This study aims to examine intertextual patterns in Greek myths regarding relationships between 35 mortal women and four male gods; Apollo, Dionysos, Poseidon and Zeus, chosen due to their many relationships with mortal women. The material consists of ancient texts from 800 B.C. to 200 A.D. to get a diachronic perspective. Intertextuality as an analysis method is used to bring out similarities and differences between the stories and the characters. A gender perspective is applied to gender roles and what was expected from a man and a woman in Greek society and how the societal values are reflected in myth.                       The analysis addresses how women were presented before the relationship with the god, their treatment in the relationship, if the relationship resulted in a child and how the women’s life turned out after the god’s presence. The results show that there are visible intertextual patterns between myths regarding the relationships between mortal women and male gods. The myths reflect the ancient patriarchal society where women are given little attention, are passive and perceived as victims. The gods and men in these myths are viewed as active, brave, strong and as superior over the women. In contrast to the strong and brave men, the study has concluded that active women can be found, although rarely, but that they were punished for stepping over the natural boundaries of active men and passive women.

This study aims to explore how the goddesses of beauty Aphrodite and Venus were portrayed in sculpture in comparison to physical beauty, as attested in ancient texts. The study uses iconography and iconology to analyse the sculptures and semiotics to analyse the ancient texts. In this study measurements were taken of Aphrodite and Venus sculptures at Berlin’s plaster museum (Abguss-Sammlung Antiker Plastik). The measurements were taken in order to compare the results from the ancient texts. In this study, 11 sculptures are analysed and compared to ancient texts from five different periods (700-400 BC, 400-1 BC, 1-200 AD, 200-500 AD and unknown dates). The sculptures and the ancient texts are then compared to each other and then compared with modern studies about nakedness, physical appearance and beauty during antiquity. The results conclude that it is difficult to specify exact beauty ideals, but the study shows that women should be curvy, white and rosy, have firm breast and a lovely face, and that the sculptures follow that beauty ideal closely.

Science has studied ancient litterateur and poetry for a long time. This paper has chosen to turn its eyes towards Virgil’s Aeneid as its focus. One of the central points and the theory of the paper is to explore the ways in which the time Virgil lived have affected how he wrote the Aeneid as well as the reason for writing. Another theory that has been raised is if Virgil's work was affected by the current political changes during his lifetime, especially since he had a friendly relationship with the emperor Augustus, and if thus the Aeneid was written as a possible use of propaganda. To find an answer to the theories I have looked and presented the similarities and differences in the why the heroes travelled to the underworld, the journey itself and interactions of the two heroes with others during their time going towards the underworld as well as during their time there. The main material were the two authors’ narratives of the underworld, specifically the sixth book of the Aeneid and the eleventh book of the Odyssey, set in relation to modern research on these topics. The texts have been approached by close reading to further understand Virgil’s text and choices, and how the political views have been incorporated into his work. By reading the works and comparing the two narratives following the three analytical points, consistently and multiple times, as well as modern research, it could be concluded that Virgil's rendering of the narrative was a product of his own time, especially visible in the significant number of references to the Roman Empire and its leaders.

The cities of Pergamon, Smyrna and Ephesus have caught the attention of many scholars throughout the world and many papers and studies have been written on their history. The focus for most of them have been the imperial cult and the status of the cities as neokoroi. Although this is an important part in the history of the three cities, these temples and the imperial cult is not the only time they have been influenced by the romans and their culture. This paper aims to explore the public identity of the cities trough the medium of coinage, and how their identity is influenced and changed by the introduction of the romans. By analysing iconography on coins from 200 BC-200 AD we get a more nuanced perspective on the relationship between the Romans and the three cities in question. Instead of seeing the imperial cult only as a product of the social and political landscape of the empire, we instead put them in a larger narrative of roman expansion and influence in the Greek east both before and during the republic. Trough Panofskys iconographical analysis method, the coins are placed in a historical, political, and cultural context that unlocks their full potential. By focusing on identity, the coins become representative of what the cities themselves choose to put forward and focus on. It shows the most important aspects of the local culture and what they think most represents the public life, which in turn shows us their public identity. This study determined that the introduction of the imperial cult during the first century AD was a culmination of a process that had started during the republic and the different ways the romans took control of the cities. It also determined that the different political and cultural situations that the cities found themselves during this 400-year period had a big part to play in how they adapted to the roman culture and the reign of the emperors.

This work intends to rectify the gap in knowledge surrounding the parrot’s status in the context of the Roman empire. The focus is mainly on the different uses for parrots during this time and this paper intends to create a discussion over how these uses could have affected the bird’s standings in the Roman society. This discussion is based in the theory of “Conspicuous consumption”. Historical texts where chosen as the material for this study because of the descriptive ways that the Roman authors described parrots. The thought and reasoning’s of the Romans are prevalent to this study. Previous studies regarding birds in the ancient times where used to find some of the material seen in this study. As a subject parrots have not been thoroughly explored in the context of ancient Rome, something that was the main reason for this paper being written. Subjects that are mentioned in this study is: trade and treatment of parrots in ancient Rome, the importance of parrot’s ability to speak. The physical consumption of parrots, the use of parrots in writing and the categorization of parrots in modern studies. These subjects are discussed in relations to each other as well as their ability to reflect onto their contemporary society. The conclusion show in this paper is that the relationship between the parrots and Romans can be seen as a paradox to the modern mind. Depending on the intended use of the parrot, its status could rise or fall to reflect its purpose and how well it performed. This fluctuating status could be directly connected to the parrot’s ability, or inability, to speak clearly. This was because speech was a large part of what could have endeared its owner to the parrot. A parrot not beloved by its master might as well have been dead.

The study of gender identification in Neolithic iconography is a relatively unexplored area. This study will apply gender theory on the findings of reliefs in Göbekli Tepe to further the information about this area. Contemporary scientists state that there are no females present in Göbekli Tepes iconography, whether they are human or animal. Earlier research has gone from exploring the idea that a female-dominated cult that focused on a goddess with connections to fertility, originating from the discovery of Çatalhöyük, was prominent in the area to a male-dominated cult which has a focus on dominance, aggressiveness and wildness. The cult of the goddess theory came from a focus on artefacts and reliefs that showed the female sex, while ignoring all male findings. The male-centered theory comes not only from the artefacts and reliefs that have been found but also as a response to the female-dominant cults exaggeration of findings of female iconography. In this study there will be a limited analysis of previous research within these two different camps of research, as well as an analysis of six reliefs from Göbekli Tepe. This analysis will be based on gender theory mainly as it has a prominent relevance in the studies of hunter-gatherer societies. Its importance comes as a response to the heteronormative lenses that this time has been viewed through. Because the people that lived in this time period (about 10000 BCE) had an intimate relationship with both the flora and fauna that made up their world. This led to an extensive symbolic relationship between animals and humans which led to the lines between them started to blur, one representing the other symbolically. The research analysis will be limited to cultic and iconographic interpretations that have a connection to Göbekli Tepe. The choice of motifs for further analysis have also been limited because of the small number of published pictures of the T-pillars, those that have been chosen are by what species that they are (foxes and boars, two of each) and if renderings have visible genitalia or not. The other two reliefs have been chosen as a further exploration of the gender-question as it is presented in Göbekli Tepes iconography. The main results of this study are that there is no scientific basis to say that there are no females depicted at Göbekli Tepe. This conclusion is primarily based on evidence that clearly indicates that the artists of the reliefs had such a high ability and knowledge about both the animals and artistic techniques that they fully had the abilities to depict what they wanted. Neither can we be sure that the reliefs that are without male genitalia are male from their depicted biological traits. This leaves a big group of genderless individuals in Göbekli Tepe and the question if gender is at all relevant or if the depicted animals relate more of a spiritual relationship between animals and humans.

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This essay discusses the use of the theoretical term romanization in the context of northern Roman Britain during the 3rd century CE. The study explores the relation between ceramic materials produced in the roman city of York and the use of romanization in similar contexts. In order to discuss this relation, the study analyzes particular forms of Roman ceramics produced in York during the 3rd century CE and further discuss the use of romanization in regard to cultural influences and multiple identities. A discussion of the development of romanization will be a main part of the study, where terms such as globalization and hybridization offer elements that might be used in the development of romanization.