The Parallel Lives are primarily concerned with exploring various modes of eudaimonia, as Plutarch mines the lives of illustrious Greeks and Romans for moral exempla and offers them up to his audience for contemplation and imitation. In contrast to his usual practice, Plutarch offers the Demetrius and its Roman pair the Antony as explicitly negative examples. These men, who are “conspicuous for badness,” habitually engage in behavior this is to be rejected, not imitated. Demetrius is capable of great virtues, but his life provides a paradigm of how not to live. The ruinous state of Hellenistic historiography, however, places a historical burden on Plutarch’s moralizing biography that it was manifestly not designed to bear. Indeed, Plutarch’s Life is the sole continuous account of Demetrius’ career, and provides the only literary evidence for many of the events from the Battle of Ipsus in 301 to Demetrius’ death in 282. Despite all this, there is no full-length commentary on the Demetrius in any language. This thesis represents an attempt to fill that gap. The commentary is not merely a survey of relevant scholarship, but offers many original contributions to the study of Hellenistic kingship and ruler-cult, the politics and propaganda of the Successors, and Demetrius’ pivotal role in the remarkable advances in naval technology and siegecraft for which the period is justly famous. While the body of the commentary firmly grounds Demetrius’ career in the historical context of the early Hellenistic period, the historiographical introduction illuminates the didactic ethics that shape Plutarch’s biographical project, and confronts the vexed question of his sources.

Over the course of Theocritean scholarship there has been a tendency to try to fill the narrative gaps that he leaves in his poems, and this tendency has led to various interpretations of each of the Idylls. While some see this as a puzzle to be solved, a sort of literary exercise for Theocritus' fellow poetae docti and the erudite court of Ptolemaic Alexandria, this study will examine these narrative gaps as opportunities for each audience member to explore his or her own beliefs, especially regarding love. Theocritus does not lead his audience to a specific conclusion, but he only raises questions. This study shows how the Idylls pose questions that correlate with those that Plato and Hellenistic philosophers address in their discussion of love. Is love a divine blessing, madness, or both? What are the symptoms of lovesickness? Can lovesickness be cured? Is passion part of human nature? What are the benefits of love? Once the reader has in mind the questions that are raised in philosophy and the earlier poetic tradition, it becomes clear that Theocritus is posing the same questions. He uses the images of love in the poetic tradition to explore these topics in a way that conjures allusions to philosophical texts. Once I have examined the poetic and philosophical background, I turn to the Idylls themselves. I organize my discussion of the poems according to the three types of lovers in Plato's Symposium: procreators, poets, and immortals. Procreators are those who seek to give birth in the body, for example Simaetha in Idyll 2. These lovers are portrayed as afflicted with lovesickness without a viable cure, and as treading the line between animal and human. Poets give birth in the mind with their poetry, for example the speaker of Idyll 12. Although suffering from lovesickness, poets have a remedy, poetry. Finally, immortals give birth to true virtue, such as the Ptolemies in Idyll 17. These monarchs are so loved by the gods for their virtue that they are made immortal and are allowed to live on Olympus with the gods. The layers of meaning revealed in the allusions to the poetic and philosophical traditions do not show Theocritus as promoting a favorite doctrine, rather, he promotes questions about desire, lovesickness, remedies, humanity, persuasion, the power of poetry and immortality. When we look at Theocritus as a heuristic poet, we can better understand the value of his poetry and his mastery in using narrative gaps to raise questions for his audience.

In this study, the nineteen extant plays of Euripides are reviewed from a psychiatric point of view. This has not been done before, as few classicists have an intimate knowledge of modern psychology and psychiatry, and few psychiatrists have the requIsIte classIcal background. Two major areas of interest emerge: l.(a) The clinical descriptions of major psychiatric disorders found in some of these plays are astonishingly accurate by modern standards. The main examples are to be found in the Herakles (epilepsy), Hekabe (manic-depressive disease), Orestes (paranoia) as well as in some of the minor characters in other plays, particularly Kassandra (Troades, hysteria), Andromache (Troades, anankastic personality), Helene (Troades, histrionic-narcissistic personality), Hermione (Andromache, parasuicide), Euadne (Hiketides, schizophrenia). l.(b) Equally good descriptions can be found of characters which could nowadays not be regarded as suffering from a mental "disease" but are decidedly unusual and within the field of psychiatric endeavour. They are the main characters of the Medeia, Elektra and Hippolytos. l.(c) The remainder of the plays, with the exceptions of the Kyklops and the Rhesos which are discussed separately, contain astonishingly modern studies of the psychological motivation of ordinary people. These are the phenomena of role playing (Alkestis), ambivalence and the causes of irrational behaviour (Iphigeneia among the Taurians) , the morality of slogans (Herakleidai), the fight for social status (Andromache), guilt feelings (Phoinissai) , the causes of violence and war (Hike tides), the basic psychology of politics (lphigenia in Aulis), the contrast of religious and everyday morality (Helene), the adolescent's struggle for social and religious integration (Ion) and the search for social and religious integration in the adult (Bakchai). 2. Based on the above it is proposed that Euripides' main interest in writing his plays was in the search for human motivation: why do people behave in the (often ridiculous) way in which they do? In this he differs from Aischylos and also from the ideas of Aristotle. The main interest of the thesis lies in the way that when the plays are viewed from this angle virtually all the passages which have been severely criticised in the past suddenly make perfect sense. Many parts of the plays have been dubbed inept, irrelevant, contradictory or put in for effect only. Seen from the psychiatric point of view they all fulfil vital functions in their respective plays. Choral odes are not detached embolima; epilogues really solve the psychological problems of the play; humorous, patriotic, xenophobic and sophistic passages all have their reasons. Where there are contradictions they invariably arise from the fact that different characters have different approaches, or frequently the same character is torn between two possible approaches. Euripides himself hardly ever makes a definite statement but allows his characters to put forward the various points of view and the audience is invited to judge. In the process the audience itself often becomes the butt of the playwright's condemnation for they are frequently inveigled by this past master of deceit into adopting a premature stance on various issues which is later shown to be foolish, immoral or plain ridiculous. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, 1994.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--Guo li taiwan da xue, 1978. / Reproduced from typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-208).

Thesis--University of Washington. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [446]-464).

In 2019, three coins were found in the same stratum in a large Roman villa called the Villa of Titus, which was constructed between the late first century BC to the early first century AD. Two of the coins are bronze asses and one is a copper quadrans, all of which were struck under the emperor Claudius and range in date from AD 41-54. This thesis, through the use of methodologies, determines as much information as possible about the coins and the stratum within which they were found in order to learn more about the villa’s past. In the first chapter, the main methodologies that are used to examine the coins and context will be examined in detail, which include iconographic, epigraphic and archaeological analyses. The second chapter uses iconographic analysis, along with epigraphic analysis, to examine the coins found at the Villa of Titus. First, there is an overview of the Roman mint and imperial coinage with a focus on Claudius’ coinage; since, all three coins are struck under Claudius. Then, a synopsis of Claudius’ iconography on all of his coinage is used to determine where the villa coins fit in his iconography. The historical context is also surveyed in order to determine why certain images were chosen for the coins. In the third chapter, the archaeological context in which the coins were found is examined. First, two case studies on coins in the archaeological context are studied to determine how coins are interpreted differently depending on the context in which they are found. Then, the methodologies from these examples are used to analyse the Villa of Titus context, which includes taking a detailed look at the materials found in the stratum, determining the function, determining the depositional process and finally describing the interpretation of the stratum. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

published_or_final_version / abstract / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

The domination of Etruria by Rome is an aspect of Roman colonization which is generally well understood. Etruria, which began as a significantly more powerful entity than Rome, was brought to heel through the establishment of bilateral treaties and Roman colonies. This study seeks an even further nuanced model for the nature of the conquest of Etruria-namely looking at the underlying mechanisms that made the treaties and colonies successful. Social network analysis is particularly well suited for this task as it visualizes interaction and exchange between sites which often times dictates a sites success or failure. When enlarged to the regional scale SNA can be used to understand how a region prospers or declines based on site interactions. For my study I used SNA to discuss how Roman conquest affected Etruscan exchange networks-especially economic exchange networks-and how this network transformation was used to control the region of Etruria. The results show that Rome all but replaced the previous Etruscan network with their own Imperial network that seems, based on preliminary research, centered on strategically selected administration centers in Etruria-utilizing both native Etruscan sites and newly inaugurated Roman colonies.

The thesis of this study is that Classical studies at the University of Malawi, Chancellor College, has been taught with almost no reference to its African context, yet the Classical world, as Ogilvie (1979:2) observed ‘is far removed in time, geography, and philosophy from the world of Africa'. Classics in Malawi is currently taught as in the West, with which it has immediate ties, but if there are to be meaningful gains on the part of students learning Classics in Malawi, we need to contextualise its teaching. The purpose of this study was to identify ways in which Classics teaching at undergraduate level in Malawi might be strengthened in order to make the learning of Classics more meaningful and relevant to the Malawian context, by bridging the gaps between Classical Antiquity and African cultures. The comparative approaches explored will facilitate revision of the University of Malawi Classical Studies curriculum to fulfil the needs and interests of Malawians with the main purpose of contextualising Classical Studies in Malawi. The thesis consists of five chapters which deal with issues relating to Classics teaching in Malawi, namely: the evolution of Classical Studies in Malawi and its challenges; the need to change with the times; views of Latin/Classics teachers about Latin teaching at secondary level; attitudes and perceptions of undergraduate Classics students at Chancellor College to Classics, their perceptions about skills and Classics teaching in general; and views from Classicists from other universities on Classics teaching in general. The main comparative element in the thesis draws on analysis of similar issues in a wide variety of other institutions, including in the UK, the USA, Asia and Africa. Literature relating to Classics pedagogy and Comparative Education approaches, specifically Bereday's Model, has been reviewed. In addition, Classical Reception theory and Social Constructivism theory, particularly with regard to pedagogy, have been surveyed. The study used purposive sampling. Five types of samples and their corresponding data capturing instruments were used, broken down in the following categories: two types of interviews (one involving Malawian Latin or Classics teachers at secondary level, and the other universities' Classics lecturers); review of various documents of international universities' Classics programmes; lecture observations for Classics; and student questionnaire interviews administered to University of Malawi Classics students. The research was a mixed-method design, combining both quantitative and qualitative data analysis, but overall, the study was more qualitative than quantitative. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were analysed using the thematic analysis method. These analyses were followed by discussions of the findings of both quantitative and qualitative data. The major conclusions and implications of the study point to the need for a curriculum review of all Classics courses to ensure that Classics becomes more relevant in the Malawian context.