Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
This thesis provides an examination of the representation of gender roles in the Salmacis and Hermaphroditus scene in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Ovid thoroughly plays with gender roles and expectations...Show moreThis thesis provides an examination of the representation of gender roles in the Salmacis and Hermaphroditus scene in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Ovid thoroughly plays with gender roles and expectations of gender roles in the scene. The scene is examined in the light of intertextuality with other stories in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Odysseus' speech to Nausicaa in Homer's Odyssey and several similes.Show less
This thesis discusses Ali Smith’s contemporary rewriting of Ovid’s Iphis myth. It will examine how the democratisation of the field of Greek and Roman classical scholarship, through an increase of...Show moreThis thesis discusses Ali Smith’s contemporary rewriting of Ovid’s Iphis myth. It will examine how the democratisation of the field of Greek and Roman classical scholarship, through an increase of female scholars working in this field and the application of concepts from feminist theory to classical texts, enabled Smith in her retelling of the Iphis myth by providing new interpretations for this myth. It will then be examined how Smith formed this new narrative by working within the scholarly framework of Judith Butler’s theories on gender and sexuality, illuminating and foregrounding the issues of gender ambiguity and same-sex relationships that are already present in the original myth. Finally, the importance of intertextuality and epigraphs in Smith’s work will also be taken into account by considering how she engages with the gender confusion and homoerotic tendencies present in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, The Tempest, Cymbeline, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Lyly’s Gallathea, providing a literary context for her novel which she uses to support her own narrative and, sometimes, to change the cultural resonance of Elizabethan plays that deal with gender and same-sex relationships.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Griekse en Latijnse taal en cultuur (BA)
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This thesis consists of an interpretation of Ovid's catalogue of trees in his Metamorphoses (10.86-105). This interpretation builds upon three notions apparent in the catalogue of trees: Orpheus'...Show moreThis thesis consists of an interpretation of Ovid's catalogue of trees in his Metamorphoses (10.86-105). This interpretation builds upon three notions apparent in the catalogue of trees: Orpheus' key role, the intratextual allusions in the trees, and the catalogue aspect. I have intended to show how these tree notions contribute to a reading of the catalogue of trees as a mise en abyme, and how this mise en abyme proffers a less common understanding of the words with which Ovid himself describes his Metamorphoses: carmen perpetuum (1.4).Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
This thesis charts Ovidian references to Daedalus, the archetypal craftsman, made in and around the poet's 'own' exile. Analysis reveals several strong parallels between the artists (the poetic...Show moreThis thesis charts Ovidian references to Daedalus, the archetypal craftsman, made in and around the poet's 'own' exile. Analysis reveals several strong parallels between the artists (the poetic persona and his mythical character): firstly, and most simply, they are innovative; they also reside in hated exile; they suffer oppression by authority; they advise 'moderation' to their ‘children’; they grieve and repudiate their arts; yet literary immortality brings some sort of consolation. Considering these rich parallels, this thesis states the case for a strong analogy between the two that effectively adds layers of significance to Ovid's own status as an artist - one who can both fly and fall. This leads further to a reflection on 'why', and on what effects this might produce. This thesis suggests poetic self-aggrandisement, the evocation of sympathy, and also a deeper poetological point about how one subjectively adopts/responds to such techniques in reading and being read as an artist/audience.Show less
