Inaug.-diss.--Königsberg. / Vita.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, May, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, May, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references.

<p>This thesis is an exploration of the meaning and function of vrats (votive fasting rites) among Hindu women in Banaras. While both men and women observe vrats throughout India today, women observe far more of them, at more frequent intervals, and for a wider array of reasons than do men. In general, girls are trained to direct the performance of vrats to the attainment of a husband, or, for married women, to the well-being and long life of their husbands and children. Essentially, the vrats that women perform are tied to domestic life and traditionally defined family and gender relationships in a way that vrats men perform are not.</p> <p>Scholars who have written on women and the vrat tradition have documented the ways in which women's performance of vrats are expressive of both their religioculturally prescribed duties as women and of their special connection to one of Hinduism's central values: auspiciousness. In this thesis, however, by focusing on the personal narratives of individual women that I interviewed in Banaras, I demonstrate that women's sense of duty and obligation to ensuring the well-being of their families through the performance of vrats only partly explains the appeal of these rites to Hindu women.</p> <p>While my field data confirmed that married women perform vrats for maintaining their "suhaq" (the auspicious married state), they also perform these votive fasts for the psychological, social, physical and spiritual benefits that vrats bring to themselves. I argue that not only do vrats provide an avenue for the expression of profound spiritual yearnings, but some women see the use of vrats as a way to gai.n control over their own lives; as a source of empowerment in an environment in which women frequently lack control and feel dis-empowered. I further consider how women, traditionally denied access to formal asceticism, have found a way to tap into this powerful realm for their own benefit through the performance of vrats.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Inaug.-diss.--Halle-Wittenberg. / Lebenslauf.

Inaug.-diss.--Halle-Wittenberg. / Lebenslauf.

This work consists of a comparative study of the female deities venerated by the Celts of Gaul, Ancient Britain and Ancient Ireland from the 8th c. BC to around 400 AD. The Celts had the peculiarity of transmitting their culture, religious beliefs and myths exclusively by oral means, from one generation to another. The available data relating to Celtic goddesses are thus all indirect and of a different nature and period according to the country concerned. They fall into three categories: contemporary Classical texts, which mainly pertain to Gaul and are very rare; the vernacular literature of early medieval Ireland, which was written down by Christian monks from the 7th c. AD; and archaeology from Gaul and Britain, which is very fragmentary and consists of places of devotion, dating from pre-Roman, Gallo-Roman and Romano-British times, votive epigraphy and iconography, dating from after the Roman conquest. Which goddesses did the Celts believe in? Did the Celts from Ireland, Britain and Gaul venerate similar goddesses? What were their nature and functions? How were they worshipped and by whom? Were they hierarchically organized within a pantheon? This thesis thus attempts, by gathering, comparing and analysing the various linguistic, literary, epigraphic and iconographical data from Gaul, Ancient Britain and Ireland, to establish connections and similarities, and thereby reconstruct a common pattern of Celtic beliefs as they relate to female deities. This research consists of five chapters: the mother-goddesses (Matres and Matronae); the goddesses purveying fertility and embodying the land and the natural elements (animals, trees, forests and mountains); the territorial- and war-goddesses; the river-goddesses (rivers, fountains and hot springs); and the goddesses personifying ritual intoxication. / Ce travail consiste en une étude comparée des divinités féminines vénérées par les Celtes de l’Irlande ancienne, de la Grande-Bretagne et de la Gaule du 8ème siècle avant J.-C. à environ 400 après J.-C. Les Celtes avaient la particularité de transmettre leur culture, croyances et mythes par voie orale, de génération en génération. Les sources qui nous permettent d’étudier les divinités et croyances des Celtes sont donc toutes indirectes et de nature, d’origine et de période différentes. Elles se regroupent autour de trois catégories : les textes classiques contemporains, qui ne concernent que la Gaule et sont très peu nombreux ; la littérature vernaculaire de l’Irlande haut-médiévale, qui fut mise par écrit à partir du 7ème siècle après J.-C. par des moines chrétiens ; et l’archéologie gauloise et britannique, qui est très fragmentaire et étudie les lieux de cultes préromains, gallo-romains et romano-britanniques, l’épigraphie votive et l’iconographie, datant d’après l’invasion romaine. Quelles déesses les Celtes honoraient-ils ? Les Celtes d’Irlande, de Grande-Bretagne et de Gaule vénéraient-ils des déesses similaires ? Quelles étaient la nature et les fonctions de ces divinités ? Comment étaient-elles vénérées et par qui ? S’organisaient-elles hiérarchiquement dans un panthéon ? L’analyse et la comparaison des données linguistiques, littéraires, épigraphiques et iconographiques de l’Irlande, de la Grande-Bretagne et de la Gaule permettent d’établir des connexions et des similitudes, et de reconstruire ainsi une somme de croyances religieuses communes. Ce travail s’articule autour de cinq chapitres : les Déesses-Mères (Matres et Matronae) ; les déesses pourvoyeuses de richesses, personnifiant la terre et les éléments naturels (animaux, arbres, forêts, montagnes) ; les déesses du territoire et de la guerre ; les déesses des eaux (rivières, fontaines et sources d’eau chaude) ; et les déesses incarnant l’ivresse rituelle.

This work seeks to provide new insight into understanding how the Lucanian sanctuaries were conceived, built, and used during a chronological period which ranges from the fourth century B.C. to the first century A.D. Within this time, the end of the third century B.C. and the bloody events of the Hannibalic war represented a crucial turning point for the Lucanian communities, concomitant with more infiltration of the southern peninsula by Rome. The last two centuries B.C. are therefore generally neglected in literature as a period of decline. The basic line of thought of this research is that changes in function and form of sanctuaries reflect political, socio-economic and cultural transformations and development of those communities who built and frequented them. The function of the sanctuaries went well beyond the merely religious, for they also functioned as gathering, political and economic centers. The evidence used in this thesis was mainly archaeological, and therefore the analysis of the realia represents the starting point and grounds for historical reconstructions. Archaeological data are diachronically analyzed at different levels: topographic location and relationship of sanctuaries with inhabited settlements, architectural structure and spatial organization of the complexes, and systems of votive offerings. During the fourth and the third centuries B.C. the picture of the Lucanian sanctuaries appears at a first glance quite homogeneous, as the cultural expressions of the Lucanian communities derived from the same models. However, archaeological evidence does not support the theory regarding the existence of a collective sanctuary which belonged to the Lucanians as a whole ethnos, as has been hypothesised for the Rossano di Vaglio sanctuary. After the end of the third century B.C. archaeological evidence from the sites under scrutiny attests that the sanctuaries continued to be used, despite the abandonment of the surrounding inhabited settlements. Nevertheless, such continuity did not mean full frequentation of the sanctuaries, as the majority of them noticeably contracted. Thus the second century B.C. is greatly under-represented at the archaeological level, although in some cases a revival is attested during the first century B.C. In this scenario, the only sanctuary which experienced a phase of revitalization during both of the last two centuries B.C. was the Rossano di Vaglio complex, as it became the point of reference for a new, specifically Roman, territorial entity, the praefectura of Potentia. This analysis, therefore, is a further contribution to current studies concerning the transformations which occurred in Italy in conjunction with the rise of Roman power, the conquest of Italy, and the consequent diffusion of hegemonic culture. / Classical Archaeology

No description available.

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