PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Arts and Sciences: Classics

In this dissertation I explore how people in the eastern Mediterranean responded to imperial rule under the Achaemenid Persians (539-331 BCE) and Alexander the Great and his Greco-Macedonian successors, the Ptolemies (c. 300-201 BCE) and Seleucids (c. 201-104 BCE). To get an intimate perspective on these responses, I approach them through the recently excavated Persian and Hellenistic Administrative building (hereafter PHAB) at Tel Kedesh in the Upper Galilee of modern day Israel. The PHAB was in use under the Persians, the Ptolemies, and the Seleucids before being abandoned after the Seleucids were defeated in a nearby battle against a Judean army led by Jonathan Maccabee in 143 BCE. People moved north from the Central Hills a few years after this battle and inhabited the site of the semi-ruined building as squatters for a generation. From the vantage of the PHAB, it is possible to consider how economies and lifestyles changed against the dramatic historical backdrop of Alexander's conquest of the Persian Empire, the five Syrian Wars fought between his Ptolemaic and Seleucid successors over the southern Levant in the 3rd century, and the Maccabean Revolt against Seleucid rule in the mid 2nd century. In this dissertation I consider the largest body of evidence for economic and cultural interconnections of the staff of the PHAB, the pottery, in a regional context in order to characterize the daily habits and tastes of the administrators and squatters who lived at Kedesh. By considering changes in these tastes and habits over time as regimes and borders shifted, I show that people responded to the limitations and opportunities presented by Persian, Ptolemaic, and Seleucid rule (and its aftermath) in thoroughly local ways and at different paces according to political circumstances, economic opportunity, and their own sense of taste and tradition.

Committee: Kathleen Lynch PhD (Committee Chair); Sharon Herbert PhD (Committee Member); Andrea M. Berlin PhD (Committee Member); Getzel Cohen PhD (Committee Member); Eleni Hatzaki PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Archaeology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Arts and Sciences: Classics

ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates the development of the concept of euphony into a main component of ancient literary theories in the Hellenistic period and its importance for our understanding of ancient approaches to literature. Previous scholarship treated euphony as a concept of ancient aesthetics or linguistics and its importance in ancient literary criticism has been overlooked. I study the poetic theories of the three main Hellenistic euphonists, as they survive in the fragmentary treatise On Poems of the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus. Their main principle is that the sound of poetic language determines poetic excellence instead of its content. I investigate the main elements of their theories by interpreting the fragments, in which Philodemus criticizes them. I argue that the ideas of these Hellenistic critics originate from Archaic and Classical philosophical and musical views about sound and language, which established the aesthetic, scientific and linguistic background for the development of their theories. I argue that the emphasis of the euphonists on euphony and cacophony, their debate about the value of poetic form over content and the role of the senses in the appreciation of poetic excellence determined the formation of later literary theories, such as those of Demetrius in his treatise On Style (end of 2nd B.C.) and of Dionysius of Halicarnassus in his treatise On Literary Composition (1st century B.C.). On the basis of my comparison of Demetrius' and Dionysius' treatises with the euphonists' theories, I also argue that the theories about the literary styles, which become widespread in the first century B.C., rely to a large extent on the most progressive theory of the euphonist Pausimachus and his distinction of the kinds of poetic diction. The chapters of my dissertation thoroughly examine the aforementioned topics and their ramifications in a chronological progression.

Committee: Kathryn Gutzwiller Ph.D. (Committee Member); Daniel Markovic Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lauren Ginsberg Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Classical Studies

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2021, Arts and Sciences: Classics

This dissertation explores inscriptions recording interstate arbitrations that involved Messenian polities during the Hellenistic period. We can define interstate arbitrations as a legal and diplomatic tool, in which a third party—either an individual or a community—adjudicates a conflict between two polities by passing a binding verdict after a trial. While previous scholars have compiled corpora of arbitrations and studied only their legal characteristics, I address the full range of diverse messages these documents conveyed, and their broader function for the civic community of the polis. Through close examination of a small corpus of inscribed arbitrations, I show that through these documents Greek poleis conveyed a range of messages and achieved many goals. First, I argue that inscriptions recording interstate arbitrations helped Hellenistic poleis define the relationship between communities and civic elites in terms of mutual benefits. Cities were able to channel the ambition of prominent individuals, which if left unchecked could represent a threat to the democratic institutions of the polis, by encouraging them to participate in the arbitral process. Poleis thus gained access to their influence and expertise, which could be decisive in court. Second, I study the various narratives that poleis constructed within these documents. Some narratives gave emphasis to specific elements of the arbitration and reinforced the importance of one's victory, while others allowed a polis to put forward a specific representation of itself and to make claims about its civic and ethnic identity. For Messene, this was part of a broader project of self-definition that lasted throughout the Hellenistic period. Third, I argue that, thanks to their intrinsic connection with interstate parity, arbitrations stressed parity between poleis. Through inscriptions recording arbitrations, a city thus advertised its status as a self-governing community and its belonging to the netw (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Peter van Minnen Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jack Davis Ph.D. (Committee Member); Marion Kruse Ph.D. (Committee Member); Nino Luraghi Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Ancient Civilizations

Bachelor of Arts, Walsh University, 2021, Honors

Culture and society in the ancient world were shaped by the mythological beliefs of individual civilizations. The Watchers tradition, an Ancient Near Eastern myth present in the Hebrew Bible as well as in non-canonical books such as The Book of the Watchers, contains some of the least understood elements within the mythology of the Jewish people. These sources reveal myths to be dynamic reflections of changing cultural values. Between the first references to the Watchers in Hebrew mythology and their elaboration during the Hellenistic period six centuries later, the Watchers tradition developed from a reference in passing in the Book of Genesis to an in-depth exploration of Good and Evil in The Book of the Watchers. This development warrants discussion, as do its cultural and historic contexts. If the transformation of the Watchers myth was influenced by Jewish experience of Hellenistic rule, that invites further reflection on how the idea of supernatural evil entered into Judaism and would influence the later idea of fallen angels in Western civilization.

Committee: Chris Seeman (Advisor) Subjects: Folklore; History; Literature; Middle Eastern History; Middle Eastern Literature; Regional Studies; Religion

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

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2020, Arts and Sciences: Classics

I explore how Callimachus constructed knowledge as a subject-matter of poetry. Hellenistic scholars disputed about the nature of those activities aiming to acquire information about reality. I show how Callimachus' poetry, with its pervasive learnedness, focuses on processes through which knowledge is acquired, rather than displaying established facts. He invites us to compare our cognitive experience with that of his poetic personae. The introductory chapter provides a methodological framework. I mention extant lexical analyses of the topic of knowledge in Greek literature. I then include passages that describe actions whose purpose is the inquiry for knowledge: sensory perception; perusal of sources; active questioning; rational thinking. Chapter two shows that Callimachus' Hymns instill doubts about chances of apprehending divinities, while previous hymns took for granted traditional knowledge about them. The first three Hymns show that knowledge of the gods is limited to human-made objects and discourses. The last two poems show attempts at gaining apprehension of the gods by means of visuality; however, this knowledge is denied. A possibility to meet divinities is the encounter with the Ptolemaic royal couple, who were fostering a cult of themselves as divine figures. Chapter three follows the division into epideictic, dedicatory, sepulchral and amatory epigrams. Callimachus' epigrams show concern with knowledge in portraying dialogues, which aim at attaining knowledge. I first deal with poems that connect knowledge of poetic tenets with knowledge of a proper way of life, then with dedicatory epigrams that feature speaking objects. In sepulchral epigrams, poetic voices dialogue with the deceased in order to ascertain what will happen in afterlife. As in the Hymns, human knowledge is limited: one cannot know while living. Speakers in amatory epigrams, instead, proclaim first-hand experience of love. They talk about love not just as a feeling, but emp (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kathryn Gutzwiller Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Gregory Hutchinson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Daniel Markovic Ph.D. (Committee Member); Susan Prince Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Classical Studies

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Arts and Sciences: Classics

This dissertation explores the existence and nature of the concept of the Hellenistic ceramic “koine,” expressed through a large set of commonalities in ceramics throughout the Hellenistic world. The term is a modern invention by researchers working on pottery by analogy with the Hellenistic “koine” (=common) language. Research up to now has adopted two opposing approaches: the first accepts the existence of the Hellenistic ceramic “koine” and encourages the employment of the term without, however, seeking its prior and proper definition and clarification. In contrast, the second approach focuses on undeniable local ceramic particularities, observable in almost every area of the Hellenistic world, seemingly negating the possibility of a ceramic “koine” for the Hellenistic period. My dissertation, instead, offers an innovative look at the concept of the Hellenistic ceramic “koine,” moving away from the polarized positions of global standardization versus local variation. Through the examination of a very large corpus of published pottery from modern Greece, my study demonstrates the existence of a ceramic “koine,” even while admitting numerous local particularities. This “koine” is traced in a large number of common shapes and types of decoration throughout the entire area under consideration. The phenomenon, though, is only observable when one focuses at a general level. At a higher level of magnification, this ceramic “koine” starts to dissolve under the weight of local particularities. I adopt, therefore, a two-pronged approach to resolving this seeming irreconcilability between global standardization and local variation: an initial consideration and elucidation of common ceramic elements at a regional level is followed by an interregional and more panoramic overview. In the latter case the level and focus of the scrutiny to which the assemblages of pottery are subjected are adjusted accordingly. Furthermore, my approach allows some interesting patterns to e (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kathleen Lynch Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jack Davis Ph.D. (Committee Member); Eleni Hatzaki Ph.D. (Committee Member); Susan Rotroff Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Archaeology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Arts and Sciences: Classics

This dissertation examines how five Hellenistic poets represent the processes of evaluating truth and falsehood. Applying the philosophic concept of a criterion of truth, I demonstrate that each poetic persona interrogates truth by suggesting a different kind of criterion. Due to the indebtedness of Hellenistic poetry to previous literature, the second chapter summarizes the evolution of pertinent vocabulary for truth and falsehood, tracking the words' first appearances in early poetry to their reappearance in Hellenistic verse. In my third chapter, I discuss notions concerning the relationship between truth and poetry throughout Greek literary history. The fourth chapter covers Aratus' "Phaenomena" and Nicander's "Theriaca," two poems containing scientific subject matter framed as true. Yet, as I argue, the poems' contrasting treatments of myths attest to the differences in the knowability of the respective material. In the "Phaemomena," a poem about visible signs, Aratus' myths offer a model for interpreting an ordered Stoic universe via regular and perceptible signs. By contrast, Nicander's myths replicate the uncertainty of his subject matter (deadly creatures and remedies) and the necessity of direct experience as a criterion. The dichotomy between certainty and uncertainty applies also to the fifth chapter, which analyzes the narratorial voices of Callimachus in the "Aetia" and Apollonius of Rhodes in the "Argonautica." While the Callimachean persona exhibits a confident attitude in assessing sources and information, employing personal experience as a criterion, the Apollonian narrator expresses doubt and implies a lack of a definite criterion. The sixth chapter, devoted to Lycophron's "Alexandra," focuses on how the prophetess Cassandra assesses truth through her understanding of hidden inner essences. Cassandra's strategy, however, contrasts with that of the messenger, who claims to report her speech accurately but fails to comprehend or believe it. Ultimate (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kathryn Gutzwiller Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Richard Hunter Ph.D. (Committee Member); Daniel Markovic Ph.D. (Committee Member); Susan Prince Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Classical Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Greek and Latin

The Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius is often studied in terms of how the author uses previous literary poets such as Homer. This project asks whether Apollonius Rhodius also uses philosophical authors in his Argonautica and looks particularly at Empedocles, Parmenides, Xenophanes, and Plato. In addition to building on references by earlier scholars such as Malcolm Campbell, I use plagiarism-tracking software (WCopyFind) to identify places of potential connection and then evaluate the passages in question to see whether these connections are significant. I conclude that Apollonius does use the works of Empedocles and Parmenides and perhaps Xenophanes, and he uses Parmenides' and Empedocles' works in ways that indicate he is interested in their ideas as well as vivid images and rare words. I conclude that although there are good reasons for considering Plato's works as a source of interest for Apollonius, Apollonius does not use Plato's work in the same significant ways that he uses Empedocles' and Parmenides' works. Instead, Apollonius' project as a poet-scholar contradicts many of the views on poetry, inspiration and skill that Plato's Socrates develops in the Ion. The works of Empedocles and Parmenides provide an alternative model of poetry that involves thoughtful mixing of elements from previous poets.

Committee: Benjamin Acosta-Hughes (Advisor) Subjects: Ancient Languages; Classical Studies

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Arts and Sciences: Classics

This thesis examines the archaeological evidence for the formation of identity within new colonial foundations in Seleucid Syria from the early third century to the first century B.C. Although this topic has been addressed relating to other Hellenistic Kingdoms, within the Seleucid Kingdom the dearth of undisturbed occupational levels has limited the scope of discussion. Owing to its remarkable levels of preservation and subsequent publication, this thesis uses the site of Jebel Khalid, located on the Euphrates River in modern Syria, as a case study to address this gap. Where available, I draw on other settlements to establish a broader perspective of how cultural preferences manifested themselves throughout the breadth of the Seleucid Kingdom. To examine how the Greco-Macedonian settlers constructed their identities in Jebel Khalid, I examine the available architectural and material evidence from the site. During the initial phase of occupation (Phase A, early third century B.C. to 150 B.C.) the settlement's nature as a Seleucid foundation heavily influenced the architectural choices in both the public and domestic spheres. Simultaneously, the presence of a new fortified town in the area made a declarative statement of Seleucid strength to the local people. In the second phase (Phase B, 150 B.C.- ca. 70/60 B.C.) local Syrian and Eastern trade networks gained prominence as invading Parthians drew Seleucid interest towards borders and away from sites such as Jebel Khalid. Local production of international pottery forms, based on Greco-Macedonian predecessors, demonstrate another way in which market demand was being met at Jebel Khalid. A hyper-local presence is seen in the cook wares and the appearance of Semitic names in local production. Finally, I examine the temple; this is the edifice that the excavators of Jebel Khalid believe shows the most evidence of cultural hybridization; a building employing elements from the architecture of both ethnic groups but unit (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Barbara Burrell Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Antonios Kotsonas Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Archaeology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Arts and Sciences: Classics

This dissertation is a study of dialect choice and dialect mixture in Hellenistic book epigram. The aims of the project are not only linguistic, but also literary; indeed, what motivates the study is an overarching interest in understanding how specific dialect choices can enrich the meaning of the poem in which they appear. Scholars have only recently started to include dialect in their readings of individual epigrams, but no one has systematically studied the entire corpus. In order to more fully understand Hellenistic book epigram and its flourishing during a period of great social, cultural, and literary change, we must confront the genre's use of dialect or otherwise miss out on an important component in this self-conscious genre's production of poetic meaning. Following an introduction that sets out the interpretive framework for the dissertation and explores issues of dialect transmission in the manuscript tradition, the study falls into two parts, each comprising three chapters. In the first part, I attempt to situate dialect choice and mixture in its poetic and literary-critical contexts. In the first chapter, I investigate dialect usage in pre-Hellenistic Greek poetry, not including inscribed epigram, arguing that dialect mixture for poetic effect existed in Archaic and Classical poetry. Poets used dialect to comment on the relationship of their work to other poetic traditions and to mark regional identity of characters or speakers, both of which are precursors to Hellenistic usage. In the second chapter, I examine the development of the ancient concept of dialect and attempts to reconstruct some of the literary-critical discourses on the aesthetic propriety of dialect use and dialect mixture. In the third chapter, I treat dialect usage in the tradition of inscribed epigram which is overwhelmingly determined by the regional identity of the deceased or dedicator. Since Hellenistic book epigram borrows heavily from inscribed epigram, I pay particular atte (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kathryn Gutzwiller Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Alexander Sens Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lauren Ginsberg Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Classical Studies

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2013, Arts and Sciences: Classics

This dissertation offers a new analysis of the treatment of poets and poetics in Greek literary epigram from the early Hellenistic Period (3rd century BCE) down to the early Roman Imperial Period (1st century CE). In their authorial self-representations (the poetic ego or literary persona), their representation of other poets, and their thematization of poetry more generally, literary epigrammatists define, and successively redefine, the genre of epigram itself against the background of the literary tradition. This process of generic self-definition begins with the earliest literary epigrammatists' fusion of inscriptional epigram with elements drawn from other genres, sympotic and erotic poetry and heroic epic, and their exploitation of the formal and conceptual repertoire of epigram to thematize poetic discourse. With the consolidation of the epigrammatic tradition in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE, the distinctively epigrammatic poetic discourse that had evolved in the 3rd century BCE was subsumed into the persona of the poet himself, who is now figured as the very embodiment of the epigrammatic tradition and genre. In the first century BCE, as epigram was transplanted from Greece to the new cultural context of Roman Italy, the figure of the epigrammatist served to articulate the place of both poetry and the poet in this new world.

Committee: Kathryn Gutzwiller Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Lauren Ginsberg Ph.D. (Committee Member); Daniel Markovic Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Classical Studies

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2013, Arts and Sciences: Classics

This thesis reviews and analyzes the archaeological evidence for Hellenistic (ca. 323–30 B.C.) Greek habitation in the region of Transjordan (the lands east of the Jordan river). Generations of scholars have concluded that Hellenistic Transjordan was politically, culturally, and economically unified, as was the case during the Roman Imperial period. This unification was accomplished through the establishment of large urban centers throughout the region. This collection of cities was known in Roman times as the Decapolis. I examine two of these urban centers, Pella and Gerasa, located in modern Jordan, as case studies. My analysis of the Hellenistic archaeological remains from these two sites, although based on incomplete datasets, indicates that neither site underwent significant urban development prior to the Roman period, nor is there any evidence of regional unification or confederation. The evidence from these case studies is then compared with the eight other sites in the region that would later form the Roman Decapolis. I conclude that there was great disparity between settlements in Hellenistic Transjordan, with few sites indicating direct royal control and no evidence of unification or centralized administration. In doing so, this study challenges long-held scholarly assumptions regarding the existence and organization of the "Hellenistic Decapolis." I conclude that the idea of a politically or culturally unified "Hellenistic Decapolis" is a modern conception, which is not supported by current archaeological evidence.

Committee: Barbara Burrell Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Kathleen Lynch Ph.D. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Classical Studies

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2001, Arts and Sciences : Classics

This dissertation is the first comprehensive study of the central Black Sea region in Turkey (ancient Pontus) during the Hellenistic period. It examines the environmental, archaeological, literary, and numismatic data in individual chapters. The focus of this examination is the central area of Pontus, with the goal of clarifying the Hellenistic kingdom's relationship to other parts of Asia Minor and to the east. I have concentrated on the reign of Mithradates VI (120-63 B.C.), but the archaeological and literary evidence for his royal predecessors, beginning in the third century B.C., has also been included. Pontic settlement patterns from the Chalcolithic through the Roman period have also been investigated in order to place Hellenistic occupation here in the broadest possible diachronic perspective. The examination of the coinage, in particular, has revealed a significant amount about royal propaganda during the reign of Mithradates, especially his claims to both eastern and western ancestry. One chapter deals with a newly discovered tomb at Amisos that was indicative of the aristocratic attitudes toward death. The tomb finds indicate a high level of commercial activity in the region as early as the late fourth/early third century B.C., as well as the significant role of Amisos in connecting the interior with the coast.

Committee: C. Rose (Advisor) Subjects: Anthropology, Archaeology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2010, Arts and Sciences: Classics

The archaeological site of Gordion is located in central Anatolia, near the confluence of the Sakarya and Porsuk Rivers. Settlement at the site extended from the Early Bronze Age (third millennium B.C.E.) through the Hellenistic period (late fourth through early second centuries B.C.E.). Gordion is perhaps best known for its most famous king Midas, who ruled the Phrygian Empire in the late eighth century B.C.E., and for its most famous visitor, Alexander the Great, who cut the Gordian Knot in 333 B.C.E. Through the success of his military campaigns, Alexander established an empire stretching from Greece to the Himalayas and inaugurated a new cultural and historical era, the Hellenistic period. The material culture of Hellenistic Anatolia has received only limited attention from researchers, leaving a vast lacuna in our view of the Hellenistic world, which this dissertation begins to emend by documenting and analyzing the Hellenistic pottery recovered during the Rodney S. Young excavations at Gordion (1950–1973). A cultural history of the site in pre-Hellenistic periods examines religious, linguistic, and material characteristics that are retained, modified, or abandoned in the Hellenistic period. A review of the written accounts of Hellenistic Gordion is supplemented by a cultural history, which synthesizes over a century of research on several categories of material evidence. The Hellenistic pottery is then examined in terms of fabrics, wares, forms, and types. The implications of the ceramic evidence are discussed in a series of nested contexts, from how vessels facilitated the daily activities of the domestic sphere, to the scale and organization of the ceramic industry at Hellenistic Gordion, to the cultural connections between Gordion and other Hellenistic settlements in Anatolia. The Gordion Hellenistic pottery is then used to reassess the nature of Hellenization by challenging common assumptions about the processes, motivations, and results of this phenomenon (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kathleen Lynch PhD (Committee Chair); Charles Rose PhD (Committee Member); G. Sams PhD (Committee Member); Andrea Berlin PhD (Committee Member); Alan Sullivan PhD (Committee Member); Jack Davis PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Archaeology

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2007, Arts and Sciences : Classics

This study examines ritual dining, drinking and dedication at 2nd century B.C. Stymphalos as it appears through the lens of surviving physical evidence. This evidence is primarily ceramic, the vessels used for preparing and consuming meals and drinking. The material under discussion was found within a ritual dining building (Building A) in the sanctuary of Athena on the acropolis of ancient Stymphalos. The analysis I conduct will provide evidence that the activities in the building were divided between preparation and/or consumption of meals in the south room of the building and drinking and the storage of dedicated drinking vessels and lamps in the north room. My second aim is to explore “ritual” dining at Stymphalos as an example of an Ancient Greek activity that was “religious” but had a very important “social” element. I consider the ceramic objects found within Building A, and the activities they provide evidence for, against the backdrop of Greek cultural practices in general. I also make focused comparisons with religious practices documented in other religions, ancient and modern, to show that religious practice is often influenced by culturally embedded social realities.

Committee: Kathleen Lynch (Advisor) Subjects:

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2007, Arts and Sciences : Classics

This dissertation, Poetic Voices and Hellenistic Antecedents in the Elegies of Propertius, explores some of the techniques with which Propertius crafts a unique poetic voice for his own persona, as well as the poetic voices of other characters in the elegies (chiefly in the Monobiblos and in Book 4). I argue that these techniques are themselves Propertius' own modification and adaptation of techniques he found employed by the Hellenistic poets, on whom he so heavily drew. I demonstrate that, in order to construct arguments which will characterize his own poetic persona, Propertius sometimes draws upon actual epigram sequences in Meleager's Garland, so that the work of the editor's careful arrangement is manipulated and adapted to the needs of the Propertian speaker. I show how he draws upon diverse genres of Hellenistic poetry, such as curse poetry, erotodidactic poetry, catalogue poetry, and the komos, in order to generate and modulate the tone of his poetic voice throughout a given elegy. And I argue that certain Hellenistic poems serve as analogical models (rather than allusive ones) for the poetic technique of appropriating other voices than that of the poet-speaker's persona, thereby blurring the boundaries between different speakers and voices and generating more complex and subtle meaning. After examining each of these techniques individually, I demonstrate how they work together, taking as my example the opening elegy of Propertius' fourth book of elegies. Through a comparison of this elegy with the first and thirteenth Iambi of Callimachus, I argue that a detailed understanding of Propertius' method of adaptation and manipulation of these poetic techniques from his antecedent has great heuristic value for reassessing the difficulties of this most controversial poem, and Book 4 as a whole.

Committee: Dr. Kathryn Gutzwiller (Advisor) Subjects:

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2011, Philosophy

In this paper, I explore the role of pleasure in the ethical system of Stoicism, a school of philosophy from the Hellenistic period. It is my aim to argue that despite the Stoic's austere ideals, there is a valid role for physical and emotional pleasures in the pursuit of virtue.

Committee: D. Scott Carson PhD (Advisor); James Petrik PhD (Committee Member); Steve Hays PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Classical Studies; Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, History of Art

This dissertation marks the first synthetic and contextual analysis of domestic sculpture for the whole of the Hellenistic period (323 BCE – 31 BCE). Prior to this study, Hellenistic domestic sculpture had been examined from a broadly literary perspective or had been the focus of smaller regional or site-specific studies. Rather than taking any one approach, this dissertation examines both the literary testimonia and the material record in order to develop as full a picture as possible for the location, function and meaning(s) of these pieces. The study begins with a reconsideration of the literary evidence. The testimonia deal chiefly with the residences of the Hellenistic kings and their conspicuous displays of wealth in the most public rooms in the home, namely courtyards and dining rooms. Following this, the material evidence from the Greek mainland and Asia Minor is considered. The general evidence supports the literary testimonia's location for these sculptures. In addition, several individual examples offer insights into the sophistication of domestic decorative programs among the Greeks, something usually associated with the Romans. Next, several distinctly Italian elements are identified, such as the prevalence of garden sculpture and domestic sculpture used in religious context. This material has tended to be studied as separate from the Greek, in spite of the view that it was largely inspired by earlier Greek examples. The multicultural island of Delos is then analyzed. It has produced the largest corpus of domestic statues and is illustrative of both Greek and Roman architectural and decorative traditions. Following this, the final chapter tackles the thorny issue of these statues' “meaning” in light of domestic religion, suggesting that their primary purpose was as display, announcing the wealth, taste and prestige of the homeowner. This dissertation will fill an important gap in the scholarship on Hellenistic domestic decoration. This study will offer (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mark Fullerton (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 1992, Art History

Within the repertoire of forms and shapes used by Greek artists, one of the most pervasive is the tondo. In painted designs, and particularly when a relief sculpture is added within its borders, the tondo challenges the artist's compositional abilities. Initially adapted to the medium of vase-painting, the tondo quickly became a favorite format in bronze, terracotta and the precious metals. Two specific subjects: the monster Scylla and the riding Nereids atop sea creatures, are incorporated into the tondo format beginning in the fifth century B.C. But it is in the fourth century, and throughout the Hellenistic period that both motifs are encountered in their greatest numbers. The popularity of both throughout the Greek world is evident by the material remains, especially from South Italy. The development of their imagery and iconography on tondo reliefs in later Greek art is the subject of this dissertation. The study will identify and isolate separate groups or "types" of artistic depictions, concentrating on the typological distinctions between these manifestations of Scylla and the riding Nereids, and the dissemination of their imagery throughout the classical world. The purpose of this focus is to investigate the relationship between the motifs and the tondo format. It will be demonstrated that the size and portability of the objects incorporat ing tondo reliefs into their designs are a factor in the iconography of both subjects until the late Hellenistic period, when large-scale sculptures played a role in augmenting the existing iconographical treatment. More than other areas in the classical world, it will be shown that Magna Graecia, and in particular Tarentum, had an impact on the use and the spread of the imagery and the iconography of Scylla and the riding Nereids, an influence that encompasses several centuries and vast geographical distances.

Committee: Jenifer Neils (Advisor) Subjects: Art History