Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Aphrodite (Greek deity) in literature'

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 1999.
Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-237). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users. Address: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p9957572.

Orientador: Joaquim Brasil Fontes Junior
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação
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Resumo: O objetivo deste estudo, as deusas gregas virgens, Ártemis, Atena e Héstia, é demarcar a existência e a significação especial dessas deusas no mundo arcaico grego frente à posição ocupada por Afrodite, como representação do desejo. O sistema mítico prevê a questão do desejo articulada ao 'poder', conforme evidenciam as reflexões feitas a partir do corpus selecionado: as obras de Homero, de Hesíodo e os Hinos Homéricos referentes às deusas virgens e a Afrodite. A metodologia que orienta esta pesquisa segue uma linha antropológica comparativa, incluindo autores como Geertz e Detienne, com enfoque no uso e na significação da linguagem da produção escrita dos rapsodos gregos. O conceito de virgindade é direcionado pelo conceito de desejo e parece necessário que se considerem as propriedades e os atributos de Afrodite para definir as deusas gregas virgens, que fruem "de um outro modo de desejo e de poder". Esse aspecto nos faz refletir sobre uma sociedade patriarcal e as formas de independência feminina como instância de compromisso sócio-político, bem como sobre a manutenção de uma tradição herdada da grande mãe (Magna Mater) e das Amazonas. Uma possível indicação, a partir desses dados, é que o Cristianismo procurou dar continuidade a esse aspecto de gênero que promove a civilização e a organização da sociedade, através da figura da 'madre', como elemento de significação cultural.
Abstract: The aim of this study which focuses on the Virgin Greek goddesses, Artemis, Athene and Hestia, is to stress the existence and the special meaning of those goddesses in the archaic Greek world, compared with Aphrodite's position as a representative of 'desire'. The mythical system comprises the matter of desire linked to the meaning of "power", according to the evidence of reflections made from the corpus selected, Homer's and Hesiod's works and the Homeric Hymns referring to the virgin goddesses and Aphrodite. The methodology that orients this paper follows authors such as Geertz and Detienne, focusing on the use and meaning of the language in the written production of the Greek rapsodes. The concept of virginity is directed by the concept of desire, and it is necessary to consider Aphrodite's properties and attributes to define the virgin Greek goddesses who have another form of desire and power. That aspect brings up considerations on a patriarchal society and ways of feminine independence as a means of socialpolitical commitment, as well as on the maintenance of a tradition inherited from the Great Mother and the Amazons. One possible direction arising from the above facts is that Christianity tried to give sequence to this aspect of gender which promotes civilization and the organization of society, by way of the 'mater figure', as an element of cultural significance.
Mestrado
Educação, Conhecimento, Linguagem e Arte
Mestre em Educação

The contemporary era is dominated by an Apollonian visual language, i.e. the visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media, and this study concerns the role that critical cinema, as Dionysian subverter, plays under such conditions. I argue that critical cinema should not be viewed as something completely ‘new’ but rather as a new, or at least the latest, manifestation of an older subversive ‘Dionysian’ voice that has made its presence felt since the dawn of the hegemony of an Apollonian disposition in Homeric epic. (I maintain that the history of western culture can be understood in terms of the persistent tension between Apollonian and Dionysian dispositions, and I use the distinction Derrida makes in Différance, between restricted and general economies, to distinguish between them, respectively.) I begin by considering the Dionysian echoes within Homer’s Iliad and then consider the way in which they became a ‘roar’ in the tragedies of Aeschylus. After Aeschylus a predominantly Apollonian voice asserted itself once again (to various degrees) through the work of Sophocles and Euripides. This was in keeping with the trend towards a more (Apollonian) restricted economy that is reflected in the writings of Homer’s literary successors, and which reached a crucial stage in Plato’s valorisation of ‘dialectics’, or what I term ‘dialecticis m’, which saw the birth of ‘dialectical language’. Through Plato dialecticism, or dialectical language, became instantiated as the ‘language’ of western philosophy and this predisposed western culture to develop along predominantly Apollonian lines. This continued from Plato, through the Middle Ages, until in the 17th century this Apollonian trend became manifest in the concept of the stable, integral, autonomous and self -transparent Cartesian ego, which is inextricably linked to dialectical language that promises certainty of ‘truth’ and maintains the possibility of representing the world in its entirety (as a system). In the contemporary ‘age of a world picture’, the hegemonic (Apollonian) visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media propagates and perpetuates the belief in the possibility of representing the world in its entirety through the image, and insofar as it caters to audiences’ needs for stability and certainty (of ‘truth’) through providing such ‘complete’ representations, shapes their subjectivity along the lines of the Cartesian ego. According to Baudrillard, in contemporary society and culture the hyperreal realm of visual language has become far more significant for individuals than their immediate, empirical experiences, and that, as a result, they are far less predisposed to discussion and reflection and far more prone to passive ‘watching’. Also, Adorno maintains that it is impossible to have a form of critical cinema because of the way in which features inherent to cinema predispose it towards being an ideological apparatus. However, if both Baudrillard and Adorno are correct then the future appears increasingly bleak as it involves nothing other than the continuation and propagation of the hegemony of the visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media, with no possibility for critical resistance. I argue instead that critical cinema is possible because the move towards a more restricted economy, motivated by an Apollonian disposition, did not develop from Homer to the contemporary era without meeting Dionysian resistance. I trace the presence of a subversive Dionysian voice through Homer’s Iliad, through Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, and through Plato’s Dialogues, where it echoes in the sentiments of some of Plato’s interlocutors, such as Callicles. In addition, I maintain that a ‘Dionysian’ voice resonates through both Nietzsche’s and Heidegger’s respective criticisms of ‘dialectical language’ and the ‘validity’ of the Cartesian ego. I argue that critical cinema, particularly Aronofsky’s postmodern critical cinema, parallels their similar epistemological and ontological perspectives in the way in which it engages with the (Apollonian) visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media, and thereby, potentially, facilitates a more porous and protean subjectivity.

This thesis examines the theology of Aeschylus through a close text-based discussion of the nature and justice of Zeus. This will not be a dogmatic investigation that looks for signs of monotheism or 'proto-monotheism'. Rather, this thesis will examine the presentation of the god in Aeschylus, as he is found in his plays, free from any desire or attempt to form a rounded, comprehensive 'Aeschylean theology'. The first chapter considers the two closely connected divine terms, thetaepsilonozeta and deltaalphaiotamuonu. The clear-cut and easily discernible meaning of thetaepsilonozeta acts as a constant with which the more ambiguous and less determinable word deltaalphaiotamuonu can be compared and contrasted. This chapter discusses both those instances where deltaalphaiotamuonu seems to be synonymous with thetaepsilonozeta and where it does not, where the term seems to possess a meaning close to that of an individual's fortune or destiny in life. This is done in order to conclusively see how Aeschylus uses the word deltaalphaiotamuonu in the Eumenides as part of his characterisation of the Erinyes, which enables us to see more clearly what role divine terminology plays in the presentation of Zeus and the god's justice. The remaining chapters of this thesis examine Zeus in Aeschylus. First, attention is given to the old debates concerning the potential and respective influence of Homeric, Hesiodic and Presocratic conceptions of divinity on the theology of Aeschylus. Then, the final chapter of the thesis looks at the justice of Zeus primarily through a discussion of one question, whether we should understand Agamemnon as guilty in the eyes of Zeus, which it is argued we should not. It is shown that Aeschylus does not present an optimistic idea of Zeus or divine justice, and the god's rule is seen as neither kind nor benevolent. Rather a pragmatic and pessimistic view is presented to us by Aeschylus, one which recognises that Zeus is an all-powerful being in need of respect and honour and whose will must be carefully observed.

Thesis (MPhil (Ancient Studies)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007.
This thesis deals with the connection between mythology and psychagogy, and a structured way of reading and using myth for personal development is suggested. The myth of Demeter and Persephone is used for this purpose, and the text of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter is analysed as the basic (but not exclusive) text. In the modern world the psychagogic component relies on the work of Jung, which is seen as the most appropriate template available. His concept of the archetype is particularly useful, and the archetype of the mother goddess is analysed as a representation of the personal and spiritual development of modern women.

In the grand invocation at the beginning of Book VII of his epic Paradise Lost, John Milton selects as his muse Urania, who is traditionally the Muse of Astronomy in classical texts. He immediately excludes that possible identification, however, when he writes that she is “Nor of the Muses nine.” By calling on her “meaning” rather than her “Name,” Milton relies on a multitude of precedents and traditions, repackaged for his own times and his own idiosyncratic purposes, that critics have consistently failed to recognize or investigate sufficiently. This dissertation looks diachronically at various occurrences of Uranian discourse in literature, historically both before and after Milton, to locate thematic similarities to his works and to help define his Urania accordingly. In spite of her explicit exclusion, the search begins with Urania as Muse of Astronomy because from her mythopoetic genesis in Ancient Greece, other myths are engrafted onto her, most notably Plato’s Uranian Aphrodite as defined in his Symposium. This transformed Urania appears in ancient and medieval cosmic journey and dream narratives and evolves by the Renaissance into an oddly Christianized muse. She becomes a vehicle for heavenly, divine truths that each devout Christian rightly senses in his conscience. In this capacity she promotes friendship and chastity, while she also opposes licentiousness, particularly the lusts of tyrants. In early myths, the Muses are victims of tyranny; but in later appearances, they often sell their patronage of the arts unscrupulously to wicked kings and the flattering poets who are paid by them. Urania’s patronage manages to distance itself from her sisters’ misallocations of inspiration, and parts of the Book VII invocation are clearly an indictment of royal excess. In conclusion, a small group of late-Victorian English poets, mainly from Oxford, call themselves the “Uranians.” Although they too draw from the same traditions as Milton and from Milton himself, they appropriate Urania to satisfy their own political and sexual agendas in a conscious and deliberate revision.
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Thesis (M.A.)--University of Notre Dame, 2005.
Thesis directed by Theodore J. Cachey for the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. "April 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-64).