Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Greek and Latin

“Eutrapelia: Humorous texts in Hellenistic poetry” provides a study of the literary humor in Hellenistic iambic poetry in the context of rapid political and cultural change in the Ancient Mediterranean of the third century BCE. This project clarifies several questions connected to the nature of humor in Hellenistic iambic poetry: how does humor function in the poetry and performance of the early Hellenistic era? In which contexts does it appear? Does it reflect the multicultural environment of Ptolemaic Egypt? How is humor connected to the recontextualization of generic conventions, both literary and performative? Does humor become an expression of transgression: political, religious, or social? To address these questions, I conduct several case studies focusing on fragments of poems by Greek writers of the third century BCE (Callimachus, Cercidas, Machon, and Herodas) that refer to the tradition of Greek iambic poetry, a poetic invective genre closely connected to comedy and ritual obscenity. In Chapter 1, I focus on the humorous representation of philosophers in Callimachus's Iambus 1 and argue that these representations play an important role in Callimachus's dialogue with Plato and contemporary philosophy, and, at the same time, reflect Callimachus's ideas about the role of intellectual working in Alexandria under the royal patronage. In Chapter 2, I analyze fragments of Cercidas of Megalopolis, politician and Cynic philosopher, and argue that Cercidas employs elements of Cynic teaching to problematize the political and social issues of his community. In Chapter 3, I conduct a study of several anecdotes attributed to the comic writer Machon and argue that the targets of these anecdotes mirror Machon's own professional fate. In Chapter 4, I analyze sexually oriented humor in Herodas's Mimiamb 6 and argue that in this poem, Herodas promotes an idea of the female origin of iambic poetry. For each of these case studies, I address linguistic features of humor by a (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Benjamin Acosta-Hughes Ph.D. (Advisor); Tom Hawkins Ph.D. (Committee Member); Dana Munteanu Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Classical Studies; Gender Studies; Language; Literature; Philosophy

BA, Kent State University, 2015, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Modern and Classical Language Studies

For centuries, Dante's Commedia has inspired artists and musicians alike with its dense themes of redemption, atonement, religious ecstasy and reconciliation. His immense three-volume work is rife with musical metaphors and linguistic musicality qualifying it as a more than a poem: something that many in the field of Dante Studies term a masterpiece of an all-encompassing artistic nature. In this thesis, I explore the Commedia in terms of its musical construction, examining the specific choices by a linguistic genius to instruct his listeners of life, language and love through song.

Committee: Kristin Stasiowski Phd (Advisor); Kenneth Bindas Phd (Committee Chair); Jay White Phd (Committee Member); Stephanie Siciarz (Committee Member) Subjects: Literature; Middle Ages; Music; Philosophy; Religious History

BA, Oberlin College, 2015, Comparative Literature

Ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, known for his theory of "constant flux," may be one of the most misunderstood and misquoted thinkers of Western philosophy. The way that the protagonist of Julio Cortazar's Rayuela misreads Heraclitus serves as one example of this phenomenon wherein poorly-conceived postmodern inquiries that seek to weaken the idea of a Truth lead to a nihilistic apathy. Horacio Oliveira misunderstands Heraclitus' doctrine of constant flux and uses this misreading to “logically” justify his sexist and elitist behavior towards others. This phenomenon crops up again in Samuel Beckett's absurdist play Fin de Partie through Hamm, a patriarch that no longer sees any point in trying because the world as he knows it is disintegrating. We can use Heraclitus as a central theoretical point for parsing through what exactly goes wrong with the ethical decisions of these characters. Carole Maso's AVA serves as a counterexample to Rayuela and Fin de Partie, for the novel revolves around similar theoretical questions but provides us with a more properly “Heraclitean” approach for how to confront a world without fixed meaning. Studying these failures and successes supply us with examples of how Postmodern thought can be used for harm or for good. A Heraclitean reading of these texts shows us how, properly understood, Postmodernism moves not only towards deconstructing structuralized systems of violence and marginalization, but also towards building something out of the rubble.

Committee: Claire Solomon (Advisor); Jed Deppman (Committee Chair); Benjamin Lee (Committee Member) Subjects: American Literature; Ancient Languages; Classical Studies; Comparative; Comparative Literature; Epistemology; Ethics; European Studies; Gender Studies; Latin American Literature; Latin American Studies; Literature; Metaphysics; Modern Literature; Philosophy; Womens Studies

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2004, Arts and Sciences : Classics

This dissertation explores responses of the ancient audiences to Greek tragedy in the fifth and fourth-century BC. The emphasis is on psychological, aesthetic, and ethical implications of emotions, pleasure, and learning associated with watching tragedies in Greek culture. A first part of my study considers less explored topics of Aristotelian theory, such as the nature and the techniques of arousing pity and fear in the audience, through looking at the Rhetoric in connection with the Poetics, De Anima, etc. A second part is dedicated to possible reactions to individual plays, through examining Aeschylean, Sophoclean, and Euripidean tragedies. My analysis first reconsiders the nature of the pity and fear, the enigmatic tragic emotions in the Poetics, by looking at the Rhetoric. Pity (Rhetoric, 2. 1385b13-a3) is likely the most complex emotion in Aristotle's theory, because it combines temporal and personal detachment with imaginative involvement in the suffering of another. A feature distinguishes pity from all the other pathe is a very specific visual component, pro ommaton (Rh.2. 1386a28-b1). A strikingly similar formula occurs in the Poetics: playwrights should work out their plots by bringing them before the eyes (Po. 17. 1455a21-24). While Aristotle dislikes visual effects, opsis (Po. 6. 1450a), he admires the imaginative vision that conveys emotion to their audiences in oratory as well as tragedy. Furthermore, my analysis suggests possible explanations for the puzzling Aristotelian formula "proper pleasure of tragedy," by showing similarities between tragic pleasure and the joys of memory and mourning. It concludes that the oikeia hedone relies on the emotional syllogism of the spectator that involves contemplation of the universal human condition. Ethical, political, and historic implications of the spectator's emotional responses to tragedies such as the Persians, Prometheus Bound, Ajax and Orestes go far beyond the Aristotelian preferences and prescriptions (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Kathryn Gutzwiller (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2012, Greek and Latin

This thesis argues that Isocrates was a philosopher and practiced philosophy, a view contrary to the majority of scholars, who view Isocrates solely as an orator or rhetorician. The study of Isocrates' philosophy has been neglected primarily due to its dissimilarity to the philosophy of Plato, and Isocrates' work has therefore not been regarded as philosophy, despite Isocrates' frequent claims to practice philosophy. The goal of Isocrates' philosophy is to improve decision-making in public affairs by attempting to arrive at the best course of action in any particular situation through a process of conjectures and approximations, which are founded in conventional wisdom. A student of Isocrates' philosophy learns what conjectures are suitable from exemplary men whom he takes as models for his own thought. For Isocrates, these men were successful Athenian politicians such as Solon, Cleisthenes, Themistocles, and Pericles, whom the community generally esteemed to be excellent. The best way to understand the thought of these men was through reading and imitating the speeches that they wrote. For Isocrates, speaking well and thinking well were inseparable, and therefore the construction of a speech, with thoughts parallel to those of his model, was both producing a philosophical text but also practicing philosophy. Having multiple models to draw upon is preferable in determining which excellent thoughts one should fit to the situation at hand in the speech. As speech-writing is such an important aspect of his philosophy, a portion of his educational program consisted of learning the different figures of speech and methods of composition and how to suit and adapt them to the situation at hand to produce a speech that is persuasive to the audience. Isocrates believes that not everyone can do this complex interweaving of composition and situation effectively, however, his educational program will improve everyone's abilities, though true ability is reserved for those with n (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Fritz Graf (Advisor); David Hahm (Committee Member) Subjects: Ancient Civilizations; Ancient History; Ancient Languages; Classical Studies; Education History; Philosophy; Rhetoric