1,720,969 research outputs found
Killer Queen: Clytemnestra as Goddess, Heroine, and Monster
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2020This dissertation examines the mythological figure of Clytemnestra across genre and time. From Homeric poetry through late Greek tragedy, this duplicitous husband-murderer reflects ancient Greek male anxieties about women. I argue that the conceptualization of Clytemnestra shifts over time and according to generic conventions, and that authors portray her as heroic, monstrous, or divine in order to advance their own agendas about the dangerousness of women to male society. We will see that there is no universal conception of Clytemnestra: while many authors treat her as an example of the threat of the feminine, others explore the complexities of her motives, even presenting relatively sympathetic discussions of her situation. Although she is never fully exculpated, her actions are often rationalized as a consequence of her mistreatment by Agamemnon. Such a topic naturally raises questions about structural misogyny in ancient Greece, but as we shall see, many modern scholars have reproduced this misogyny in scholarship on Clytemnestra. Thus, a major goal of this project is to identify and resist the sexism of such scholarship. This is the first comprehensive study of Clytemnestra across time and genre, and integrates both literary and visual sources with the goal of producing an anti-misogynistic, holistic portrait of this important cultural figure
Euripides and Gender: The Difference the Fragments Make
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2013Euripides and Gender: The Difference the Fragments Make Research on gender in Greek tragedy has traditionally focused on the extant plays, with only sporadic recourse to discussion of the many fragmentary plays for which we have evidence. This project aims to perform an extensive study of the sixty-two fragmentary plays of Euripides in order to provide a picture of his presentation of gender that is as full as possible. Beginning with an overview of the history of the collection and transmission of the fragments and an introduction to the study of gender in tragedy and Euripides' extant plays, this project takes up the contexts in which the fragments are found and the supplementary information on plot and character (known as testimonia) as a guide in its analysis of the fragments themselves. These contexts include the fifth-century CE anthology of Stobaeus, who preserved over one third of Euripides' fragments, and other late antique sources such as Clement's Miscellanies, Plutarch's Moralia, and Athenaeus' Deipnosophistae. The sections on testimonia investigate sources ranging from the mythographers Hyginus and Apollodorus to Apulian pottery to a group of papyrus hypotheses known as the "Tales from Euripides", with a special focus on plot-type, especially the rape-and-recognition and Potiphar's wife storylines. The final section turns to fragments and comic parodies of Euripides in Aristophanes, which are instructive as a contemporary source of information on the playwright. This section focuses on the fragmentary play Andromeda, but also includes information on a variety of the other fragmentary plays from lines and scholia from various Aristophanic plays. Finally, I consider the difference that the fragments make to our understanding of larger patterns of gender in Euripides. I consider how the fragments provide an expanded diversity of specific types of Euripidean characters, a more developed image of characters that appear in the extant plays, more examples of specific plot-types, more explorations of masculinity, and further plots taken from famous mythological cycles, concluding that the fragmentary plays expand the possibilities of how gender was portrayed and portrayable in Euripides' plays
The Nature of Predication in Parmenides
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2014Among the many difficulties with which Parmenides of Elea has left us is that of finding a way to reconcile the two accounts of reality given by his Goddess. First, she delivers a sustained argument for ontological monism, but then quickly turns away from it to describe the opinions of mortals, which she reminds us has no share of the truth which was attributed to her first account. On the one hand, monism utterly compromises both individuation and change, while Parmenides claims that mortal opinions, on the other hand, are mistaken and ultimately end in contradiction. I argue that the key to unifying Parmenides' poem lies in understanding the important role that predication plays in defining and distinguishing these two accounts of reality. I conclude that the application of predicates to what-is turns mortal thinkers away from the path of Being, which itself cannot bear any description
Medical Language in the Speeches of Demosthenes
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2015This project is intended as an examination of medical language and imagery in the speeches of Demosthenes, with special attention given to his speeches against his political opponent Aeschines, Against the False Embassy (19) and On the Crown (18). In Chapter 1, I contextualize his use of such language and imagery by exploring the influence of Hippocratic medicine on fourth- and fifth-century non-medical literature. I argue that the shared anxieties of medicine and politics, namely that both arts demand quick action and foresight on the part of the good practitioner, and the rich new vocabulary of suffering and disease, made Hippocratic medicine an enticing model for the political writer, that is, the historian, philosopher, and orator. Demosthenes' medical language and imagery should thus be seen as part of a tradition of analogizing the two arts, which began during the circulation of the first Hippocratic treatises and continued well into and past his own day. In Chapter 2, I look at medical language and imagery in Demosthenes' prosecution of Aeschines for political misconduct during the Second Embassy to Philip II of Macedon, On the False Embassy. I examine how Demosthenes plays with the Hippocratic concepts of "right timing" (kairos) and "forecast" (prognôsis) to underscore Aeschines' political failures. I also look at how he blends contemporary medical and magico-religious views of disease to depict his opponent as infected with the contagious disease of Philippizing. In Chapter 3, I scrutinize Aeschines' response to Demosthenes' medical invective in On the Embassy (2), his defense against Demosthenes' charges of political corruption during the Second Embassy (Dem. 19), and Against Ctesiphon (3), his prosecution of Ctesiphon for proposing an illegal action, namely that Demosthenes should be awarded a civic crown for exceptional service to the state. In each case, I argue that he appropriates his rival's medical language, particularly the analogy of the physician, in order to turn it against him. By redefining prognôsis in terms of the present, he deflects Demosthenes' accusation not only of political malice but also of political incompetency. Moreover, by applying the invective label "purifier" (goês) to his accuser, he draws attention to the absurdity of Demosthenes' self-representation as a physician of the state, especially in light of Athens' defeat by Philip at Chaeronea. In Chapter 4, I turn to Demosthenes' use of medical language and imagery in his grand defense of his political career, On the Crown. I argue that he uses this language and imagery to redirect blame for his failed political policies onto Aeschines. By reintroducing the image of the charlatan physician, he both responds to Aeschines' purifier invective and transfers the blame for Athens' current misfortunes onto the inaction and bad leadership of politicians like Aeschines. In addition to the physician analogy, I look at how Demosthenes draws upon the language of physical suffering to exhibit the consequences of allowing the politically and morally corrupt politician to remain in the city. In the final chapter of this project, I examine Demosthenes' use of medical language and imagery in his political speeches, in particular, the Olynthiacs (Dem. 1-3) and Philippics (Dem. 4, 6, 9). I argue that similarities between the medical imagery and language of these speeches and that of his speeches against Aeschines suggest that Demosthenes recycled this imagery because of its positive reception by his audience. In the appendix to this chapter, I look at examples of medical imagery and language in the speeches of Demosthenes whose authenticity is contested: Fourth Philippic (10), Reply to Philip (11), and Against Aristogeiton I (25). I conclude with a recapitulation of my findings and brief discussion about the further directions in which this research can be taken
I Do What I Want: Freedom and Power in Classical Athens
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2014This project investigates the ideology of freedom and power underlying democratic citizenship in classical Athens using philological analysis and modern theoretical approaches, including performance and power studies. In opposition to other political systems such as oligarchy and tyranny, democracy is linked in ancient texts to freedom. Beginning with an exploration of what freedom meant to the Athenians and what logical conclusions this definition entailed, I find that freedom is often described as the ability of its citizens to do "whatever they wish." Building on modern political theory's distinction between negative and positive freedom (freedom from constraints versus freedom to act in order to take control of one's life), I argue that the phrase to do "whatever one wishes" is an expression of positive freedom, rather than negative freedom. I support this view with evidence from legal language, the historians (Herodotus and Thucydides), and the philosophers (Plato and Aristotle). These sources indicate that positive freedom and autonomy in both the private and public realms were conceptually and institutionally important for the Athenian citizen. This type of freedom accords, in turn, with a sense of power. I argue that power is best tracked by tracing the use of the adjective <italic>kurios</italic> and its opposite, <italic>akuros</italic>. Using the kurios of the household as a model, I outline basic features of power, including its performative and contested nature. I then focus philological analysis on <italic>kurios</italic> as deployed in forensic speeches to describe the defendant, jury, and the laws. The move from political theory into the pragmatic setting of the law court is conducive to identifying and analyzing prevalent notions about power and autonomy. In addition, I aim to show that democratic ideology negotiates a balance between its free citizens and its laws by conceptualizing the two parties as symbiotically drawing power from each other. Finally, I close with a case study of <italic>Against Neaira</italic> ([D.] 59), exemplifying how questions of freedom, power, and their attributes may be deployed for textual analysis. In contrast to other readings of the speech, I show that power struggles are central to the prosecution's argument
Ἕρκος Ἀθηναίων: The Ajax Myth, the Trojan War, and Civic Ideology in Fifth-Century Athens
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2018This project explores how fifth-century Athens attempted to appropriate the myth of Telamonian Ajax as a way to express its civic ideology and sociohistorical identity in the decades following the Second Persian Invasion. I argue that Athens used the Ajax myth in order to promote its political interests as Hellenic liberator to the larger Greek world. Because the Persian Wars were often treated as parallel with the Trojan War, Athens could propagandize its role in the Battle of Salamis by articulating the Ajax myth as an exemplum. The scope of the Ajax myth also provided Athens with a means to address its political anxieties, as it shifted during the fifth century from Greece’s dark-horse champion at the Battle of Salamis, to Delian League hegemon, and finally to imperial power. I first orient readers with the myth of Ajax in general, and the history of Athenian disputes with other poleis over his home island of Salamis. I then look at the Athenian artistic representation of “Ajax and Achilles playing a board game” and suggest reasons for its popularity. I turn next to Ajax in Homer, highlighting characteristics that Athens might find expedient for its projection of civic identity after the Persian Wars. This chapter also considers Ajax’s relationship with other figures, notably Achilles, Hector, and Odysseus, in order to provide a foundation for my project in toto. I look next at literature in the decade after the Persian Wars, the era of “celebration culture” after Greek victory. I explore the new Simonides’ Plataea elegy and epigrams from the Athenian Agora to demonstrate that Greeks employed the Trojan War to parallel the Persian War. I then examine Aeschylus’ Persians and argue that he uses the Iliadic Ajax in order to epicize Athens’ role in the battle of Salamis. Finally, I address Sophocles’ Ajax as a vehicle to examine the shift in Athens’ identity from Greek defender in the Persian Invasions to imperial aggressor in the Peloponnesian War. I argue that the Ajax alludes to Aeschylus’ Persians as a way to integrate Athens’ identity as defender of Greece in the battle of Salamis with its imperialist identity at the time of Ajax’s production. Lastly, I argue that Ajax recalls his single combat and gift exchange with Hector from the Iliad (Aj.654-665 alluding to Il.7.161-312), as a way for Athens to problematize shifting civic values and to incorporate that problematization into its civic identity
How about a little celebration, to the jingle of a wedding bell [first line of chorus]
No full textPerformers: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick PowellPiano, Voice and Chord
Ah! The moon is here. Ah! The moon is here, love is off to a [first line of chorus]
No full textPerformers: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick PowellPiano, Voice and Chord
I\u27ve covered ev\u27ry little highway, and I\u27ve been climbing [first line of chorus]
No full textPerformers: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick PowellPiano, Voice and Chord
By a Waterfall
Full text linkIllustration of various people by waterfall; inset photos of James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, and Dick Powellhttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/8667/thumbnail.jp
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