Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
2023-03-02T00:00:00Z
The response of Greek literature to Roman domination varied through different eras, authors and texts. During the so-called “Second Sophistic”, the renewed interest of the literate Greek elite for...Show moreThe response of Greek literature to Roman domination varied through different eras, authors and texts. During the so-called “Second Sophistic”, the renewed interest of the literate Greek elite for the accomplishments of the classical past led to a renegotiation of the relationship with Rome. The present paper examines the role of Rome in the Panathenaicus of Aelius Aristides. Basing my analysis on the rhetorical device of “figured speech”, I examine the rhetorical function of Rome inside the speech, its relationship with Athens, as well as the emerging stance of Aristides towards Roman rulership. I support that Aristides downsizes the status of Rome to extoll the greatness of Athens, while at the same time giving voice to his general hesitation towards the empire by highlighting the Greek cultural preeminence over the Romans. In this way, I hope to cover the relevant research gap, since scholarship on the relationship of Aristides with Rome is predominantly based on the homonymous oration, while the Panathenaicus has been mostly analyzed on the base of Athenian religious preeminence over the emperor.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
2023-08-30T00:00:00Z
The Ancient South Arabian languages (ASA = Sabaic, Minaic, Qatabanic and Ḥaḍramitic) have traditionally been classified as South Semitic and since Nebes (1994) as Central Semitic, based on the...Show moreThe Ancient South Arabian languages (ASA = Sabaic, Minaic, Qatabanic and Ḥaḍramitic) have traditionally been classified as South Semitic and since Nebes (1994) as Central Semitic, based on the imperfect pattern of Sabaic in weak verbs, such as 2-W/Y. By analyzing inscriptions of all ASA languages from the CSAI-database, applying roughly the same method as Nebes (1994), this study does not only verify Nebes' conclusions for Sabaic, but also shows that not all ASA languages share the same imperfect pattern. Minaic is non-Central Semitic using the imperfect pattern *yVqattVl; the synchronic Qatabanic pattern b-yqtl could have originated from either *yVqtVl(u) or *yVqattVl(u); for Ḥaḍramitic the evidence is inconclusive. Therefore, ASA is no homogeneous group and the individual ASA languages should be reclassified within the Semitic language family.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
closed access
Deze scriptie gaat over de dertiende Olympische ode. Deze ode wordt geanalyseerd aan de hand van een retorisch kader, namelijk de taken van de redenaar. Daarbij ga ik in op waar Pindarus zijn...Show moreDeze scriptie gaat over de dertiende Olympische ode. Deze ode wordt geanalyseerd aan de hand van een retorisch kader, namelijk de taken van de redenaar. Daarbij ga ik in op waar Pindarus zijn informatie vandaan haalt (inventio), hoe hij dit ordent (dispositio) en welke stilistische middelen hij gebruikt (elocutio). Door middel van deze analyse reflecteer ik op de vraag wat een retorische lezing van een pindarische ode bijdraagt aan ons begrip van Pindarus in het algemeen en deze ode in het bijzonder. Enerzijds concludeer ik dat Pindarus op het gebied van de inventio, dispositio en elocutio grotendeels hetzelfde wil bereiken en dat we een pindarische ode kunnen lezen als een tekst die behoort tot het genus demonstrativum. Anderzijds plaats ik de kanttekening of we niet een bepaalde lading verliezen als we de tekst alleen retorisch lezen, omdat deze lezing vooral functioneel is. Een poëtische tekst heeft namelijk ook esthetische functies. Mijn eindconclusie luidt dat een retorische lezing nuttig is omdat het verschillende aspecten een het licht heeft gebracht die in eerder onderzoek onder de oppervlakte zijn gebleven.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
2022-12-30T00:00:00Z
Already in archaic times, wine was perceived as a substance of equivocal nature, χάρμα καὶ ἄχθος (Hes. Sc., 400). This idea also appears in Athenaeus’ Deipnosophistae (book II), a work where the...Show moreAlready in archaic times, wine was perceived as a substance of equivocal nature, χάρμα καὶ ἄχθος (Hes. Sc., 400). This idea also appears in Athenaeus’ Deipnosophistae (book II), a work where the recitation of various texts is presented as an account of the conversation occurred during and about the symposion. The ambiguity of wine is introduced by a medical excerpt by Mnesitheus, where both positive and negative effects of wine consumption are defined, with ascending severity; relevant citations of different genres follow. The purpose of this Master thesis is to facilitate a better understanding of the ancient Greek thought on the ambivalence of wine. Hence, the citations analyzed give prominence to this ambiguity, either directly or more allusively, organized according to their place in the book and their genre (comedy, elegy and lyric poetry, tragedy). Furthermore, it aims to re-introduce Mnesitheus, a 4th-century physician and writer of medical texts, frequently neglected by research, but above all, to cast light on the way Athenaeus is organizing knowledge while composing his work, what I call his “poetics of citation”. Beyond the net of texts weaved by word-based links, connections in terms of idea and structure are also showcased. It is argued that Athenaeus’ poetics of citation consist of the introduction of an idea and its subsequent extension while steadily diverging from its original form; while Mnesitheus’ excerpt clearly defines the ambiguous nature of wine building a crescendo of the effects of its consumption, both structure and idea get progressively lost as the work progresses.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
closed access
Seneca's tragedies contain quite a few horrifying scenes. Seeing such a spectacle, for instance a bloody ritual or a man chasing his offspring with an axe, would cause the spectator to experience...Show moreSeneca's tragedies contain quite a few horrifying scenes. Seeing such a spectacle, for instance a bloody ritual or a man chasing his offspring with an axe, would cause the spectator to experience horror and dread, logically speaking. However, the on-stage recipients of the horror have quite varying reactions to the scenes. This thesis aims to examine these scenes and the reactions to said scenes within a theoretical framework of 'delightful horror', which explains how horror can and should be enjoyed.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
closed access
This thesis is focused on determining the function of the Middle Kingdom funerary gardens found in Thebes at TT366 and near TT11. This is done through a comparative study using textual,...Show moreThis thesis is focused on determining the function of the Middle Kingdom funerary gardens found in Thebes at TT366 and near TT11. This is done through a comparative study using textual, archaeological and artistic evidence of gardens with different functions and contexts.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
closed access
Julius Caesar beschrijft in de De Bello Gallico dat hij 430.000 Usipetes en Tencteri heeft gedood. Een enorm aantal slachtoffers dat in onze maatschappij al snel de stempel genocide zou krijgen. In...Show moreJulius Caesar beschrijft in de De Bello Gallico dat hij 430.000 Usipetes en Tencteri heeft gedood. Een enorm aantal slachtoffers dat in onze maatschappij al snel de stempel genocide zou krijgen. In de Romeinse tijd werd Caesar hier niet voor aangeklaagd, maar werd er een aanklacht ingediend tegen hem om het breken van officieuze internationale wetten. Dit laat al een verschil in perspectief zien tussen de Romeinse en onze maatschappij. In dit onderzoek wil ik in kaart brengen wat het verschil is in perspectief van de Romein en van de moderne mens met betrekking tot de vele Germaanse slachtoffers in de veldslag tussen Caesar en de Usipetes en Tencteri in 55 v.Chr en hoe Caesar dit beeld heeft kunnen beïnvloeden door middel van het schijven van de Gall.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
closed access
The ideological demarcation of the Egyptian state boundaries, as expressed in the official iconography and ideological narrative, is a pivotal feature of the ancient Egyptian mindset. From the...Show moreThe ideological demarcation of the Egyptian state boundaries, as expressed in the official iconography and ideological narrative, is a pivotal feature of the ancient Egyptian mindset. From the Twelfth Dynasty onwards, this delineation of the Egyptian territory materializes itself in the solid man-made structures, which physically set the frontiers in the south and the north-east of the country. There have been little scholarly attempts, however, to investigate the borderlands in the region located immediately to the west of Nile Valley, in the area today broadly defined as the Western (or Libyan) Desert.The main aim of this thesis, therefore, is to reconstruct the functional parameter of the governing agents in Dakhla Oasis - the local governors and the military institution - so that the Middle Kingdom Western frontier could be defined within its performative framework. For this purpose, a corpus of the regular titles, attributed to these active agents, is studied and subsequently compared with the ones from the contemporaneous Southern Frontier in the Lower Nubia.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
This thesis textually re-analyses the 'Poor Man of Nippur' to argue that it can be read as a 'Mock-Heroic Pastiche' via the literary theory of Gérard Genette. Having situated the poem in its...Show moreThis thesis textually re-analyses the 'Poor Man of Nippur' to argue that it can be read as a 'Mock-Heroic Pastiche' via the literary theory of Gérard Genette. Having situated the poem in its historical context, We examine the text via intertextuality, orthography, and theme and motif. Through such a reading, our conclusions pertain to the dating, purpose, and generic definition of the PMN.Show less
