Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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This thesis is an analysis of the aromatics industries in the Ancient Near East in the 3rd millennium BCE with a particular focus on the records from the archive of the e2-mi2 ("House of the Woman"...Show moreThis thesis is an analysis of the aromatics industries in the Ancient Near East in the 3rd millennium BCE with a particular focus on the records from the archive of the e2-mi2 ("House of the Woman") in Girsu (modern Tello). The topic of aromatics production, the people involved in it, and the materials used has been studied extensively through the records of later periods (Ur III onwards), but earlier sources have largely been unused, citing their relative scarcity as a reason. In this sense, this thesis collects the earlier sources and makes them available for discussion. The main research questions are: who were the people involved in the aromatics production in Girsu? What were their tasks other than making scented substances? To what extent are the sources of Girsu representative in a broader context? The methods used are those of social history. A corpus of sources is presented and analyzed, with particular emphasis on the people's social status, activities, and the way in which the documentary practices of Ancient Mesopotamia shape our knowledge about this period. The result is a description of diverse practices, with locally specific characteristics, nonetheless all being a part of a wider, shared tradition of production and use of aromatics.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
2023-12-30T00:00:00Z
This thesis examines the model that Clement proposes for dealing with wealth by placing it in the context of the intellectual milieu of his time. In order to do this, Clement’s text, the Quis Dives...Show moreThis thesis examines the model that Clement proposes for dealing with wealth by placing it in the context of the intellectual milieu of his time. In order to do this, Clement’s text, the Quis Dives Salvetur, will form the focus of the research. An analysis of the text will identify the problem Clement tries to address and the solution he proposes. His argument contains many elements reminiscent of other philosophical or religious traditions that must have been part of Clement’s intellectual repertoire. They were part of a language shared between members of the cultural elite, but Clement also consciously uses them to show a contrast or common ground with Christianity. Identifying some of these elements will uncover new depths in Clement’s message in the QDS.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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Cassius Dio's 'Roman History' contains multiple colorful anecdotes concerning women with significant political power. Dio depicts powerful women in the act of mutilating corpses, cheating on their...Show moreCassius Dio's 'Roman History' contains multiple colorful anecdotes concerning women with significant political power. Dio depicts powerful women in the act of mutilating corpses, cheating on their husbands and pursuing money and power at all cost. The question I set out to answer in this thesis is: how does Dio characterize women close to the seat of Roman power? And, more precisely, what gender stereotypes does he deploy in depicting these women? The women on whom this thesis will focus are Messalina and Agrippina, who were both married to emperor Claudius at one point, as well as Fulvia, the wife of Mark of Antony. The characterization of women in Cassius Dio’s work and the part that gender norms play in Dio’s negative characterization of someone have received little scholarly attention so far. While Cassius Dio’s portrayals of Agrippina and Messalina have been compared to each other, Fulvia has not been compared to either of these women before, although there are grounds for doing so: both Agrippina and Fulvia are accused of defiling the heads of political opponents. Each chapter of this thesis is dedicated to one of these three women. The most important part of each chapter will consist of close readings of passages I have chosen to highlight because they contain Dio’s most preposterous claims about these women. Such close readings can highlight not just how ancient ideas of gender are expressed within a large narrative structure, but also how they are reflected on a small scale, such as the choice of vocabulary. We will see how Cassius Dio incorporates the previous historiographical tradition concerning these women in his own narrative, while also innovating this tradition by exaggerating certain claims and adding elements to his narrative that have no precedent in the extant literary tradition. Fulvia, Messalina and Agrippina are all portrayed as crossing the boundaries of their female gender because they were involved in politics to a degree that was not acceptable for a Roman matron. But whereas Agrippina and Fulvia are explicitly ‘masculinized’ and their political involvement is stressed, Cassius Dio’s Messalina appears as an apolitical woman in the grip of vices that were considered to be typically feminine.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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The occurrence of Greek loanwords in the second Targum to Esther (Targum Sheni) is one of the arguments for dating the text in the Byzantine Empire. Up until now these Greek loanwords have not been...Show moreThe occurrence of Greek loanwords in the second Targum to Esther (Targum Sheni) is one of the arguments for dating the text in the Byzantine Empire. Up until now these Greek loanwords have not been fully analyzed. The present research, following the methodology of Aaron Butt’s study on Greek loanwords in Syriac, analyzes the origin and integration of the Greek loanwords to find whether these can be used in dating Targum Sheni. The supposed Greek loanwords will prove to be not always originating from Greek, but also from Latin. Two major category for the loanwords can be distinguished: gem stones and administration. The first category consists of Wanderwörter and are not suitable for dating the text. The second category consists of both Latin and Greek loanwords which points at a Greco-Roman administration, such as in the Byzantine Empire. Lastly, a few reasons for borrowing the loanwords are distinguished. Loanwords are either used simply because of necessity, or because it transposes the story form the original Persian background, to the contemporary background of the audience. All in all, especially the combination between Greek and Latin loanwords can indeed support the argument for the dating in the Byzantine Empire.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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This thesis will discuss the representation of non-Greek people in pre-classical Greek literature, and the reception of such narration in modern literature, namely the novel (That Time I Got...Show moreThis thesis will discuss the representation of non-Greek people in pre-classical Greek literature, and the reception of such narration in modern literature, namely the novel (That Time I Got Reincarnated as Iphigenia) I wrote during the research of this work. There are three chapters for the thesis. In chapter 1, I will reassess the first two chapters of Edith Hall’s Inventing the Barbarian, which focus on the comparison of image between the Greeks and non-Greeks in the Iliad and the Persians; in the former, it shows faint evidence of non-Greek ethnicity in contrast of the Hellenic code of conduct, and the latter demonstrates a completed construction of representing the non-Greek (Persians) as the antithesis of the Greeks. Chapter 2 will investigate the use of the word βάρβαρος in various of pre-classical texts, and I will assess the transformation of its meaning by different authors and different stages of time, and how these meaning nuance with each other. Chapter 3 will talk about classical reception, and how the narration of the non-Greek ethnicity in my novel was influenced by these pre-classical works.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
Natalie Haynes' 2019 novel A Thousand Ships (ATS) rewrites several classical texts from a female perspective. In doing so, the novel specifically engages with the epic genre and the epic tradition....Show moreNatalie Haynes' 2019 novel A Thousand Ships (ATS) rewrites several classical texts from a female perspective. In doing so, the novel specifically engages with the epic genre and the epic tradition. Inspired by the field of reception studies, this thesis aims to describe the (re)definition of epic offered in ATS, to understand where it comes from, and to critically assess it in the face of the ancient text(s) it is based on.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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The "Vita Sancti Mansueti episcopi Tullensis", the life of Saint Mansuetus, the first bishop of Toul, was written in the 10th century by the scholar and monk Adso of Montier-en-Der. The author...Show moreThe "Vita Sancti Mansueti episcopi Tullensis", the life of Saint Mansuetus, the first bishop of Toul, was written in the 10th century by the scholar and monk Adso of Montier-en-Der. The author himself reveals that he lacked information about the saint, which means that a considerable part of the life of Mansuetus was probably invented. This thesis is concerned with a possible guideline Adso had to follow when creating the life of Saint Mansuetus - the expectations of the commissioner of the work Bishop Gerhard of Toul. Therefore, this thesis approaches the Vita Mansueti by looking at the political, historical and cultural context in which it was written and asks the following: How did Adso construct a convincing story that would satisfy his commissioner bishop Gerhard of Toul? What strategies did he use to fulfill his assignment and what purpose do these strategies serve?Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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Athena's aegis, her characteristic magical garment, often features a scaly texture, a fringe of snakes, or the head of the gorgon Medusa. These attributes sometimes make Athena look like a hybrid...Show moreAthena's aegis, her characteristic magical garment, often features a scaly texture, a fringe of snakes, or the head of the gorgon Medusa. These attributes sometimes make Athena look like a hybrid monster in ancient Greek art and literature. This thesis explores the scope of literary and artistic representations of Athena in which her aegis constructs her body as a monstrous, boundary-crossing hybrid. I explore four contexts or themes in which Athena’s body interacts with the monstrous through the medium of the aegis: gender, costume, monster battles, and image ontologies. In each context, the monstrous aegis places Athena’s body in multiple categories simultaneously: masculine and feminine, hybrid and humanoid, god and monster, image and moving body. It is an agent of transformation. I argue that this polymorphism grants Athena a similar fantastical or unrealistic body to a hybrid monster. She is an excellent vector for artistic and literary explorations of the nature, limits, and transgression of cultural and ontological taxonomies. Rather than only signifying dominion over the monstrous, as is conventionally argued, the hybridity of the aegis allows Athena to function in a similar fashion to a monster.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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In Spec. 3.1-6 the Jewish-Hellenistic philosopher Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE-49 CE) describes the ascent of the soul to heavens to "see God", a topic well-known from Plato. Philo, however, does...Show moreIn Spec. 3.1-6 the Jewish-Hellenistic philosopher Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE-49 CE) describes the ascent of the soul to heavens to "see God", a topic well-known from Plato. Philo, however, does not only use the concept for reasons of epistemology, but also to reflect about a personal experience that some scholars have labelled as a "mystic experience" and which had a tremendous impact on later neo-Platonic and Christian literature. The thesis explores several aspects of the passage, comparing its epistemological relevance by looking at its Platonic base, while a striking Ciceronian parallel allows reflection on the human aspects and a philosopher's duty between otium and negotium. The main question of this thesis’ "close reading" of the selected texts is "how does Philo as Jewish-Hellenistic thinker evaluate the role of God and human beings regarding seeing God?". In sum, this thesis presents an extensive contextualising discussion of Philo of Alexandria’s claim about heavenly ascent. By putting an emphasis on the distinct Philonian preoccupations and motivation, this thesis attempts to arrive at a novel way of understanding Spec. 3.1-6Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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Deze scriptie onderzoekt de ontwikkeling in de karakterisering van het personage Pompeius tijdens de verschillende fasen van de Romeinse burgeroorlog in het historische epos Bellum Civile van...Show moreDeze scriptie onderzoekt de ontwikkeling in de karakterisering van het personage Pompeius tijdens de verschillende fasen van de Romeinse burgeroorlog in het historische epos Bellum Civile van Marcus Annaeus Lucanus.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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The objective of this research is to gain insight into why some deified persons in Classical and early Hellenistic Greece, more specifically in the 100-year period after the Peloponnesian war,...Show moreThe objective of this research is to gain insight into why some deified persons in Classical and early Hellenistic Greece, more specifically in the 100-year period after the Peloponnesian war, received divine cult while others received hero cult. For the purpose of this research, I will be analyzing case studies of deifications concerning divine as well as heroic cults in order to determine what the criteria are for a divine cult and successfully becoming a god. What I deem successful is that the deified person in question is not viewed “as if a god” or on “godlike status” but is viewed as an actual god. For the purpose of this, the research question 'why are some deifications of living mortals succesful, while others are not?’ has been formulated. To find an answer to this question, the following sub-questions have been drawn up: first, what are cults and what is deification? Second, what are the criteria for deified, living mortals to receive divine cult? Third, what are the criteria for the worshippers?Show less
