In many ways, Strindberg's works are among the most paradoxical in modern literature. Violently misogynistic, they nevertheless reveal a man who worships Woman, cannot live without her, loathing her as Mistress but adoring her as Mother; almost brutal in the violence of their emotions, they are at the same time gentle in the irony of their humour; totally unorthodox in their theology, they are profoundly religious; even when most naturalistic (as in Froken Julie: Miss Julie), they are highly symbolic. The leading practitioner of naturalistic drama is also the father of the theatre of the absurd. However unlike his works might appear to one another, and whatever the seeming contradictions and inconsistencies among the various ideas espoused and championed by Strindberg at different points in his career, his themes remained the same: his own life, the struggle for dominance between the sexes, psychological domination through the power of suggestion, the problem of the existence of evil and suffering in the world, and the influence of the supernatural on human life and history. And whatever his literary genre -- drama, poetry, novel, short story, satire, history, autobiography, scientific or philological treatise, political, philosophical, or religious essay -- these themes are expressed and developed through a rich and evocative symbolism drawn not only from the tribal treasury of archetypal images, but supplemented, shaped and refined by his own experience, imagination, and subconscious. An examination of his symbolism, then, will not only elucidate the works by making our interpretation of them surer, but should reveal a consistency and logical development in his writing not always apparent with other approaches. Symbolism can be seen as a kind of shorthand: a way of enriching a text which, particularly in drama, poetry, and the short story, is often more or less severely constrained in terms of length: by drawing on universal or traditional symbols, the author can suggest levels of meaning, connections, and associations which extend his work beyond the limits imposed on it. In more extended literary genres, such as the novel, on the other hand, symbolism is often used only sparingly. Over the course of his career, an author also builds up a set of personal symbols, drawn from his experience, his reading, his interests, and, ultimately, his view of the world; his work cannot be fully understood without an awareness of these symbols. This study seeks to identify Strindberg's symbols, to search out their meanings, to relate them to each other, to the works in which they occur, and to the body of work as a whole, and to suggest, wherever possible, their sources. The overwhelming tendency in Strindberg studies is to approach the works as biographical and/or psychological documents. His habits of working from living models (a practice he called vivisection), of fictionalizing his own experiences, and of meticulously documenting his life and his intellectual and spiritual development make this inevitable. This study does not ignore the author's biography (impossible in such an autobiographical writer), but seeks to place the emphasis elsewhere, on the more exclusively literary concern of meaning (as opposed to reference). Strindberg always considered himself primarily a dramatist, and indeed it is almost exclusively as such that the non-Swedish world knows him. It is, therefore, with Strindberg's plays that this study is primarily concerned. He was, however, a prolific writer, covering most genres, and much of his non-dramatic writing expands upon, explains, or provides the source for, the symbolism of the plays. With two or three minor exceptions (noted in the text), I have therefore looked at all of Strindberg's published works; those not mentioned have been omitted because they do not contribute in any significant way to an understanding of his symbolism. Preference has been given to the Swedish texts in the twenty-two volumes which have appeared so far in the ongoing "National Edition" (Samlade verk: Collected Works); for works which have not yet appeared there, I have used, in the first instance Gunnar Brandell's Skrifter (Writings, the Swedish edition which Glasgow University Library possesses), and, for works that appear in neither of those editions, John Landquist's monumental Samalade skrifter (Collected Writings). Although I have often consulted various English translations, the translations of cited passages are my own, except where noted. Biblical quotations are cited from a variety of English translations, in an attempt to stay as close as possible to the Swedish wording cited by Strindberg; when it is a question of simply providing a reference, I have preferred to cite The Jerusalem Bible. In a few instances, where no English translation could be found which corresponded satisfactorily to Strindberg's version (whether through an anomaly of the Swedish translation he used -- presumably the Karl XII Bible -- or through his own deliberate or unconscious misquotation), I have translated the citation literally. In quotations (and in their translations), underlined ellipses (...) are Strindberg's own; those not so distinguished (...) indicate an omission from the text. In a few instances, when scenes in the Swedish text are unnumbered, I have supplied numbers as an aid to locating cited passages in a translation.

This thesis explores the role of vision and space in the works of Tacitus. A number of recent studies have assessed the importance of vision, space, and the gaze in ancient literature, across a variety of different authors. The gaze in epic poetry has been analysed by Leigh (1997), Smith (2005), and Lovatt (2013); Feldherr (1998) has considered the role of spectacle in Livy; and Purves (2010) and Rimell (2015) have examined the role of space in Greek literature and Roman poetry respectively. Yet there has been no substantial study of these themes in Tacitus. The present work addresses this gap in scholarship by providing a wide ranging survey of visuality across the Tacitean corpus which extends from the gaze of the emperor and other individuals, to the collective gaze of the Roman populace and the gaze of the reader; within settings such as the dining room, the senate house, the city, and the battlefield. In considering this diverse material, I highlight the importance of taking a wide-ranging approach to the study of Tacitus’ visual techniques, emphasising the interrelation between disparate strands of Tacitean visuality. Such an eclectic approach reveals the centrality of vision and space to Tacitus’ ideas of power, control, corruption, and manipulation under the early principate, as well as the inherent ambiguity of Tacitus’ conception of the gaze. The thesis begins by considering some characteristics of Tacitus’ visual technique and analysing his use of language to create visual scenes. The focus then turns to the individual gaze, in two chapters centred on the gaze of the emperor. Here the imperial gaze emerges as a dominant force that is intrinsically linked to the emperor’s power, yet is also open to manipulation and corruption. This is followed by a chapter on battles and battlefields, in which Tacitus’ use of landscape and visual description is used to explore themes of military power and control and the corrupting nature of civil war. The final main chapter considers the role of spectacle in the city of Rome in the Histories, outlining a Tacitean approach to the viewing of violent spectacle that emphasises the corruption of morals and the breakdown of societal norms. These various themes are drawn together in the concluding chapter, which highlights the role of vision and space as a central pillar in Tacitus’ exploration of power under the principate.

Except for the pseudo-Euripidean Rhesus, fourth-century tragedy has almost entirely been lost to the ravages of time, known only through the quotation of a few isolated lines by later writers or preservation on some sand-worn scraps of papyrus. The poor survival of fourth-century tragedy has inevitably led to suggestions of low quality. Recent scholarship, however, has begun to revise these conclusions, recognising a remarkable inventiveness prevalent in the surviving fragments. This thesis aims to continue the rehabilitation of fourth-century tragedy and takes the form of a commentary on the fragments of Astydamas II, Carcinus II, Chaeremon, and Theodectas, the 'leading lights' of this period whose verses comprise over half of what remains. In the introduction, I focus on fourth-century tragedy in general and all its surviving fragments, even those not treated in the commentary. I begin by exploring the internationalisation of this genre and its spread to the Greek-speaking West and East. I then consider the prevalent themes and stylistic features of the fragments and examine fourth-century reaction to fourth-century tragedy, particularly in comedy, oratory, and philosophy. I also discuss fourth-century satyr drama and some of its best surviving examples, including Python's Agen. In the commentary, I provide a biography for each poet and explore their reception and that of their work. I then discuss each of their plays in turn, reconstructing plots where possible and providing information about other treatments of a myth in fifth- and fourth-century drama. Finally, I analyse each fragment, focusing on any textual issues, their literary, stylistic, and dramaturgical qualities, and on their relationship within the dramatic tradition and Greco-Roman literature. Through analysing the fragments in the form of a commentary, I hope to show that far from representing a 'terminal decline' as Edna Hooker once lamented, they instead display many remarkable qualities which make them worthy of study in their own right.

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This thesis offers a fresh appraisal of the wise adviser in Pindar's epinician poetry. By focusing on the prominent figure of Chiron, it shows how Pindar engages with the paraenetic tradition in a way that reveals the distinctive character of the epinician poet. The first part of the study explores the function of Chiron as an interactive model for Pindar as poet-teacher. Chapter 1 examines how the mythical pedagogue enhances the status of the poet as wise adviser by illuminating the moral character of his advice. It shows how the relationship between teacher and pupil in the myth provides a model for that of poet and addressee and enables the poet to present his advice indirectly. In two separate case studies, I explore how Chiron's paradigmatic associations interact with the poet as adviser. In Chapter 2 (Nemean 3), I argue that the poet dramatises the instruction of a pupil as part of a collaborative and interactive form of learning. In Chapter 3 (Pythian 3), I argue that Pindar reconfigures preceptual instruction in a 'dialogue' between two speakers who enact the pedagogic relationship of Chiron and Asclepius. This strategy allows the poet to present his teaching tactfully and authoritatively. I conclude that Chiron is a figure for the poet as tactful and authoritative adviser and contributes to the poet's creation of a 'paraenetic encomium'. Secondly, this study of the reception and remodelling of the paraenetic tradition in Pindar illuminates the distinctive character of his advice and its central importance in Pindar's construction of poetic and moral authority.

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