<p> Perhaps since its composition, the Gospel of Mark has troubled scholarship with regard to its content and genre. In it, a number of anomalies appear: Jesus' use of secrecy, Jesus' use of the "son of man" title, how the miracles and exorcisms function with regard to plot, and why Jesus never convinces his listeners of his message. In this study, I argue that these anomalies can be explained by considering Mark's Gospel in light of the tragic genre. Mark's Gospel does not simply contain motifs or modes from tragedy; Mark's Gospel is a tragedy. Through the examination of extant Greek Tragedy and an application of Hegel's theory of tragic Kollision, this study illustrates the ways in which the plot of Mark's Gospel is built upon a tragic foundation. Kollision describes how Jesus is in conflict as the tragic hero. Conflict becomes central to this study, in which Jesus is the antagonist to the Temple and the cultural ethos it creates. This antagonism defines Jesus as the Messiah and concealed Son of God, and it produces the suffering and death common to all of tragedy. What is more, this study critically engages with several tragic theories, ranging from ancient to modern. It specifically analyzes Aristotle's Poetics-the standard description of tragic genre-and ask whether Aristotle's categories really do provide an exhaustive definition of ancient tragedy.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

On April 16, 2014 the Sewol Ferry became one of the worst maritime disasters in South Korea with the loss of 304 passenger, the majority being high school students. South Korea is a collectivist culture, structured as a hierarchical system that teaches their students and children to always respect, listen, and trust authority figures especially in dangerous situations. This study explores how collectivist cultural elements impacted the response of the Sewol Ferry. By examining the timeline of the disaster through interviews, documentaries, news articles and media; this thesis offers insight into what happened that day by providing perspectives from the rescue crew, government officials, survivors, volunteers, and family members of those who died. The analysis showed that in collectivist culture, children and students are taught to trust and listen to authority figures when in dangerous situations, however because of the Sewol disasters, the culture of adhering to the hierarchical systems started to collapse. Students who survived stated that they no longer can trust and respect adults after the incident along with family members of the students who passed away and the public. Also, the government withheld information and failed to protect the children aboard the ferry, because they didn't want to show shame and wanted to save the face or honor of their department. The leadership failure within the Sewol Ferry tragedy can potentially make it difficult in the future for people to listen to orders or recommendations given by the disaster management or the government when a disaster event arises.

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This dissertation argues that Hegel’s theory of tragedy is best understood in combination with his theory of the historical progress of subjective freedom, and that this progress is manifested as the heroes of tragic drama in its different stages of antiquity, early modernity, and late modernity. The truth of tragedy for Hegel, like the content of all art, progresses concomitantly with human freedom, reason, and subjectivity. Likewise, humanity’s self-understanding of these aspects of itself also historically progresses. In this light, I further argue that Hegel’s theory shows tragedy to be not only a historically contextualized cultural practice and form of self-understanding but also a presentation of absolute truth: the truth of a culture at a particular historical moment is presented in its tragedy, yet that culture is a part of a larger narrative, so that a common thread running through tragic drama of all eras comes to light when tragedy is examined through the lens of Hegel’s philosophy. Specifically, I show that Hegel views self-contradiction, alienation, and the drive to reconcile these as underlying universal human conditions, and in tragedy this universal truth is embodied in the tragic hero. This appears in tragic heroes as they take responsibility for unintentional actions, or as they remain fixed to their cause although it brings about their own downfall. In consideration of our own historical standpoint and of my agreement with Hegel’s view that tragedy retains an important role in our cultural self-understanding, this dissertation shifts the focus from ancient Greek tragedy, the prevailing theme in Hegel scholarship and in wider discussions of Hegel’s theory of tragedy, and instead directs more attention to modern tragedy. According to Hegel, a key aspect of all tragic heroes is that they either freely will their actions or take responsibility for them, or both. Additionally, as subjective freedom historically progresses, so does our awareness of our freedom to choose our actions or to take responsibility for them. I show how this progress is manifested in ancient, early modern, and late modern tragic heroes—in works by Sophocles, Shakespeare, and Schiller, respectively—and, finally, in the tragic heroes of some contemporary works of film. The historical grounding of my reading of Hegel’s theory of tragedy combined with my focus on the tragic hero lends a unique perspective to our understanding of Hegel’s theories of tragedy and of subjectivity, and to our interpretations of the tragic works themselves. This dissertation thus sheds new light on Hegel’s theory of tragedy, an important endeavor in itself, with the larger aim of showing how Hegel’s philosophy of tragedy helps us better understand both tragedy and ourselves, as inheritors of and participants in philosophical discussions of tragedy, and as contemporary audiences that engage with tragic dramas in a variety of venues. / Philosophy

As an artform, tragedy is deeply perplexing. On the one hand, it depicts events that are painful, depressing, and difficult to watch. On the other hand, it is a genre that has been continually replicated, revered, and enjoyed throughout history. I examine Nietzsche’s response to this problem. Nietzsche, I argue, develops a clear response to the paradox of tragedy: Tragedy is valuable because, even though (or precisely because) it is painful to watch, it allows us to affirm life. Interestingly, Nietzsche’s discussion of tragedy is filled with numerous mentions of Shakespeare. I argue that Nietzsche’s comments on Shakespeare emphasize the historically sensitive nature of Nietzsche’s theory of life affirmation. While Nietzsche might seem to be delivering a universal, trans-historical account of life affirmation, his comments on Shakespeare make it clear that life affirmation functions differently in different times and cultures. / Philosophy

Nietzsche's view of Socrates has been studied at length by a number of scholars, and yet the accounts resulting from these studies, even when descriptively correct, have not given a full explanation of the relationship between the two philosophers. More specifically, they fail to clarify the proper connection between Nietzsche and Socrates in terms of fundamental aspects of Nietzsche's thought, especially in terms of his view of reason. The most influential interpretation of Nietzsche's relationship to Socrates comes from Kaufmann, who claims that Nietzsche's view of Socrates is one of pure admiration. More recently, scholars such as Nehamas have corrected Kaufmann's flawed interpretation. Although Nehamas has properly understood Nietzsche's view of Socrates to be one of ambivalence, his interpretation is wanting in that it provides only a partial explanation of this ambivalence. My argument will take the following form. I will first establish in Chapters 2-5 (A) Nietzsche's ambivalence toward Socrates. Then, independently of that discussion, I will reveal in Chapter 6 (B) his ambivalence toward reason. The strict parallelism between these two manifestations of ambivalence in Nietzsche will permit me to make the claim that (B) explains (A). By this analysis I will demonstrate that Nietzsche is not only positive and negative in his assessments of both Socrates and reason, but that he is ambivalent to both for the same reasons. More specifically, for Nietzsche, Socrates' emphasis upon dialectical reason as the one and only medium for attaining eudaimonia is ultimately nihilistic. It stands as a singular example of the variety of nihilistic practices that emphasize one perspective over all others; and to deny perspective, is, for Nietzsche, to deny life itself. Thus Nietzsche understands such practices, among which he includes Christianity, ethical objectivism, and Plato's metaphysics, as a misuse of reason. However, the appropriate use of reason involves experimenting with other modes of expression such as aphorisms, the performing arts, and poetry, which grant the individual as much moral and intellectual freedom as necessary so that they may affirm life in the manner they find most satisfying and rewarding. Hence, it is only through a thorough investigation of Nietzsche's view of reason that his ambivalence toward Socrates can be fully understood, namely, as a manifestation of his ambivalence to reason. / Master of Arts

My thesis uses Thebes as case study to focus on Theban religious practices during the Classical age (traditionally defined as between 510 BCE and 323 BCE). By narrowing my study to this geographical and chronological scope, my research aims to add to the traditional narrative of Theban history by focusing on religious history rather than the political or military. More particularly, by using both literature (Classical Greek tragedies) as well as material culture found in exceptional religious settings of the Thesmophoria and Kabeirion, I strive to delineate some of the religious practices taking place in the polis of Thebes during the Classical age. While the Theban tragedies provide a view of religion from a broader perspective, the material evidence of the festival of the Thesmophoria and the rites to the Kabeiroi provide a glimpse into the practices of Theban religion that lie outside the traditional, Olympian pantheon. I argue that studying Theban literature and votive offerings in tandem can provide a perspective at the micro-level of Greek religion that can be expanded in order to understand the religious landscape of ancient Greece on a much deeper and richer level. / Master of Arts / My thesis focuses on Thebes, a city-state in Ancient Greece famous for being the setting of the tragic stories of Oedipus and his family. Many historians focus on this literary tradition or the ways in which Theban military exploits affected their position of power in the Greek world; however, I center my study on the religious landscape of this particular city-state between the years of 510 BCE and 323 BCE. My first chapter takes a step back, outlining the way in which religion is presented to an audience at this time through the plays Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and Seven Against Thebes. In the next two chapters, I turn to look at items housed in the Archaeological Museum of Thebes regarding two specific religious events that took place in and around ancient Thebes: The Thesmophoria and the initiation into the rites of the Kabeiroi. The material evidence that I survey in these two chapters provide a glimpse into the practices of Theban religion that lie outside the traditional practices and participants. I argue that studying these particular pieces of written and material evidence in combination with one another provides a perspective at the local level of Theban religion that can also be expanded in order to under the religious landscape of ancient Greece on a much deeper and richer level.

The thesis argues for a reading of Euripides’ Andromache that focuses on the statuses of the characters – their roles within the oikos – and their instability. The scholarship on this play focuses on its differences from other surviving plays and, based on an ancient hypothesis calling it a “second-rate play,” it has acquired a negative reputation. The goal of the thesis is not to defend the work and salvage its reputation but to provide a reading which responds to some of the criticism and offers a new analysis. The chapters are divided according to the gender of the characters with the first one examining the male characters, Neoptolemus, Menelaus, Peleus, and Orestes and the next two focusing on Andromache, including her child, and Hermione separately. The exploration of these characters is connected to their own relationship to Neoptolemus’ oikos. It is the actions of men that define the statuses of the female characters in this play and Euripides depicts the men’s roles as less questionable. Because the statuses of Andromache and Hermione are the most unstable a full chapter is required for both. The analysis of the characters is based on their interactions with other characters within the play and at times includes an exploration of how the characters relate to the works of other tragedians and political works in fifth century BCE Athens. By reading the play with this specific focus, the actions of the characters suggest a distinctive portrayal by Euripides which can correlate with social issues in Athens at the time of the play’s production (c.428-425 BCE). A new reading of this play explains its unique composition and adds another way Euripides may have been influenced by Athenian politics and his interpretation of a problem in the relationship between the polis and the oikos. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / The thesis analyzes the statuses of the characters in the play Andromache, written by the Athenian Euripides in the fifth century BCE. Euripides’ Andromache has been considered one of his weaker plays, with scholars calling the lack of both a central character and a coherent and logical plot as the play’s weaknesses. However, with an examination of the characters’ statuses, the plot becomes clearer and the play comments on the problems of defining citizenship and status which Athens was experiencing during Euripides’ life. All the characters in this play fill the roles of positions connected to the Greek oikos (house). By analyzing Euripides’ characterization of these characters regarding their relation to the oikos, it is possible that this play serves as a commentary on issues of citizenship at Athens of both females and bastard children in the second half of the fifth century BCE. This analysis may also answer some of the play’s so-called problems.

This study suggests that tragedy sees human action as synonymous with language and that it uses a method similar to that of a hermeneutic phenomenology to portray man as experiencing spirituality in a confrontation with expression. This confrontation takes the form of a pattern that leads to a revelation that all human action springs from the spirit. Word as action is thus placed into a spiritual context, containing in itself the key to the divine significance of the human experience. As a cultural manifestation, this pattern exists not only in literary tragedy, but also in the Hebrew Scriptures as narratives and poetry. This study examines this tragic pattern in Genesis, the Book of Job, Oedipus, and King Lear.