This dissertation examines the transformation of the heroic ideal from the literary, quasi-historical standards of Homeric society, in which the self-interested desires of the individual, male warriors are paramount, through the Archaic period, when the heroic ideal shifts its emphasis toward cooperative, communal interests, stimulated by the nascent growth of the city-state, until the classical period of fifth-century B.C. Athens, when the ideal begins to degenerate, primarily as a result of changing philosophical and political influences upon the Athenians, as well as the devastating physical and psychological consequences of the Peloponnesian War. / Primarily, though, the investigation revolves around the activities of literary, and historical, women as they relate to the changing criteria of the heroic ideal. In Homer, I have a brief overview of his treatment of women. In Chapter 3, I thoroughly explore the social perceptions of Greek women in both the Archaic and Classical periods, including views of early Greek writers, problems of modern methodology in this subject area, the question of the seclusion of Athenian women, their social separation from men in the public arena, and contemporary opinions on the character and intelligence of Athenian women. The main focus will eventually become the Greek tragic heroine in the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. / After a brief overview of political life in fifth-century Athens, the functions of tragedy, and the characterization of women in tragedy, in Chapters 4-6 I engage those plays of the three tragedians whose female characters act according to the dictates of the older, heroic code. The tragic result attests the destructive dichotomy between the basically, communal-oriented women and the dictates of the fundamentally self-centered male warrior code, which is less a negative reflection upon Athenian women than upon the anti-social nature of the heroic code itself. Finally, in Chapter 7 I look at how Vergil faced the same problems of an older, destructive, heroic ideal (symbolized in Dido, a latter day Ajax) in conflict with the peaceful, unifying ideals of collective effort (symbolized in Aeneas, the precursor of Augustus). / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-01, Section: A, page: 0182. / Major Professor: Justin M. Glenn. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77341 |
| Contributors | Shaw, Edward Anthony., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 373 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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