Chaucer scholars have long recognized the generic complexity of Troilus and Criseyde, but they have tended to read it primarily as a tragedy or romance or as a text whose genre is sui generis. The following essay attempts to read Troilus and Criseyde as an epic and to articulate how such a generic lens would reorient readings of the text. To do so, fresh definition is given to the term “epic,” and insights from genre theory are drawn upon. Ultimately, Troilus and Criseyde is an epic poem because it invests within the composite hero of two lovers the fact that societal stability depends in part on romantic involvement.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela is often discussed as the national painter of Finland, as one who helped define Finnishness when Finland was still a colonized area of Russia. However, his trip to Africa from 1909-1911 shows where Gallen-Kallela acts as a pictorial colonizer himself, not only sympathizing with the Africans but representing them through a European cosmopolitan lens, as purer and closer to nature, but still inferior. The assumptions inherent in his representations of Africa reveal that Gallen-Kallela is not only a colonized subject but a colonizer of his own country.

Beginning around 1850, Italians found themselves in the midst of an identity crisis. Europeans in France and England had surpassed Italians in terms of political, economic, and social progress. Italians seemed trapped in the past, clinging to their magnificent artistic heritage. However, new cultural and social movements were on the rise in Italy that attempted to throw off the domination of other European entities and forge a promising future for Italy. The Macchiaioli, a group of Italian modern artists who painted from 1853 to 1908, were the first group to address contemporary social issues such as class struggle and national weakness. Their art called for progressive change and arguably influenced how the later Italian Futurist movement would address similar concerns beginning in 1909. One of the Macchiaioli, Telemaco Signorini, advocated the development of new technologies and industries—dominated by men—in realist paintings from 1853 to 1901. Futurist artist Giacomo Balla gained recognition for promoting similar ideas in a more radical fashion. Most art historians believe that the Futurists were influenced by trends originating in Western Europe, specifically the French avant-garde. This thesis argues that the Futurists were significantly influenced by an Italian tradition that originated with the Macchiaioli. The Macchiaioli were animated by a nationalistic fervor and a desire to create a strong and unified Italian state. They used art and literature to advance progressive ideals based on masculine acts. The Futurists responded to similar stimuli in their day. In the absence of a powerful national identity, Signorini and Balla employed modern artistic styles to idealize masculine solutions to social problems. Both ultimately foresaw a world in which technology, mastered by men, would elevate Italian society.

New Testament text critics are fueled by a search for origins. But in the absence of an autograph, questions of origins are complicated at best. The fruit of that search for origins has resulted in the creation of hypothetical, eclectic texts—texts which have left us translating and interpreting the Bible in a form that no community in human history has before. Far from being failed projects, however, these eclectic versions aptly represent the problem of the One and the many, a problem not easily solved: When faced with hermeneutic duties, can we effectively speak of New Testament texts without speaking of their thousands of various and actual instantiations in the world? The answer, of course, is both yes and no; but the timid no has typically taken a back seat to the boisterous yes. This thesis develops a new literary historical hermeneutic based on the Categories of C. S. Peirce, a philosophical approach that will demonstrate the need for both an ideal (the yes) and a concrete (the no) approach to New Testament criticism. After this need has been demonstrated, the Gospel of John will then be under examination, both in its ideal and in one of its more concrete forms: P66, a second century Greek papyrus manuscript of the Gospel. The nature of the interpretive communities that have made use of the Gospel will also be considered.

This thesis will analyze José Clemente Orozco's mural The Epic of American Civilization in terms of the problem of suffering. It will focus specifically on two panels, “Human Sacrifice in Ancient Times” and “Human Sacrifice in Modern Times.” This analysis will comprehend not only the works of art within their historical context, but also within Martin Heidegger's philosophical discussion of the question of suffering. Heidegger presents a unique perspective on the question of human suffering when he writes that Western humans have forgotten how to “dwell.” This dwelling is defined by Heidegger's novel conception of ontology as relational rather than individualistic. According to this theory, humans must identify themselves through their associations, both with other people and with things. Without these associations, humans are not be able to escape the anxiety associated with suffering and death brought about by the isolating effects of Western modernity. A discussion of Mexico provides a practical example of the complexities of the question of dwelling in Western thought. At the time Orozco was painting his mural, Mexican identity was rapidly fragmenting. In the decades after the Mexican Revolution, many artists wrestled with the concept of Mexican identity, and it was in this time of flux that Orozco offered his interpretation of the cyclical progress of humanity. The two paintings depict two forms of suffering, which this paper will refer to as a “good” and a “bad” death. This nomenclature is not strictly accurate as neither form could be said to be desirable in any concrete way. Consequently a Rivera painting (“Revolution – Germination”) will also be presented that suggests an ideal death. However, the focus will remain on Orozco's paintings. Of course, in his own paintings Orozco is not endorsing the act of human sacrifice. However, because of differences in their composition, they suggest not only a cyclic pattern to human history, but also a downward progression where the persistent problems of violence and suffering in human societies have grown more difficult and complicated since the advent of modernity. As Orozco's paintings seem to suggest and Heidegger will argue, the solution to the isolating ‘bad death’ is learning to live relationally. These relationships comprehend the social and the cultural, but the focus will be on the ecological and the divine, because, as several critics will argue, these are the greatest deficiencies in modernity.

The lintels of Yaxchilan Structure 23 seem to be a demonstrable case wherein specific symbols are singled out and deliberately used in an ordered sequence. Taken together as a unified series, Yaxchilan Lintels 24, 25, and 26 summarize the multi-step process of royal autosacrifice. An iconographic study of the huipil patterns depicted on these lintels yields a better understanding of complex bloodletting iconography and the way in which depictions of ceremonial autosacrifice reinforce Classic Maya beliefs relating to the divine role of Maya elite in eliciting communion with the gods and the subsequent rebirth of the cosmos. The rich iconography of the lintels gives depth to our understanding of importance of royal bloodletting on a cosmic level. Their detailed imagery clarifies what seems to have occurred during each step of the ritual process. The events and symbolism depicted on the three lintels build from each other to form a unified iconographic whole centered on the rebirth of the gods and the cosmos through royal autosacrifice. Iconographic changes from one lintel to the next communicate the pervasiveness of cycles of death and rebirth in Classic Maya cosmology. The symbolism of each lintel communicates the interrelatedness of death and rebirth, while underscoring the role of the ruler in initiating cosmic renewal through autosacrifice. As Yaxchilan Lintels 24, 25, and 26 present themselves in an interrelated series, the subtle differences within the iconography from one lintel to the next represent important progressions within cycles of death and rebirth, elucidating the significance of certain steps within the royal bloodletting ritual and the cosmic rebirth that takes place as a result. As a set, the combined iconographies present on the queen's huipil—crosses, flowers, and toads—epitomize the objective of the ritual, namely rebirthing the cosmos and the gods through the sacrifice of divine blood.

The house of the Caecilii Metelli was one of ancient Rome's most prestigious yet overshadowed plebeian families. Replete with dynamic orators, successful generals, and charismatic women, the Caecilii Metelli lived during the period of Rome's great expansion. Having participated in its transformation into the principal power in the Mediterranean, they survived until the fall of the Republic. By contemporary Roman standards they were a powerful and respected family. Seventeen consulships, nine triumphs, nine members of priestly colleges—including three who became pontifex maximus—and five censors are evidence of their high position in Rome. The trappings of magisterial office and military decorations notwithstanding, the Caecilii Metelli were nevertheless often overshadowed on the stage of Roman politics by stronger personalities and did not receive substantial attention in the ancient sources. This study seeks to understand the political connections and activities of the Caecilii Metelli in Republican Rome. While attention must be given to the appropriate social and historical contexts, the focus must always remain on the individuals and their interactions with each other. Each generation of the Metellan family was involved in varying degrees in the political processes of the time. A deeper understanding of the role of the Metelli in these processes shows that the Metelli can be understood as a family of outsiders who successfully attempted to make their presence felt in Roman politics, but were ultimately doomed to fail in the collapse of the Republic. They can serve as a paradigm for understanding the struggles of aristocratic families to maintain power and influence throughout the Roman Republic.

Within Odes 1-3 Horace consistently locates an idealized version of Rome in Sabinum and Italia. The former had long been a moral foil for Rome. The latter consisted of the regions of Italy that rebelled against Rome during the Social War and fought on the side of Marius in the civil wars that followed. Horace joins these two groups with the term Sabellians and places them together in moral opposition to the corruption and decadence of the late first century BC. Thus Horace elevates the formerly rebellious and still foreign Italici into Roman politics in the lofty position of virtuous outsider, a post formerly exclusive to the Sabines. This dialogue of Italian morality can be seen in Horace's geography. Almost without exception, whenever Horace locates a poem within Sabinum or Italia he does so within the context of ideal Roman values. In contrast, his geographical references to the city of Rome and the areas of Italy that sided with Rome in the Social War and Sulla thereafter are almost all in the context of luxury, excess, and general moral bankruptcy. Horace's use of Roman individuals and families divides Rome along the same lines. Odes 1.12 features a list of excellent Romans. Of the many possible and usual individuals, Horace chooses only the Sabellians. Throughout the Odes, Horace contrasts the proverbial luxury of the Etruscans with Sabellian simplicity and implicit moral superiority. His patron Maecenas is frequently the representative Etruscan for these sermons. It has long been assumed that Horace wrote about Sabinum in such laudatory language because his famous Sabine farm was a gift from Maecenas. But, Horace's praise extends beyond the Sabine hills into Italia as well. He sees himself and his fellow Italici—Horace's hometown of Venusia sided with the rebels—as virtual Sabines. Thus his true motivations are the elevation of the formerly rebellious parts of Italy to the status of ideal Romans and the subsequently easier integration of the recently enfranchised Italici into Roman politics as virtuous examples for Rome to follow.

Efficiency in the presentation of a Latin text and its study-aids is the key to assisting intermediate students, who frequently become overwhelmed with the amount of vocabulary and grammar that needs to be simultaneously understood in order to read with any accuracy. This text breaks down the first book of Caesar's Bellum Gallicum in both a visual and a conceptual manner to aid students in learning intermediate Latin efficiently. The text is comprised of five parts. The first section contains the text as found in DuPontet's edition of Caesar's Bellum Gallicum. The second section has grammar notes that explain tense and case uses that are necessary for grasping the text, as well as citations for further reading. The third section displayes the text segmented into clauses and is positioned in such a way that the student can, at a glance, visualize what is part of the main clause, and what is subordinate to it. This segmentation assists the reader in learning to follow the order of Caesarian clauses when translating. The fourth section provides a list of vocabulary, not previously memorized by students, that happens to appear in that specific section. The final component is a list of all words that first appear in Book 1 of Caesar's Bellum Gallicum and that appear throughout Caesar's text five or more times.

In order to reconcile the deus ex machina at the end of Sophocles' Philoctetes with the actions of the rest of the play, this project analyzes the role of Odysseus within the play with special attention to rhetoric. By considering the character of Odysseus as a complex construct referencing both literary and historical contexts, this study suggests that Neoptolemus in fact errs in siding with Philoctetes to the degree that he does by the tragedy's end. The themes of the play involving Philoctetes and Neoptolemus then become warnings against inappropriate emotional responses, again consistent with Heracles' advice in the deus ex machina at the play's end.