The objective of this dissertation is to demonstrate that the ancient Greek and Roman goddess Hekate, and the goddess Kali in contemporary Hinduism, as revealed in literature from the respective cultures, removed from each other by time and geography, are constructs of the male imagination, resulting in the reinforcing of stereotypes about the dangers of women in power, and demonstrating that women are irrational, lustful, deceitful, close to nature, and inherently lawless. This dissertation aims to show that Hekate and Kali can be re-envisioned as challenging these stereotypes, and can be re-interpreted as positive role-models for women in their respective cultures. To situate this research within a scholarly tradition, the dissertation begins with an overview of research into the supposed existence of prehistoric matriarchal cultures, where the supreme mother goddess who gave birth to the universe was apparently venerated. This is based largely on prehistoric art and interpretations of symbols with the help of secondary source material. Then this dissertation aims to trace the evolution of Hekate from her origins in Greek literature as a generous and benign, yet potent goddess to a dangerous, chthonic deity of the Roman world associated with black magic, the crossroads, demons and the restless dead. This will be done by a thorough examination of selected ancient Greek and Latin sources in chronological order. Kali’s character and function in Hinduism will be determined through an in-depth analysis of Hindu scriptures written in Sanskrit, as well as by investigating devotional hymns written to her by poets during the 18th and 19th centuries CE. These Sanskrit and Hindi sources highlight Kali as a terrible and unruly manifestation of Durga or Parvati’s wrath while also emphasising her maternal qualities. Artistic representations of Hekate and Kali will also be examined. A comparison between the two goddesses and their roles within their respective cultural and religious systems will be undertaken in order to deduce why such goddesses were deemed necessary within patriarchal cultures. Special reference will be made to the reclamation of Hekate and Kali by feminists today as religious role-models for women over traditional role-models such as Sita, and the Virgin Mary. This dissertation seeks to show that whereas goddesses have been alive and well in Hinduism for thousands of years, Classical deities are far from dead, and are at present experiencing a revival and reinterpretation so as to cater for new forms of spirituality. It seeks to examine whether goddesses who have been rebellious in their patriarchal cultural systems are stereotypic representations or whether they can actually empower and make a difference to women. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

The Ancient Indians and Greeks had similar beliefs in the concepts of magic, superstition, and astrology. First I will look briefly at the beliefs of the ancient Greeks and the main astrological text- the Tetrabiblos of Claudius Ptolemy. Ptolemy moves away from the scientific account that he provides us in his Almagest, to defining astrology as an art acquired from the observation of the movements of the heavenly bodies. The main argument however is based on the fact that Ptolemy uses an almost apologetic tone in his defence of the Tetrabiblos. Whereas the ancient Indians appeared to be strong believers in astrology, the ancient Greeks always sought to justify it in terms of science. To analyse this concept in depth I will provide a comparative study of both these belief systems. But whereas the Greeks distinguished astrology from astronomy, in the Vedic tradition astrology consisted of observable science as well as mythological and magical elements. Some consideration must therefore be given to astronomical aspects of this tradition in drawing a comparison between the two. Astrology was prevalent in ancient India a long time prior to the writing of the Surya Siddhanta or any other astronomical text. The Surya Siddhanta is often held to be the main text on Indian astronomy as it tries to address the reasons why certain religious practices were performed at those specific times. However, much information can also be obtained from the verses of the Rig Veda, a religious text that formed the basis of Indian astrology. This mini-dissertation will first discuss the Surya Siddhanta and its relationship to the more 'mythological' Rig Veda. In order to reach a conclusion I will look specifically at the issue of the belief in individual human difference and fate and destiny in these two cultures. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

Standard commentaries on the elegies of Propertius tend either to ignore or to pay curt lip service to literary criticism. Linguistic and textual problems are often discussed, translations of difficult passages and explanations of logical transitions are sometimes offered, parallel passages are frequently cited, allusions and exempla are usually explained and occasional reference is made to metrical and stylistic devices. The possible background situations to the elegies are often ignored or inadequately explored; exempla are rarely interpreted within the context of the poem as a whole, the rich resonance of Propertius' style, language and imagery is hardly ever appreciated and the technique of line-by-line commentary adopted by all standard commentaries tends to dismantle the poem into a number of component parts, a process which often obscures the overall 'message' or point of the poem and blunts its impact. Consequently, I have chosen the running commentary format for this thesis, in the belief that this format (with extensive use of footnotes) more adequately enables the literary critic to interpret the multi-faceted complexity of Propertius' elegies without destroying the poem's coherence or losing sight of its overall point. Introductory essays are provided before each commentary: these deal with major problems raised by the poem, discuss other critical opinions without paying too much attention to the more lunatic theories, provide a general estimate of the poem and prepare the way for the running commentaries, which offer a detailed appreciation of the elegy. Five elegies (1.2; 1.20; 2.2; 2.26A; 2.29A) have been selected for literary analysis. Each of these poems is characterised by a complex and varied use of mythology, and I have attempted to demonstrate that the exempla are not merely decorative baubles designed to show off the poet's doctrina but are an integral part of the poem, reflecting the poem's central themes and issues. Furthermore, all the elegies reveal Propertius' imaginative, sophisticated, elegant, versatile and often witty approach to love. For the purpose of this thesis, I have used the text of W.A. Camps (Cambridge, Book I 1961, Book II 1967). Textual problems have not been ignored but such are their number and complexity in Propertius that I decided that detailed textual criticism was beyond the scope of this commentary. In addition to this, because of the highly subjective and often controversial nature of some aspects of literary criticism, I have frequently used tentative expressions such as 'might', 'perhaps' and 'seems'. Such expressions also avoid the pitfalls of the historical/documentary fallacy. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1984.

Because of their abundance and because of the insight into the ancient world offered by the depictions on their decorated surfaces, Attic painted ceramics are an extremely valuable source of material evidence. Knowing the identities and personalities of the artists who painted them not only helps us understand the paintings, but also helps in the process of dating them and, in the case of sherds, reconstructing them. However, few of the artists signed their wares, and the identities of the artists have to be revealed through a close analysis of the style in a process called attribution. The vast majority of the attributions of archaic Attic vases are due to John Beazley whose monumental works set the stage for the dominance of attribution studies in the scholarship of Greek ceramics for most of the 20th century. However, the number of new scholars trained in this arcane art is dwindling as new avenues of archaeological research have gained ascendency. A computer-aided technique for attribution may preserve the benefits of the art while allowing new scholars to explore previously ignored areas of research. To this end, the present study provides a theoretical framework for computer-aided attribution, and using the corpus of the Princeton Painter - a painter active in the 6th century BCE - demonstrates the principal that, by employing pattern recognition techniques, computers may be trained to serve as an aid in the attribution process. Three different techniques are presented that are capable of distinguishing between paintings of the Princeton Painter and some of his contemporaries with reasonable accuracy. The first uses shape descriptors to distinguish between the methods employed by respective artists to render minor anatomical details. The second shows that the relative positions of cranial features of the male figures on black-figure paintings is an indicator of style and may also be used as part of the attribution process. Finally a novel technique is presented that can distinguish between pots constructed by different potters based on their shape profiles. This technique may offer valuable clues for attribution when artists are known to work mostly with a single potter. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This dissertation examines the depiction of the parent-child relationship in the Iliad and the Odyssey. In this examination, I focus on the representation of this phenomenon as it applies to Achilles and Hector, as the respective protagonist and antagonist of the former poem, and to Odysseus, the protagonist of the latter. The parent-child relationship has been selected as the subject of investigation on the grounds of the fundamental nature and extensive presence of this phenomenon in human life, and, consequently, in literature. The primary reason for the selection of the Iliad and the Odyssey for this study of the literary representation of this phenomenon is the status that these poems enjoy as the earliest extant works in Western literature, whose reputation and influence have endured through the centuries to modern times. The other reason is that they provide a rich source of the literary representation of the parent-child relationship. The inclusion of both Homeric poems in the investigation offers a broader spectrum of parent-child relationships and a wider range of parent-child related situations, issues, and outcomes. In each poem, the poet concentrates on the biological parent-child relationships of the heroes, although other supplementary relationships also feature. Assisted by narratological analysis, I examine the three heroes’ parent-child relationships in terms of their triadic structure of father-mother-son, and of the dyadic relationships encompassed by this triad, namely, father-son, mother-son, and father/husband-mother/wife. Each hero is depicted as both a son and a father; hence the triads to be examined are, for Achilles, the Peleus-Thetis-Achilles natal triad and the Achilles-[Deidamia]-Neoptolemus procreative triad (represented in the poem only by the father-son relationship), for Hector, the Priam-Hecuba-Hector natal triad and the Hector-Andromache-Astyanax procreative triad, and for Odysseus, the Laertes-Anticleia-Odysseus natal triad and the Odysseus-Penelope-Telemachus procreative triad. A significant feature to emerge from the examination of each of these triads and associated dyads is the poet’s use of the affective dimension of the parent-child relationship to make the epic hero more accessible, and the epic situations and events more meaningful to the audience. In addition to exploiting the universal appeal of the affective dimension, the examination of the representation of this relationship in the poems provides insights into socio-culturally determined aspects of the society depicted. On the structural thematic level the parent-child relationships of Achilles and Hector in the Iliad, and of Odysseus in the Odyssey provide a thematic thread woven into the central theme of each poem. Thus we see that these heroic epics tell stories that are not only about heroic warriors, but also about the other participants in their natal and procreative triads: their parents, wives, and sons. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, 2010.

The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the representation of specific types of animals as they occurred in Homer and archaic Attic black figure vase painting with a view to understanding bow they were most likely perceived in antiquity. This involved determining the underlying concepts around which each animal was constructed by comparing and contrasting the imagery presented in the Homeric works and archaic Attic black figure vase painting. The primary objective was to suspend modern and westernized conceptions and to attempt to approach the animal as from an ancient perspective. The Homeric works were chosen as representative of the literary evidence since these poems offer the most complete, oldest extant literature and are the result of a dynamic and continuous oral tradition. Similarly, archaic Attic black figure vase painting was considered the most suitable corpus of artistic evidence since the 6th century BC was a time when the artists actively engaged with and manipulated their themes and subject matter within an established tradition; this artistic fabric presents a parallel with the Homeric evidence. As a result of this investigation, clear and discrete concepts and images were determined for each animal. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

My contention in this thesis is that gender identity in Ciceronian oratorical performance is a rhetorical tool that has two aspects: first, it enables Cicero as an orator to gain access to forensic space, and second, it facilitates the persuasion of his audience. The aim of this work is to discuss the concept of oratorical hegemony within a Ciceronian context; it is based on the idea that rhetoric functions in a political space essentially as a tool for governance regardless of the ideological leaning of the speaker or of the political or social body that he represents. The position taken in this thesis is that the rhetoric of a political orator such as Cicero is connected with a range of other factors that empower and lend versatility to his rhetorical position. Invariably, an orator such as Cicero has to manoeuvre within a wider context than what any particular speech situation might suggest on the surface. As a basis for examination, I have developed three models to create an appropriate framework for the discussions on oratorical hegemony. The first model, which I have termed the Anatomy of a Speech, shows only the stages of preparation and of the delivery of a speech. The second model, the Ciceronian Improvisatory Model, depicts the development of Cicero in his speeches during different periods of his public career. The third model, which I call the Phallic Model of Hegemonic Masculinity, is a sociological model constructed to accommodate the different structures of Roman Society. My deconstruction of the different sectors of the model form the core chapters in this thesis. Although this model has been informed by the close reading of social history that features in most discourses on gender, my discussion of the model implicitly challenges the view that women were universally and equally oppressed across races and cultures. My more important argument is that gender identity becomes not only a rhetorical tool in the hands of the orator but also a manipulative 'sign' within a social discourse. Although basic class and gender distinctions may be implicit in the orator's delivery. what matters more is his ability to deploy strategically the rhetorical means at his disposal. Issues relating to power, nationalism and the representation of men, women and slaves are discussed in connection with the orator's performance strategies in a political context. Because the Roman public forum is associated with competition and the young Roman male aspired to high honours and political attainments (laus et gloria) , power becomes a major issue in my discussion. The orator's quest for political and rhetorical glory entails challenging the best orators in the state and questioning the rationale behind the tendencies of some government administrators to abuse the rights of other members of civil society who are not as highly placed as they are in government. The orator progressively wields power through his performance of rhetoric, although when he is in the process of gaining national recognition for excellent speaking, he is apt to argue that his paramount concern is what is best for the state. Hard work in the oratorical arena often resulted in a high political profile for the orator, which occasionally led to the attainment of a powerful political position such as a consulship, a position achieved by Gieero himself in 63 BC. Cieero's ability to represent himself, contemporary events and his subjects imaginatively while delivering his speeches enabled him to persuade his audience on many occasions. Cicero's alternation between the spaces of senate and general assembly as consul and the kind of discourses that he develops in each space are important subjects of discussion in this thesis. Furthermore, Cicero's private persona is considered by examining his fears and anxieties to establish how much distance there is between his public self and private self. Within a cluster of personae, the stress to which Cicero is subjected opens him up to express in the oratorical arena certain fears that normally are meant for the private space in a Roman context. To complete my deconstruction of the Phallic Model of Hegemonic Masculinity, I have chosen to discuss Cicero's representation of slaves as a social manifestation of the bottom rung of the Roman world. Because discussions of oratorical hegemony in the Roman republic not only undertake to consider how it is used as a tool for governance but also its effect upon slaves, who represent the lowest stratum of the social order, this thesis examines Cicero's representation of the role, function and employment of slaves in respect to the power relations that existed between the dominant group and that particular subordinated group. In the final analysis, oratorical hegemony is not a paradigm for a specific orator. Oratorical hegemony functions among a group of orators who have gained political ascendancy through their performance of rhetoric. Cicero is not just a historical figure but he also represents a concept or form of oratorical hegemony. This thesis ultimately explains how Cicero selVes as a model for the exercise of this kind of oratorical practice. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

The Greeks and Romans were acquainted with dark skinned people from Africa from an early stage. It has been generally accepted that such people were referred to as aithiopias; by the Greeks, and modem commentators have accepted the term to be a synonym of the English term 'Negro' . Such an assumption ignores the wide variety of connotations associated with the terms aithiops and aithiopia. Furthermore, the trend in scholarship in the field of race relations in antiquity has been to study the interaction between Greeks and foreigners based on implicit, and often invalid, theory. The aim of this study is to examine the uses of the terms aithiops and aithiopia in the context of Greek ideology. Previous studies in the field have employed naive semiological approaches to the issue of racism in Greece and Rome, whereby references to Negroes have simply been weighed up in order to determine the extent of negative attitude toward Negroes in antiquity. In this regard, the following study departs radically from the approaches of its predecessors in that, although it is not intended as a narrow linguistic study of the terms aithiops and aithiopia, the focus of the examination concerns the semantics of these terms and the connotations thereof. Through an analysis of these terms in their ideological context, not only do we gain an insight into the processes which underlie Greek perceptions of group boundaries, but we may gain a deeper understanding of our own perceptions of race and racism. The study is confined to pre-Hellenistic literature (although later works are often used to illuminate Classical and Archaic passages) since it was the perceptions of the authors from this period which shaped the ideas of subsequent authors. In addition, during the Hellenistic period, the focus of Greek literary activity shifted from Athens to Alexandria, allowing Hellenistic authors far more contact with Negroes than was enjoyed by their predecessors. For the purpose of this study, Lycophron's Alexandria has been assumed to be the last pre-Hellenistic work, although this point may be debatable. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1997.

The Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. is an event of Greek history that has inspired numerous subsequent receptions. Many of these later ‘receptions’ of the battle have been studied in varying degrees of detail by scholars over the years, however certain periods, or modes of reception have been ignored or neglected in this scholarship. In this dissertation I examine some of these neglected areas of research. These areas include: the uses and abuses of the Battle of Thermopylae in contemporary popular culture. In this section I focus primarily on Frank Miller’s graphic novel 300 (1998/9), as well as Zack Snyder’s 2006 film of the same name. Secondly I focus on a ‘national’ response to the ‘Thermopylae theme’, in which I consider its use in South Africa. I narrow my focus to examine its use as a motif in the poetry of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. Finally I explore how the Battle of Thermopylae was employed by writers of children’s literature in the Victorian period, where I delimit my discussion to Caroline Dale Snedeker’s The Coward of Thermopylae (1911), as well as Andrew Lang’s short story: ‘The Spartan Three Hundred’ in The True Story Book (1893). These categories cover films, graphic novels, poetry as well as fiction and non-fiction for children. Yet despite being disparate categories, each of these periods, places or genres maintains the ‘kernel’ of the story of Thermopylae: a few, brave Greeks who fought for freedom against the countless Persians invading their land. At the same time different elements of the story are exploited to highlight various issues important in the different contexts and periods. It is my hope that this thesis will not only play a role in researching these lesser known appropriations and adaptations of the Battle of Thermopylae, but that it will also ‘break boundaries’ in the field of reception studies within the discipline of Classics. / Theses (M.A)-University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, 2009.

Numerous ancient epics and their heroes share certain characteristics. Lord Raglan and Joseph Campbell, among others, developed these characteristics into hero models. In their models, it is mentioned that many heroes undergo a katabasis or a figurative death and resurrection. The presence of a female guide in the hero’s descent into the Underworld has been largely neglected in Classical scholarship, despite the fact that the study of epic has been for some time a largely saturated field. It will be this aspect of the epic that I intend to examine. I will be examining a selection of female guides and will create a model consisting of their similarities loosely based on those models of Raglan and Campbell. I will be examining the role of female guides in various epics; namely, the Gilgamesh Epic (Siduri), the Odyssey (Circe), and the Aeneid (the Sibyl) and in a later chapter, those in the Argonautica (Medea) and the Pharsalia (Erichtho). In addition to these guides, I shall be examining one guide that does not come from epic, Ariadne. The female guides I shall be examining appear in two forms, either as a literal guide who descends with the hero into the Underworld, or as a figurative guide who provides assistance from a distance through advice or instruction. One of the reasons why I feel that this topic is of importance is the socio-historical context in which these texts were written, times and places when women played a largely inferior and subservient role to men. The fictional literary guides seem to be representing strong and independent women. I find this to be remarkable considering the times that these texts were written in. The analysis of these female guides will conclude with a compilation of the similarities they share that shall form the basis for my own female guide model. My model will be established in two consecutive steps: first the female guides Siduri, Circe and the Sibyl will be examined and a preliminary model established. In addition, I will try and prove a common ancestry for them. Secondly, I will test my preliminary model on Medea, Erichtho and Ariadne. As a result, I will propose a final model comprising all the female guides dealt with in my dissertation. This model will be my contribution to scholarship on epic literature from a Comparative approach. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.