Copyright (c) 2009 Macalester College All rights reserved. http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors Recent documents in Honors Projects en-us Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:03:53 PDT 3600 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/8 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/8 Tue, 01 May 2007 13:28:49 PDT This thesis examines the process by which Christianity became the dominant religion of Corinth as evidenced in the archaeological record. I compare the evidence in Corinth to historical evidence for the Eastern Roman Empire, including imperial legislation and evidence for Christianization in five other eastern cities. I conclude that, in order for Christianity to supplant paganism as the dominant religion in ancient society, it had to accept many of the institutions and traditions of paganism. My investigation of the archaeological evidence in Corinth, specifically the monumental architecture, the sculpture, and the cemeteries, reveals the same phenomenon in Corinth. Eli J. Weaverdyck http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/7 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/7 Tue, 01 May 2007 05:49:11 PDT Across the Levant "libation installations" have been identified at numerous ancient archaeological sites. This paper examines these claims in light of both the surrounding material remains and the surviving texts of the region that mention libations of wine and water. It shows that libation, the ritual pouring out of a liquid offering to a god, in ancient Syria-Palestine did not require a receptacle for successful completion of the act. Rather, the category "libation installation" exists not because of solid evidence but to fulfill the needs of modern scholars and any such claim must be carefully scrutinized before being accepted. Amy M. Fisher http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/5 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/5 Tue, 16 May 2006 10:36:49 PDT This work is the result of recent scholarship which has stimulated renewed dialogue concerning the status of women in ancient Greece. It is both a reconstruction of the nuptial ceremony and an investigation of the rituals within it. Ritual actions are used to express an idea or ideal about culture, and through the examination of these rituals we may evaluate both how and why men in ancient Greece exercised complete power over women. This new interpretation both confirms and contradicts our old beliefs, and is a constructive contribution to our modern discussion of ancient gender issues. Casey Mason http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/4 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/4 Thu, 04 May 2006 06:52:59 PDT My honors thesis addresses three things. I address first the history of Classical piracy, specifically, piratical and pseudo-piratical actions lurking beneath the description of events; second, the usage of language, the connotations of words used for pirates and other linguistic portrayals of pirates and piracy; and finally, through literary analysis, how literary pirates compared to real pirates, what the authors thought about pirates, how pirates could be used to portray others, and what role pirates played in society. Through these three points, I intend to prove that the pirate's role in the Classical Mediterranean was much greater than usually supposed. Aaron L. Beek http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/3 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/3 Thu, 04 May 2006 06:51:57 PDT Virgil's Roman epic the Aeneid is one of the canonical works of Western culture. A classic in its own time, it continues to be used as a mirror to reflect on contemporary culture. I examine the history of the Aeneid in English translation from 1513 to 2005, specifically the translations of Book VI by Gavin Douglas, Thomas Phaer, John Dryden, C. Day Lewis, Robert Fitzgerald, Allen Mandelbaum, and Stanley Lombardo. Throughout, I discuss how each translator saw and emphasized the reflection of his own political, religious, and cultural concerns in the mirror of Virgil's Aeneid. Evelyn W. Adkins http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/2 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/2 Thu, 04 May 2006 06:50:55 PDT Despite the almost continuous state of war that existed between the Roman and Persian Empires from the first century BCE until the destruction of the Sassanid Persian Empire, cultural exchange between East and West occurred frequently in the cities on the borders of these two empires. Despite their more apparent influences of Rome and Persia, local culture often had far reaching effects, not only in their respective cities and territories, but throughout Antiquity. This paper seeks to explore and explain the nature of this phenomenon and to give a new face to the relationships between the cultures and peoples that were caught in this ancient clash of civilizations. To accomplish this, the material culture of two cities will be explored in depth, Dura in the north and the city-state of Palmyra to the south. Each city provides unique examples of the combined influences of Rome and Persia and how these influences interacted with local civilizations to create two unique cultures. Matthew Selmer http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/1 http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/classics_honors/1 Thu, 04 May 2006 06:48:24 PDT The ultimate result, and the central focus, of this paper is two poems written in Latin according to classical conventions of meter, language and style. The paper also describes the processes and difficulties of composing poetry in Latin and according to these standards. In re-setting two stories from Ovid, the author examines both the historical background and the literary interpretations of the stories. Strong emphasis is placed on feminine viewpoint, that is, how male poets of Greece and Rome imagined female characters and how the author, a female, differs in perspective from the male authors of a male-dominated world. Anna C. Everett