This thesis examines the current state of preservation of the 37 opus vermiculatum mosaics found at Pompeii by exploring the history of their excavation, conservation, and preservation. The intriguing dichotomy of the architectural and artistic aspects of the mosaics has added obstacles to their successful treatment and protection. Each event in the lives of the mosaics has affected their preservation including their production and use in the early 1st century B.C.E., their burial resulting from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 C.E., and every action performed on the mosaics since their rediscovery between 1759 and 1931. The fates of the opus vermiculatum mosaics have been determined by the history and development of excavation, conservation, and preservation techniques. Ten of the mosaics are still in situ, 25 have been moved to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, one has been lost, and one has completely deteriorated. Since the early excavations, the development of mosaic conservation associations and more effective theories and techniques have allowed for greater protection of ancient mosaics. In order to protect both the physical and contextual integrity of Pompeii's opus vermiculatum mosaics, a balance must be found between the preservation of the site's distinct archaeological heritage and necessary intervention procedures. Through the study of history, ideology, and technology, this thesis suggests where this balance may be found. Since the analysis is contingent upon the documentation of these events, this study also features a catalog of the mosaics which, in documenting the available information regarding their treatment history, allows for further study and should ensure that the mistakes of past treatments will not be repeated. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Classics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2008. / Date of Defense: March 24, 2008. / Preservation, Conservation, Pompeii, Mosaics, Opus Vermiculatum, Excavation / Includes bibliographical references. / David Stone, Professor Directing Thesis; Nancy T. de Grummond, Committee Member; Daniel J. Pullen, Committee Member.

An examination of the literary-historical record suggests that the comic spirit undergoes a definite and proscribed dialectic. As a culture progresses from a robust infancy, to a self-reflective maturity, and eventually on to an introspective senescence, there is a corresponding development of the aesthetic forms through which that society expresses its sense of humor. Using the metaphysical and aesthetic principles of Hegelian philosophy, I construct a theory of three broad-based komische Formen, or "comic forms," that describe and analyze the general stages through which this dialectic passes. The symbolic, classical, and romantic komische Formen represent distinct phases in the growth of man's spiritual and comic sensibilities. As Geist propels man from sense-consciousness, to self-consciousness, to reason, it also reshapes his sense of humor. Eventually, when the comic spirit has maximized its full potential and gained the power to laugh at everything, it dissolves within its own mirth and paves the way for a transcendent rebirth of values. / To demonstrate the validity of this thesis, I apply this theoretical construct to representative works from classical antiquity. It is there that we find both the beginning of comedy as an art form, as well as many of the original models that have influenced later periods. The comedy of antiquity originates in the symbolism of Old Comedy; attains its perfection in the refinement of New Comedy; and transcends itself in the more prosaic genres that emerged in the last phases of the Greco-Roman world. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-07, Section: A, page: 2572. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

This work is an effort to determine what theories of comedy the ancient world held. The first portion is a compilation of comments of ancient authors which impact on comic theory. This is presented essentially as raw data with summary statements included. Modern areas of controversy which concern comedy are then compiled and clarified. These areas include Platonic (mu)(iota)(mu)(eta)(sigma)(iota)(sigma) and (kappa)(alpha)(theta)(alpha)(rho)(sigma)(iota)(sigma), Aristotelian (mu)(iota)(mu)(eta)(sigma)(iota)(sigma) and (kappa)(alpha)(theta)(alpha)(rho)(sigma)(iota)(sigma), the Tractatus Coislinianus, and the comic emotions. Finally, a common core of ancient comic theory is revealed. Whereas, modern comic theory is in a state of disarray, with critics unable to agree upon general parameters for discussion, antiquity did have common parameters for discussion, was much interested in comic theory, and was generally homogeneous in their theories of comedy. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-02, Section: A, page: 0524. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 5040. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

R 65,T 5This dissertation examines the attitudes of Homer and Virgil toward the agricultural life. In the Iliad and the Odyssey Homer displays a special interest in bridging the heroic distance between the world of the warrior and that of the common laborer in his audience. By the use of agricultural similes, the description of Achilles' shield, and other digressions, Homer presents in the Iliad the peaceful life of the farmer as an attractive alternative to the heroic code. In the Odyssey Homer elevates the dignity of the agricultural life by his characterization of Eumaeus the swineherd, whom the poet casts in a heroic light. Homer also shows that Odysseus and his father Laertes are themselves well acquainted with the techniques of farming. / In the Georgics Virgil glorifies the life of the farmer in heroic terms. The victory of the farmer's labor is described with martial imagery, as a battle that is won at heavy cost. The farmer appears as a strong and moral hero who is responsible for Rome's greatness. Virgil stresses in particular two qualities of the farmer that make him noble, his inner peace and his willingness to fight for Rome's defense. The Aeneid stresses many of the same virtues that are seen in the Georgics, such as the importance of labor, simplicity, and bravery, all of which Virgil associates with the agricultural way of life. Virgil's epic shows that Rome was built upon the native Italians, whom the poet describes as hearty rustics at home with either the sword or the plow. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: A, page: 2207. / Major Professor: Will White de Grummond. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

This thesis examines the relationship between Vedic and Orphic theogonies, both from a mythological and poetic perspective. In both the Rig Veda and in the various Orphic fragments, a primordial god is born from a cosmic egg, which when broken becomes the source of heaven and earth. Both the Vedic Prajāpati and the Orphic Protogonos self-procreate in order to create other gods, humans, and animals. They are also both connected to sacrifice through ritual dismemberment, Prajāpati with the annual disassembling of the sacrificial altar, and Protogonos through his heir, Dionysus. The consistent theme in each mythology is creation through fragmentation from an original source. Therefore, the goal of the religious practitioner is to identify with the primordial god and so share his original creative power. This religious purpose is reflected in the poetic tradition of each culture. The poet uses meter, themes and formulae in order to invoke the god's completeness and the dualistic nature of the universe. This comparison contributes to a larger picture of interaction between Greece and India in the development of their poetic and religious traditions. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Classics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2008. / Date of Defense: December 3, 2007. / Orphism, Vedism, Indo-Europeans, Poetics / Includes bibliographical references. / James Sickinger, Professor Directing Thesis; Kathleen Erndl, Committee Member; John Marincola, Committee Member; Svetla Slaveva-Griffin, Committee Member.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 35-02, Section: A, page: 1072. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1974.

This dissertation offers a literary approach to Pindar, his poetics, and his methods of commenting on the poetic art. It argues that Pindar consistently and self-consciously highlights himself in his poetics and that he actively shapes how his audience should receive and understand his poetry. This study challenges a current dominant scholarly approach to Pindar that prioritizes the practical performance context of Pindar’s poetry (an approach which frequently relegates the poet himself to the status of a technical writer of ritual scripts). In contrast, by focusing on the literary aspects of his programmatic techniques, this study makes the case for Pindar as a literary poet. The dissertation focuses on the language and function of Pindar’s invocations of the Muse, his poetic rivalry with and explicit commentary on previous poets, and his development of a complex metaphorical, metapoetic technique; this study also investigates the early reception of Pindar’s poetics and metapoetic techniques and locates the earliest critical reception of Pindar’s poetics in the comedies of Aristophanes. The first chapter considers the variety of ways in which Pindar invokes the Muses, and pursues a comparative reading of Pindar’s Muse invocations. The comparison brings out the range in function of the Muses in Pindar and also argues for a dynamic function of Pindar’s Muse invocations. Chapter 2 investigates Pindar’s poetic rivals and views Pindar in competition with the poets of the past of diverse genres: Homer, Hesiod, and Archilochus. The chapter argues that Pindar presents himself as rivaling these poets and that he engages in literary criticism to clarify his own poetic theory. The third chapter examines Pindar’s poetological imagery and suggests that Pindar’s metaphorical style constitutes a metapoetic technique. This chapter also brings out Pindar’s dynamic effect of layering multiple images for poetry. The final chapter reads Aristophanes’ parody of Pindar in the Birds as a reception of Pindar’s poetics. Through this parody, Aristophanes aims at positioning the comic poet in essential ways as a Pindaric poet. This reception highlights the continued relevance of what it means to be a “Pindaric poet” and signifies important aspects of the legacy of Pindar’s poetics.

This dissertation explores the treatment of the scenic and diegetic space in Aristophanes' Acharnians, Knights, and Wasps, and the comedies' attitude towards a variety of domestic and civic spaces, taking into consideration the cultural context in which the plays were composed. I argue that by using visual creativity and the available staging resources, Aristophanes calls attention to the consequences of the Peloponnesian war on the Athenians' civic and domestic life. Acharnians, Knights, and Wasps all literalize in an imaginative way the impact of the dysfunction of the polis - the assembly, the agora, the boule, the lawcourts - on the oikos and the householder. The plays not only explore what happens to the oikos itself, but also the implications for a polis in which the oikos loses its place of prominence. Acharnians displays an example of the polis' dysfunction in an assembly meeting at the Pnyx, and traces an individual's frustration with this polis and his journey back to his oikos. We witness the reactions of Dikaiopolis and the Acharnians, both of whom have been forced out of their oikoi, have had their properties ravaged, and experience their estrangement with nostalgia or anger. I argue that through a private peace treaty Dikaiopolis is able to return to his oikos, and then expand his domestic space in order to be reintegrated into a functional community. Knights presents an invaded oikos both as allegory for the dysfunction of the polis, and as a way of connecting Athens' foreign policy decisions to the concerns of the individual Athenian householder. The play's allegorical significance, present also in the double persona of Demos who represents both a household master and the people of Athens, conveys the impression that events taking place in the political realm have an impact also on the domestic lives of Athenian citizens. Wasps calls attention to the mismanagement of civic institutions by presenting the contrasting perspectives of a father and a son on particular domestic and civic spaces. Here I argue that the play presents the space of the oikos as a microcosm for the polis of Athens within which social and political divisions can be observed. The play focuses on the lawcourts' accumulation of power within the astu as the single place in which all cases were tried during the war. By making the protagonist Philocleon defy his own oikos, Aristophanes turns his focus onto new problems in the management of individual households, and explores what happens when the oikos or the polis becomes a citizen's primary locus of allegiance. All three plays present their central conflict in terms of a struggle to return to, enter, or escape from the oikos: spatial restrictions on the citizens imposed by war policy (Acharnians); the threat of invasion of the oikos by elements foreign to it (Knights); and the threat to the integrity of the oikos imposed by the dysfunctional jury system (Wasps). The first chapter looks at the importance of the visual component of Greek drama and provides a survey of previous works on this topic. I discuss the stage resources Aristophanes would be using; I explain my choice of examining together Acharnians, Knights and Wasps; and I give an overview of the plays' historical context. Chapters two, three, and four are dedicated respectively to each of the three plays, and examine the space and staging of each play sequentially. In a brief conclusion I suggest that Aristophanes might be considered among the first authors to display interest in domestic economy, by turning the Athenians' focus to the welfare of the oikos and its importance for the prosperity of the polis.

This dissertation examines literary laughter in Latin poetry and, specifically, the ways in which textually-witnessed laughter functions as a guide to reader response and as a genre marker in select Vergilian, Horatian, and Ovidian poems. The introduction first describes the Latin vocabulary of laughter and the risible and then introduces the texts of Augustan poetry to be examined. The remainder of the introduction surveys theoretical treatments of laughter that appear in Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero and underlie three prevailing modern explanations of laughter: the superiority, relief, and incongruity theories. My inquiry is divided into two complementary parts, to each of which I devote three chapters. Part I (Chapters 1, 2, and 3) explores laughter's function as text-directed literary criticism--what I call a textual laugh track. My approach emphasizes that the vocabulary of laughter and the risible as used by Vergil, Horace, and Ovid often functions metacommunicatively, offering to the reader a set of directions for how to respond to particular texts. Part 2 (Chapters 4, 5, and 6) considers laughter's role as a conspicuous piece in the assembling of specific generic puzzles. Horace's Satires, Vergil's Eclogues, and Ovid's Amores all feature the vocabulary of laughter and the risible in their verses, and they utilize this vocabulary to various genre-determined--and genre-determining--ends. My objective throughout the dissertation is to present laughter as a dynamic human behavior that, through its appearance in Augustan literature, not only offers inroads to a specific "cultural psychology" but also proves itself an illuminating point of contact between the ancient and modern world.