Talkin' bout a revolution: Cultural Effects on the Transition from Oral to Written Literature

Using language and writing to distinguish cultures from each other is commonplace. They are defining characteristics of culture that enable members to identify themselves within their group - by having communication they are tied together. Oral communication is the key identifier for Nyikina people of northern-Western Australia. However, Nyikina language is severely endangered, and risks being lost altogether. If the language were to die, Nyikina people would lose a huge part of their cultural identity. Working with the Nyikina community as part of a language revitalisation project sparked my interest in the transition from oral to written literature within the Mediterranean. Why did Nyikina not develop their own script, but Minoans and Etruscans did? It would be beneficial to have Etruscan literature or sound recordings describing how the Etruscan language was influenced by Phoenician and Greek cultures, and to know why they created their own alphabet using elements from both colonising influences. Hence, the experience and situation regarding the Nyikina language may provide a general paradigm for understanding and extrapolating the contextual situations of Minoans and Etruscans with respect to their languages, and vice-versa. This was the spring-board to a Masters thesis exploring such changes

Talkin' bout a revolution: Cultural Effects on the Transition from Oral to Written Literature

Using language and writing to distinguish cultures from each other is commonplace. They are defining characteristics of culture that enable members to identify themselves within their group - by having communication they are tied together. Oral communication is the key identifier for Nyikina people of northern-Western Australia. However, Nyikina language is severely endangered, and risks being lost altogether. If the language were to die, Nyikina people would lose a huge part of their cultural identity. Working with the Nyikina community as part of a language revitalisation project sparked my interest in the transition from oral to written literature within the Mediterranean. Why did Nyikina not develop their own script, but Minoans and Etruscans did? It would be beneficial to have Etruscan literature or sound recordings describing how the Etruscan language was influenced by Phoenician and Greek cultures, and to know why they created their own alphabet using elements from both colonising influences. Hence, the experience and situation regarding the Nyikina language may provide a general paradigm for understanding and extrapolating the contextual situations of Minoans and Etruscans with respect to their languages, and vice-versa. This was the spring-board to a Masters thesis exploring such changes

Writing as Material Practice: Substance, Surface and Medium

Writing as Material Practice grapples with the issue of writing as a form of material culture in its ancient and more recent manifestations, and in the contexts of production and consumption. Fifteen case studies explore the artefactual nature of writing — the ways in which materials, techniques, colour, scale, orientation and visibility inform the creation of inscribed objects and spaces, as well as structure subsequent engagement, perception and meaning making. Covering a temporal span of some 5000 years, from c.3200 BCE to the present day, and ranging in spatial context from the Americas to the Near East, the chapters in this volume bring a variety of perspectives which contribute to both specific and broader questions of writing materialities. The authors also aim to place past graphical systems in their social contexts so they can be understood in relation to the people who created and attributed meaning to writing and associated symbolic modes through a diverse array of individual and wider social practices

Hera Maritima: Exploring Hera as a Goddess of the Sea

Is Hera, queen of the gods and supreme goddess of marriage, also a goddess of the sea? In this thesis I will argue that she is. The exceptional number of miniature ships that were dedicated in multiple Hera sanctuaries in the Archaic period, begged the question of whether Hera’s veneration served broader purposes than that of a deity connected to marriage alone. This research takes an interdisciplinary approach and I use a large variety of sources rooted in: archaeology, literature, folktale, myth, psychology, and the landscape. The conclusions are largely based on the analysis of Hera’s sanctuaries, their votive assemblages, and myths that include her involvement, contextualized in their historical setting. Hera’s maritime aspects derive from long-term religious developments, regionality, and practical material aspects. I will argue that part of her religious veneration is rooted in her identification and role as an ancient mother goddess with symbolic connections to the realm of the sea and water. She presides over transitional periods in young men and women’s lives in both the real lives of ancient Greeks and mythic tales. The transitional period often leads to marriage and includes religious customs involving water, a sea-voyage, or experiencing trials and tribulations. She is also affiliated with liminal spaces, one of which is the sea. There are at least 7 sea-side sanctuaries dedicated to Hera, and in many others, rivers and other natural and man-made water sources are in the vicinity. Her most well-known sanctuaries all contain evidence of maritime imagery and/or votive dedications. She is related to other elements associated with water and the sea including weather, navigation, the seasons, and agriculture. Hera’s relationship with Poseidon is examined, as well as other water deities, to place her further within the religious realm that they all reside in. Hera’s roots and long history of independence is reaffirmed throughout this research. In addition to being venerated as a maritime deity, she is also concerned with the consequences of sea travel such as colonization, war, and guest-friendship. This sheds light on her characterization as a patron deity that was often overshadowed by her involvement in marriage and with Zeus. This thesis argues that her many realms are much more connected than previously imagined

The perception of woman on the example of the Odyssey of Homer and its english translation by James Huddleston and portuguese translation by Frederico Lourenço

Dissertação de mestrado, Estudos Literários e Artísticos, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, 2015Esta investigação parte de uma comparação entre as características da Odisseia (Ὀδύσσεια), de Homero (Ὅμηρος, cerca 850 a.C.), e das suas traduções inglesa (Odyssey, 2006), por James Huddleston (consultável aqui – http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/homer/), e a mais recente tradução portuguesa (Odisseia, 2003), de Frederico Lourenço. A ideia principal é comparar a perceção do mundo das mulheres em Homero, quer através da Odisseia, na sua versão original, em grego, quer através destas duas versões referidas. A Odisseia é uma grande fonte sobre os tipos de vida de mulheres de vários estratos sociais, de diferentes partes da Grécia, e até mesmo de mundos muito diferentes, como sejam o mundo dos deuses e o mundo dos mortais. Apresenta-nos, ainda, a descrição da realidade homérica ao longo da narrativa, pois Homero presta especial atenção à vida das pessoas em todas as esferas da sua existência, destacando quer acontecimentos da vida dos povos quer as suas atividades particulares (e peculiares). Contém ainda bastante material sobre a vida quotidiana e, ao mesmo tempo, informações importantes para a história do mundo clássico. O mundo homérico recria a vida da Grécia antiga, sendo, por isso, uma importante fonte de informação sobre os antigos gregos. Como referido, a área de investigação do presente trabalho é a perceção da vida das mulheres na época homérica, pelos olhos dos tradutores. É um tema algo ambíguo, pois há muitos factos controversos sobre o mundo das mulheres na Grécia antiga, devido a diversos tipos de provas históricas. Mais ainda, vários estudiosos, de diferentes épocas, manifestaram opiniões diversas e duvidosos pontos de vista sobre este assunto. É por isso que nos pareceu sensato integrar as suas opiniões, para formar conclusões. Também é importante realçar que deve ser tido em consideração «the particular reality of the investigating female character», como afirma Elaine Fantham no seu livro Women in the Classical World (1995: 56). Para identificar a perceção de uma mulher é necessário analisar o seu lugar específico no mundo antigo. Portanto, deve ser vista a classe social a que pertence, a sua família de origem (antes de casar) e a posição social e política do marido (sempre que houver um). A vida em diferentes estratos sociais era bastante desigual, fosse a personagem feminina uma escrava, uma mulher livre (do equivalente a ser) da classe média ou uma mulher nobre. Contudo, há algumas características comuns entre as mulheres de diferentes camadas sociais. A vida nas mulheres no mundo antigo era bastante limitada. De um modo geral, estavam sob a autoridade de um homem. Assim, a maior instituição, no aspeto organizacional, da sociedade homérica era o οἶκος e eram os homens que estavam encarregues dele. Era ele que decidia quais os deveres que tinham de ser cumpridos em casa e que controlava a vida lá dentro, apesar do cumprimento destas funções, dentro de casa, fosse da responsabilidade das mulheres: cozinhar, limpar, costurar, lavar ou, caso fossem da nobreza, fazer coordenar a sua execução. As mulheres, no οἶκος, tinham de obedecer às ordens. O pai era a figura principal na vida de uma rapariga, pois era ele que tinha a autoridade para lhe escolher um marido, que continuaria o seu papel e ficaria com ela a cargo. É claro que as mulheres tinham a sua forma própria de exercer influência na família: podiam influenciar a decisão do homem, mas não assumir elas próprias uma decisão. David Cohen no seu artigo «Seclusion, Separation, and the Status of Women in Classical Athens», apresenta um ponto de vista interessante, quando realça que [a] wide range of activities which regularly took them out of their houses: working in the fields, selling produce in the market, acting as a nurse and midwife and many other economic activities. Women’s activities which took them out of house were not only economic, of course. They might include going to their favorite soothsayer, participating in a sacrifice or in religious festivals…and the historians tend to underestimate the fact that the organization of the major festival was solely carried out by women – Thesmophoria - the most widespread Greek Festival (139). Aqui vemos que as mulheres ainda tinham algumas atividades e algumas liberdades que lhe concediam um papel importante na sociedade grega. Tudo o que foi mencionado tem um significado importante, mas não destaca a função de maior relevância da mulher na família: ter filhos, tomar conta deles, cuidar deles e educá-los. Deste modo, as mulheres tinham um contacto direto e privilegiado com as gerações seguintes e podiam influenciá-las; era o seu modo de contribuir para o progresso da civilização. A principal obrigação de uma mulher era dar à luz um rapaz – o herdeiro, o futuro chefe de família. Dar à luz um rapaz fazia dela uma mulher de sucesso, mais respeitada pela sociedade e, especialmente, pelo marido. De algum modo, é muito difícil ter uma perceção exata da vida e do papel das mulheres na sociedade da Grécia antiga, apesar de ser possível distinguir algumas características mais comuns, através dos factos históricos e das opiniões que os mais importantes historiadores formularam a partir deles. A Odisseia é uma fonte de estilos de mulheres diferentes, de diversos estratos sociais, de variadas partes da Grécia, e até de mundos diferentes, como seja o dos deuses e o dos mortais: Homero apresenta Penélope como exemplo da mulher de família; Calipso como símbolo da mulher de poder, que tem uma ilha sob o seu comando e apenas obedece a Zeus, o deus supremo; Nausicaa é a jovem casadoira. As suas ações são prudentes e cuidadosas, de modo a não destruírem a sua reputação de mulher solteira, decente e leal. Estes são alguns exemplos da perceção das mulheres em Homero. No entanto, não só o exemplo das personagens femininas da Odisseia podem ser úteis para se formar um conceito sobre as mulheres na Grécia antiga. A linguagem usada por Homero também o é, assim como o modo como o texto foi recebido nas línguas modernas. No caso em apreço, nas traduções mais recentes em língua inglesa e portuguesa. Esperamos ter alcançado o nosso propósito de examinar o mundo das mulheres na Grécia antiga e a sua perceção na atualidade, através da análise de vários exemplos retirados do texto, das traduções indicadas, bem como dos estudos que tivemos em consideração para este trabalho

A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Beyond Wealth And Status At Archanes-Phourni

In the Pre- and Protopalatial periods, Minoan burial practices were communal, interactive, and sustained, creating complex tomb assemblages that span several hundred years. Small-scale taphonomic analyses of mortuary contexts indicate that secondary treatments of human remains were variable and frequent while large-scale regional studies suggest greater diversity among Early Minoan (EM) and Middle Minoan (MM) communities than previously believed. These nuanced approaches to variability, however, have not been fully realized at the mid-range, intra-site scale. Diversity in tomb architecture and object assemblages has continually been interpreted as evidence of hierarchical social structure and increasing social complexity before the appearance of the Minoan palaces, often ignoring other aspects of these contexts that contradict this interpretation. This dissertation focuses on social interaction rather than social structure, and proposes a methodology for considering complex tomb assemblages and intra-site variability using the well-known site of Archanes-Phourni as a case study. It provides a detailed, contextual re-analysis of the 23 communal and long-lived burial contexts dating from EM IIA to MM II (ca. 2700-1700 BCE), highlighting chronological and spatial variability related to changing burial practices and distinct group identities. Using quantitative and qualitative analytical methods, and drawing on contemporary theories of time, materiality, personhood, and value, this work offers an interpretation of the diverse and interactive burial practices at Archanes-Phourni at multiple scales. Contextual analysis of these tomb assemblages indicates that there was significant variety in spatial structure, methods of interment, and object deposition but that these individually variable practices occurred alongside long-lived, communally shared traditions. The frequent interactions with burial deposits that served to maintain connections between the living and the dead throughout the Prepalatial and into the Protopalatial period, diminished in MM II, suggesting a new approach to burial and to the cemetery

Games of History

Games of History provides an understanding of how games as artefacts, textual and visual sources on games and gaming as a pastime or a “serious” activity can be used as sources for the study of history. From the vast world of games, the book’s focus is on board and card games, with reference to physical games, sports and digital games as well. Considering culture, society, politics and metaphysics, the author uses examples from various places around the world and from ancient times to the present to demonstrate how games and gaming can offer the historian an alternative, often very valuable and sometimes unique path to the past. The book offers a thorough discussion of conceptual and material approaches to games as sources, while also providing the reader with a theoretical starting point for further study within specific thematic chapters. The book concludes with three case studies of different types of games and how they can be considered as historical sources: the gladiatorial games, chess and the digital game Civilization. Offering an alternative approach to the study of history through its focus on games and gaming as historical sources, this is the ideal volume for students considering different types of sources and how they can be used for historical study, as well as students who study games as primary or secondary sources in their history projects

Coming Back to Life: The Permeability of Past and Present, Mortality and Immortality, Death and Life in the Ancient Mediterranean

The lines between death and life were neither fixed nor finite to the peoples of the ancient Mediterranean. For most, death was a passageway into a new and uncertain existence. The dead were not so much extinguished as understood to be elsewhere, and many perceived the deceased to continue to exercise agency among the living. Even for those more skeptical of an afterlife, notions of coming back to life provided frameworks in which to conceptualize the on-going social, political, and cultural influence of the past. This collection of essays examines how notions of coming back to life shape practices and ideals throughout the ancient Mediterranean. All contributors focus on the common theme of coming back to life as a discursive and descriptive space in which antique peoples construct, maintain, and negotiate the porous boundaries between past and present, mortality and immortality, death and life

Image, Text, Stone

This book explores the intermediality of image and text in Graeco-Roman sculpture. By studying a wide range of material, from grand sculpture to humble reliefs, scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds explore thematic aspects including the interplay of image and epigram, viewing and ‘reading’ sculpture in space, the issue of (re-)naming statues,and image and inscription seen from the perspective of social status or gender

Games of History

Games of History provides an understanding of how games as artefacts, textual and visual sources on games and gaming as a pastime or a “serious” activity can be used as sources for the study of history. From the vast world of games, the book’s focus is on board and card games, with reference to physical games, sports and digital games as well. Considering culture, society, politics and metaphysics, the author uses examples from various places around the world and from ancient times to the present to demonstrate how games and gaming can offer the historian an alternative, often very valuable and sometimes unique path to the past. The book offers a thorough discussion of conceptual and material approaches to games as sources, while also providing the reader with a theoretical starting point for further study within specific thematic chapters. The book concludes with three case studies of different types of games and how they can be considered as historical sources: the gladiatorial games, chess and the digital game Civilization. Offering an alternative approach to the study of history through its focus on games and gaming as historical sources, this is the ideal volume for students considering different types of sources and how they can be used for historical study, as well as students who study games as primary or secondary sources in their history projects