Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
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)
closed access
In this thesis I analyze the reciprocal relationship between the farmer and the land, presented by Xenophon in his Socratic dialogue the Oeconomicus. I approach the text with an ecocritical...Show moreIn this thesis I analyze the reciprocal relationship between the farmer and the land, presented by Xenophon in his Socratic dialogue the Oeconomicus. I approach the text with an ecocritical perspective to shed new light on how Xenophon envisions and conceptualizes the natural world and the position of humankind within the natural world.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)
closed access
Catullus’s poetry is known for its freshness, for its potent mixture of sensuality, crude language and erudition, for its fast-and-loose playing with rules and norms both sexual and poetic. But how...Show moreCatullus’s poetry is known for its freshness, for its potent mixture of sensuality, crude language and erudition, for its fast-and-loose playing with rules and norms both sexual and poetic. But how ‘antinormative’ is Catullus really? How much of his play with ancient norms can a modern reader understand? And can modern creative translation serve as an analytical tool to interpret Catullus’s poetry? With Wiegman and Wilson’s (2015) approach to antinormativity in the field of queer studies as guide, this thesis looks at the norm as not just a static limit, but rather as a dynamic average that generates potential for change. Thus, the first chapter examines the presence of (anti)normativity, that is a dynamic movement between acceptance and rejection of the poetic and sexual norms of his time, in five of Catullus’s poems through close reading. The second chapter examines the question of creative translation, in the form of Isobel Williams’s oft-praised translation, which according to reviewer Ed Bedford (2021) manages to grasp Catullus’s meaning more astutely than almost any other translation. Williams’s chosen context for her translations, that of shibari, or Japanese rope bondage, provides a unique perspective on Catullus that forces her to make changes that both emphasize and hide nuances in the Latin. A close reading of Williams’s versions of the same five Catullan poems proves that her creative translation does indeed provide opportunities as an analytical tool, in opening our minds to interpretations of Catullus’s poetry we would not have thought of otherwise. So this thesis shows that both Catullus’s writing and Isobel Williams’s mode of translation can be called (anti)normative. Both authors engage in a dynamic movement of both acceptance and rejection, and it is precisely this movement that gives them strength.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
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)
open access
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)
open access
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
