As one of the most popular gods in the Greek and Roman world, Dionysos inspired artists of virtually every medium. This resulted in a rich iconographic tradition that stretches over eleven centuries. Dionysos' continuous popularity in both public and private life, however, cannot be traced in all media. The mosaics of Greece and the coast of Asia Minor are at the present time the only medium in Greece and around the Mediterranean which allows us to trace Dionysiac imagery for over nine centuries. This thesis collects forty-three mosaics from Greece and the coast of Asia Minor, and analyzes their iconography, compositional schemata, and architectural context. By following the long history of Dionysiac mosaics in the Greek world, by examining their iconographic and stylistic characteristics, and by comparing them to similar representations in other media and on mosaics from different regions, we are able to trace the development of the iconography of Dionysos and his followers. But we are also able to address questions which are central to the overall mosaic tradition in Greece, such as for example the role that Greece played in the development of mosaics in the ancient world; methods and problems of chronology; controversies relating to suggestions of an unbroken Hellenistic tradition that lasted well into the imperial period; influences from developments in the West; and outside cultural influences in the Roman imperial period. Furthermore, the Dionysiac mosaics of Greece and the coast of Asia Minor raise questions which are important for mosaics from all regions of the ancient world, such as the method of transmission of motifs and the tendency of modem scholarship to assign specific non-residential uses for buildings which contain more than one Dionysiac mosaic . / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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The mirror appears frequently in funerary contexts in the Greek colonies Locri Epizefiri and Metaponto and this thesis endeavours to rebuild the contexts of these mirrors using the approach of contextual archaeology. To explore the mirror’s contemporary function and meaning within the burial record and to discern why mirrors appear within a funerary setting, a chain of contexts is followed from the archaeological material to iconographical analysis, to comparative archaeological data, widening the contextual circles step by step. In the first part, the appearance of the graves with mirrors in Locri Epiezefiri and Metaponto is examined. The result is then compared with the iconographical evidence and the comparative archaeological data. The thesis further examines the mirror’s female association and discusses how the colonies of Magna Graecia should be studied as a third culture in accordance with the middle ground. Based on the results from the analysis, the discussion argues for a connection between mirrors and the Orphic-Dionysiac-Pythagorean cult, especially pronounced in Magna Graecia during this period, but also possible ritualistic functions such as divination and the notion of “female knowledge”.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:26:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Celia Machado Benvenho.pdf: 546815 bytes, checksum: 94730d5eece11060862c817881f759dc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-06-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The tragic thought while philosophical reflection about the human condition makes part of a whole movement of valorization of the old Greek art for the Germans in the end of the century XVIII. In spite of that, Nietzsche comes in his last texts as the first tragic philosopher. The objective of this work is to understand and to justify this statement of Nietzsche, even though his thought about the tragic, although it is one of the best knowing among us, it is not the only one. Which innovation is presented by Nietzsche in his interpretation of the tragic that would define him as the first tragic philosopher? We will try to show that, to Nietzsche, the tragedy is a piece of art considered supreme for making possible, at the same time, a metaphysics, a knowledge opposed to the socratic and a redemption. Nietzsche's tragic philosophy, in the end, allows the affirmation of the existence under an aesthetic point of view, which means, it makes possible an aesthetic justification of the existence. / O pensamento trágico enquanto reflexão filosófica sobre a condição humana faz parte de todo um movimento de valorização da arte grega antiga pelos alemães no final do século XVIII. Apesar disso, Nietzsche se apresenta em seus últimos textos como o primeiro filósofo trágico. O objetivo deste trabalho é entender e justificar essa afirmação de Nietzsche, já que seu pensamento sobre o trágico, embora seja um dos mais conhecidos entre nós, não é o único. Qual a novidade apresentada por Nietzsche na sua interpretação do trágico que o definiria como primeiro filósofo trágico? Tentaremos mostrar que, para Nietzsche, a tragédia é uma obra de arte considerada suprema por possibilitar, ao mesmo tempo, uma metafísica, um modo de conhecimento que se opõe ao socrático e uma redenção. A filosofia trágica de Nietzsche, enfim, permite a afirmação da existência sob um ponto de vista estético, ou seja, possibilita uma justificativa estética da existência.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:26:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jose Fernando Schuck.pdf: 540719 bytes, checksum: d0b358eb41a0056a4c7a7a06e27ac0eb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-11-23 / The dionysiac concept is as basic as the true novelty of the sight philosophical, aesthetic and philological of Nietzsche on the Greeks and the tragic art. The Birth of Tragedy is written under the shadow of the vocabulary and the metaphysics of Schopenhauer, and also a very close relationship with the aesthetic and metaphysical themes of German philosophy. This work (dissertation) demonstrates the genesis of the Nietzschean dionysiac through a dialogue with the notion of Will in the inaugural work of Nietzsche. If at first the notions of will and dionysiac seem to enter the Nietzschean discourse in the conceptual domains of Schopenhauer and romantism, shortly afterwards, by the uniqueness that the terms acquire in Nietzsche, become key devices for the formation of a new perspective tragic and assertion of existence. The art, relegated to the status of illusion or contemplation of the Idea, is reinserted as the creation and justification of coming-to-be. / A noção de dionisíaco constitui-se como noção basilar, como verdadeira novidade da visada filosófica, estética e filológica de Nietzsche sobre os gregos e a arte trágica. O nascimento da tragédia é escrito sob a sombra do vocabulário e da metafísica de Schopenhauer, e, ainda, numa relação muito próxima com os temas estéticos e metafísicos da filosofia alemã. Este trabalho visa demonstrar a gênese do dionisíaco nietzschiano através de um diálogo com a noção de Vontade no âmbito da obra inaugural de Nietzsche. Se num primeiro momento as noções de Vontade e dionisíaco parecem inserir o discurso nietzschiano nos domínios conceituais schopenhaueriano e romântico, num momento seguinte, através da singularidade que os termos adquirem em Nietzsche, tornam-se dispositivos fundamentais para a constituição de uma nova perspectiva trágica e afirmativa da existência. A arte, relegada à condição de aparência ilusória ou de contemplação da Ideia, é reinserida como criação e justificação do vir-a-ser.

C’est durant la première moitié du vingtième siècle, c’est en étant contemporain des deux guerres mondiales, dans une France qui se sécularise, que Georges Bataille (1897 – 1962) construit une pensée – profondément nietzschéenne – scandaleuse. Conceptuellement, le corps n’est pas seulement au centre des préoccupations de Bataille, il se pense maintenant dans sa réalité outrancière : l’érotisme, l’ivresse et la souillure. On assiste à une sacralisation des débauches de toutes sortes. Et c’est ainsi que s’opère la singularité philosophique de Bataille puisque ce qui est sacré ne loge plus, selon lui, dans un sublime céleste, dans une divinité ou, en d’autres mots, dans les hauteurs, mais bien dans son exact contraire, c’est-à-dire dans le bas, dans l’excès, dans l’érotisme et dans le sale. Devant cette inversion de l’ordre du monde, ce qui est sacré, c’est la profanation même. C’est pourquoi, à partir de Mary Douglas, j’ai pu relier deux idées qui paraissent contraires : la souillure et le sacré. Ainsi, étant donné que Bataille est aussi écrivain (Sade fut l’une de ses influences majeures), j’ai pu inclure des récits de l’auteur qui illustrent parfaitement ces deux antinomies. C’est d’ailleurs l’un des traits les plus fondamentaux de son œuvre que j’ai aussi soulevé : toute l’œuvre de Bataille est paradoxale et antinomique. C’est justement à partir de ce même constat que j’aborde la question du mysticisme chez Bataille. Mais comme avec la question du sacré, la conception du mysticisme implique une critique implicite du christianisme (opposition du ciel contre la terre, par exemple). Nécessairement, c’est l’instant et son hasard – l’absence de but – qui ouvrent la voie à l’expérience, alors que l’écriture communique son essence tout en la rendant davantage intelligible. De là provient justement, par le caractère arbitraire de l’expérience, l’idée de chance que Bataille établit en diapason avec Nietzsche. À ce sujet, Nietzsche devient très présent dans le mysticisme bataillien, pensons à la figure du surhumain qu’on peut associer à celle de l’homme souverain ou encore à la volonté de puissance qu’on peut relier à celle de la volonté de chance. Dès lors, Bataille met de l’avant une mystique du jeu, celle-ci étant une mise en jeu radicale de soi-même d’où émerge la chance que Bataille évoque et qui n’est rien d’autre que la possibilité de l’expérience même. Somme toute, force est de constater que la fragilisation mentale et physique du mysticisme bataillien cache également un sacrifice de soi au nom de la jouissance, certes, mais aussi au nom du texte. / It was in the first half of contemporary 20th century when France was well secularized that Georges Bataille (1897 - 1962) constructed a scandalous - deeply Nietzschean - thought. The body is then conceptually not only at the center of Bataille's preoccupations, it now thinks of itself through its scandalous reality: eroticism, exhilarating and dirty. We are witnessing a sacralization of debauchery of all kinds and this is how Bataille's philosophical singularity operates. Indeed, a sacred thing does not exist in the sublime sky, in any deity or, in other words, in the heights, but in its exact opposite wich his the low, the excess, the eroticism and the dirty. This inversion in the order of the world is the desecration itself. This is why, with Mary Douglas, I was able to link two ideas that seemed contradictory to me: the dirty and the sacred. Knowing that Bataille is also a writer (Sade is a major influence), I can include a few stories to perfectly illustrate these two opposites. This is one of the most fundamental characteristics of the work I have mentioned: all of Bataille's works are paradoxical and antinomic. It is precisely from this same observation that I approach the question of mysticism in Bataille works. With the question of the sacred, the conception of mysticism involves an implicit critique of Christianity (opposition of sky and earth, for example). It is the instant and its hazard - the absence of purpose - that opens necessarily the way to experience as writing communicates its essence while making it more intelligible. From there precisely, Bataille developed the idea of chance in agreement with Nietzsche. Nietzsche becomes at the same time very present in the conception of the mysticism of Bataille. We can just think about the figure of the superhuman that we can associate with the sovereign man or even the will of power that we can compare to the will of chance. From then on, Bataille puts forward a mystic game, by placing himself in this radical game, from which the luck evoked by Bataille can emerge and which is nothing else than the possibility of experience itself. Finally, it is clear that the mental and physical fragility that are triggered in Bataille mystical experience also hide a form of self-sacrifice in the name of enjoyment but also in the name of the text.