No abstract available / Classics & Modern European Languages / M.A. (Greek)

The thesis examines the imagery of Archaic Greek lyric poetry and its relation to the 'here and now' and to the implied context of performance. Chapter One sets out the conceptual programme and establishes a critical vocabulary. Various theoretical notions are discussed which are drawn from linguistics (deixis and deictic field), philosophy (reference, language games, and possible worlds), and modern literary theory (fictional worlds and text worlds); some new critical tools are established (,imaginative worlds', visual analogies and 'representational planes', the idea of 'degrees of reference'). Chapter Two sets the scene by looking at specific examples drawn from sympotic imagery shared by pottery and poetry. The rest of the thesis exemplifies the theory set out initially through a series of close readings from a broad selection of Archaic Greek monody. The close readings start with smaller scale fragments which conjure up worlds corresponding to circumscribed situations, and progress to poems which conjure up more extensive worlds. Chapters Three, Four, and Five look at diverse kinds of erotic poetry drawn respectively from Anacreon, Ibycus, and Archilochus. Chapter Six takes as its subject- matter the martial elegy of Callinus, Tyrteus, and Mimnermus. Chapter Seven moves from poetry which conjures up a markedly heroic world to poetry which conjures a contrasting unheroic world: the iambic poetry of Hipponax. Chapter Eight turns to a political poem by Solon. Chapter Nine concludes the thesis in a ring composition by returning to erotic poetry (Sappho's) and to the theoretical considerations set out in Chapter One.

No abstract available / Classics and Modern European Languages / M.A. (Greek)

This dissertation argues for the existence of a widespread yet underexplored Hellenistic habit of linking the memory of archaic and classical Greek poets to specific places. Through a combination of in-depth case studies and a panoramic overview of Hellenistic sites of literary memory, the dissertation establishes the significance of literary geographies and explores the means through which they were established. The first chapter focuses on the house of Pindar and its alleged treatment on the part of Alexander the Great. The second chapter investigates the memorialisation of Homer in Alexandria, showing that the desire to shape literary geographies fundamentally shapes the identity of the new Egyptian city. The third chapter moves from the centre to the periphery of the Hellenistic world and focuses on the best documented case of a site of memory dedicated to an ancient poet: the Archilocheion on Paros. The fourth and last chapter offers an overview of the evidence for Hellenistic sites dedicated to the memory of archaic and classical poets in the Hellenistic age. By demonstrating that sites of literary of memory are an important Hellenistic aspect of the reception of poetry, this dissertation hopes to open the way to further studies about both the Hellenistic and later literary geographies.

The bulk of this thesis consists of commentaries on Pindar Pythian 11 and Nemean 2. As a prologue there is a general introduction to Pindar analysing some Pindaric problems, and an analysis of some features of the Pindaric scholia (the ancient commentaries on Pindar). The INTRODUCTION shows now Pindar tailored the mythical parts of his victory odes to suit the occasion, and how the odes do not nicely conform to a general pattern. The second part, TITLES and INSCRIPTIONES in the PINDARIC SCHOLIA and the OCCASION of PYTHIAN ELEVEN, snows that the dates and titles given by the scholia for Pindar's odes are an unreliable amalgam of bits of information and guesses (often inferences from the odes themselves). The COMMENTARY on PYTHIAN ELEVEN tackles the problem posed by Pindar apparently spatchcocking an irrelevant mythical story about Agamemnon into the ode. It is suggested (l) the victor's conquest at the Games has affinities to Orestes's conquest over his father's murderers; (2) when Pindar says he went off-course in telling the myth he is being disingenuous; representing what he thinks would be the attitude to the myth of the victor's family; (3) themes of envy, moderation, success, highlighted in the myth are relevant to the victor. The COMMENTARY on NEMEAN TWO suggests this short ode (like other snort ones) was designed to preface the komos (victory sing-song and celebrations) held for the victor. The ode's compressed thought and obscure allusions are unravelled: Orion following the Pleiades symbolises how the victor may hope to gain a big win at Olympia after his recent little successes; Hector's submission to Aias is analogous to the submissions gained by the victor over his opponents. Puns and etymologising are shown to be a feature of the poem.

My examination of Plato’s valuation of eros in the Symposium and Phaedrus dialogues in its manifold elements in general has resulted in a more concrete definition of eros as a relational entity. The transition of an initially natural cosmic force in archaic times into a more valid ethical quality so as to encourage betterment in human relations is evident in Plato’s philosophy. The terms ‘Platonic love’ and ‘eros’ are misinterpreted and my thesis purports to prove that Plato’s eros is a spiritual quest for beauty (kalos), truth (alethes) and the good (agathos). Modern scholastic commentaries were referred to and proved helpful in assessing the differences in ancient and current ethical schools of thought. The argument purports that Platonic eros is not a static condition of soul but a continuous movement/progress towards the highest spiritual love. / Ancient Languages and Cultures / M.A. (Ancient Languages and Cultures)

My examination of Plato’s valuation of eros in the Symposium and Phaedrus dialogues in its manifold elements in general has resulted in a more concrete definition of eros as a relational entity. The transition of an initially natural cosmic force in archaic times into a more valid ethical quality so as to encourage betterment in human relations is evident in Plato’s philosophy. The terms ‘Platonic love’ and ‘eros’ are misinterpreted and my thesis purports to prove that Plato’s eros is a spiritual quest for beauty (kalos), truth (alethes) and the good (agathos). Modern scholastic commentaries were referred to and proved helpful in assessing the differences in ancient and current ethical schools of thought. The argument purports that Platonic eros is not a static condition of soul but a continuous movement/progress towards the highest spiritual love. / Ancient Languages and Cultures / M.A. (Ancient Languages and Cultures)

This thesis contains a discussion of the historical content of the London papyrus, POxy C42, the f1orentine papyrus,PSI \304 and the recently published fragment PCairo. (Ter.tp. irw. no. 2G/6/2//l-35),collectively known as the Hellenica Oxyrhynchiu (P). The focal point is the Asiatic campaign of Agesilaus and the battle of Sardis. Impressions gained from a personal investigation of the terrain are reviewed and an attempt is made to isolate the misconceptions that have hampered more constructive thinking on this episode of history. An endeavour is made to arrive at a personal reconstruction of the battle of Sardis and an assessment of P's credibility and value as an historian. The thesis concludes that there is no valid reason to doubt P's credibility and that discrepancies between the two main sources, Xenophon and P. can be ascribed to the difference in histographical approach. The autumn campaign of Agesilaus is discussed to illustrate more clearly how Xenophon's approach conditioned his writing of history / Classics & Modern European Languages / M.A. (Greek)

This dissertation examines the surviving remains of the two books of Pindar’s Prosodia. The introduction falls into four parts. The first is concerned with gathering the evidence for the books, through a review of their ancient testimonia (Chapter 1) and of the indirect and direct transmission of their fragments (Chapter 2); the second is concerned with the prosodion as a poetic genre, with some introductory remarks (Chapter 3) followed by an investigation of the collected evidence for the notion of prosodion in describing poetic texts (Chapter 4) and in later scholarship and generic theory (Chapter 5); the third combines the results of the first two into an analysis of the surviving fragments of Pindar’s Prosodia and an inquiry on the generic principles that shaped the collection (Chapter 6); the fourth consists of a descriptive catalogue of the papyrus manuscripts that contribute to the text of Pindar’s Prosodia (Chapter 7). The critical text of the eighteen main fragments and groups of fragments is followed by an introduction and line-by-line commentary to six of them, nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, *6, and *7 (= fr. 89 Snell-Maehler and ‘Paeans’ 14, 15, 6.123-183, 17, and 18).

by T.E. Djaferis and S.K. Mitter. / Bibliography: p. 33. / "February 1979." / Supported by ERDA under Grant ERDA-E(49-18)-2087 NASA Grant NGL-22-009-124 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Office of Naval Research Contract no. N0014-75-C-0661 Work Order 2095