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The mirror in ancient South Italian funerary context : A study of the mirror’s function and symbolic meaning in graves in the Greek colonies Locri Epizefiri and Metaponto / Spegeln i antik Syditaliensk gravkontext : En studie av spegelns funktion och symboliska betydelse i gravar i de grekiska kolonierna Locri Epizefiri och Metaponto

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”.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-446074
Date January 2021
CreatorsJäger, Isabella
PublisherUppsala universitet, Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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