Christopher Frank

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

Apollonius’ Argonautica takes as its general form the epic tradition of Homer, but often diverges from traditional paths in order to show trends in Hellenistic life. The poem is generally thought of as an Imitation, but its complex imitations do not perfectly follow the Homeric epic tradition. This paper points out the influences that led to these differences and then suggests that ultimately Apollonius is making a concrete and interesting statement about his own culture.

"Kubla Khan" And Its Critics, Allen Dale Widerburg

Dissertations and Theses

This paper evaluates the critical response to Samuel Coleridge's "Kubla Khan." In the Introduction I outline my critical approach, which attempts to see the relationships between parts of the poem, sources outside the poem and poet himself. In analyzing Coleridge's esthetics, I have come to the conclusion that the poem was the first of a new type of Romantic poem. The central structural principle of this type of poem is the use of illusion and the fragmented form, or the illusion of the fragmented form. Poems that fall within this esthetic frequently use the "vision within a dream" motif as …