A Trickster’s Oaths in The \u3cem\u3eHomeric Hymn to Hermes\u3c/em\u3e

Hermes’ maturation into a god of commerce and diplomacy is punctuated by a series of oaths. At first he uses tricky or unsworn oaths in the investigation of his theftof Apollo’s cattle, but eventually he and Apollo exchange oaths that evoke the protocols of ritualized friendship. Although the ceremony suggests that Hermes has achieved adulthood, a narrative sleight of hand leaves some ambiguity about the completion of the ritual

Women and Oaths in Euripides

“The oath is what holds democracy together,” claimed the Athenian orator Lycurgus, whose democracy was composed exclusively of men.1 Athens was the definitive phallogocentric community where public discursive practices such as the oath were the prerogative of male citizens who competed for power in the agora, the assembly, and the lawcourts. Euripides, however, represents the disquieting occurrence of women tendering oaths for men, a phenomenon that challenges the gendered hierarchy of his society.2 In this article I explore how three Euripidean dramas, Medea, Hippolytus, and Ipigenia in Tauris, allow women to use these potent speech acts to control men’s language and action.3 By tendering promissory oath Euripides’ female characters cite a conventional social practice that is intrinsically performative; oath taking scenes are reflective boath of the world external to the drama and of the dramatic performance itself. Furthermore when men swear to do something for a woman—grant sanctuary, keep a secret, carry a letter—they also enter into a contract with the gods who function as the guarantors of the oath. This triangulated relationship—man, woman, god—contributes to the increased agency of female protagonists, whose authority is fortified by invoking the gods as witnesses to the oaths. Oaths “were divinely ordained and magically protected,” as Anne Burnett puts it, and they “stood like the primeval pillar that supports the sky.” Consonant with the ancient world’s respect for their cultural authority, Euripidean oaths become a powerful dramaturgical device by which the divine world aids women’s machinations, now an inexorable force that propels the tragedy to its reversal

Law and Sacrifice in Aristophanes’ <i>Birds</i>

Jurisprudence is a prominent theme in Birds with such technical details that Ruschenbusch could supplement his inventory of Solonian law from Aristophanes’ text. Associated with the legal moments of the comedy is the ritual of sacrifice, which motivates the plot and frames its most important events. The relationship between these two cultural systems is hardly incidental, as Derrida recognized in his seminal essay, “Force of Law,” which connects carnivorous sacrifice with the authority to make law. This paper explores how Aristophanes’ Birds affirms a contiguity between law and sacrifice to establish Peisetaerus as the sole juridical power in Nephelococcygia. (Párrafo extraído a modo de resumen) Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

The Curse as a Garment in Greek Tragedy

This article considers how Greek tragedy adapts the metaphor of the curse as a garment used in Ancient Near Eastern rituals and treaties. Using this comparative material, I analyze the fatal garments used by female characters in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, Sophocles’ Women of Trachis, and Euripides’ Medea

Does Lack of Communication Regarding Pay Negatively Affect Perceived Justice in the Workplace

The purpose of the current study was designed to investigate the role communication plays on perceived justice within an organization. This study specifically looks at communication regarding pay, while also comparing two pay policies: pay secrecy and open communication. This study will utilize an experimental 3x2 between-subjects factorial design to examine the effects of informational content received at work on perceived justice regarding pay. The independent variables will be the level of information provided (full explanation for pay difference, some explanation for pay difference, no explanation for pay difference), and the organization’s communication policy (pay secrecy system, open communication system). The dependent variable will be the perceived fairness of the situation. Students will be recruited through Middle Tennessee State University’s research pool

Law and Sacrifice in Aristophanes’ <i>Birds</i>

Jurisprudence is a prominent theme in Birds with such technical details that Ruschenbusch could supplement his inventory of Solonian law from Aristophanes’ text. Associated with the legal moments of the comedy is the ritual of sacrifice, which motivates the plot and frames its most important events. The relationship between these two cultural systems is hardly incidental, as Derrida recognized in his seminal essay, “Force of Law,” which connects carnivorous sacrifice with the authority to make law. This paper explores how Aristophanes’ Birds affirms a contiguity between law and sacrifice to establish Peisetaerus as the sole juridical power in Nephelococcygia. (Párrafo extraído a modo de resumen) Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Enforcement of underage sales laws as a predictor of daily smoking among adolescents – a national study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With a goal to reduce youth smoking rates, the U.S. federal government mandated that states enforce laws prohibiting underage tobacco sales. Our objective was to determine if state compliance with tobacco sales laws is associated with a decreased risk of current daily smoking among adolescents.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data on tobacco use were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 16,244 adolescents from the 2003 Monitoring the Future survey. The association between merchant compliance with the law from 1997–2003 and current daily smoking was examined using logistic regression while controlling for cigarette prices, state restaurant smoking policies, anti-tobacco media, and demographic variables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Higher average state merchant compliance from 1997–2003 predicted lower levels of current daily smoking among adolescents when controlled for all other factors. The odds ratio for daily smoking was reduced by 2% for each 1% increase in merchant compliance. After controlling for price changes, media campaigns and smoking restrictions, a 20.8% reduction in the odds of smoking among 10^thgraders in 2003 was attributed to the observed improvement in merchant compliance between 1997 and 2003. A 47% reduction in the odds of daily smoking could be attributed to price increases over this period.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Federally mandated enforcement efforts by states to prevent the sale of tobacco to minors appear to have made an important contribution to the observed decline in smoking among youth in the U.S. Given similar results from long-term enforcement efforts in Australia, other countries should be encouraged to adopt the World Health Organization Framework on Tobacco Control strategies to reduce the sale of tobacco to minors.</p

An analysis of the attitudes of traditional-aged and non-traditional-aged females about computers in word processing classes at Oregon's community colleges

Today's office worker is being expected to operate computers in order to increase office productivity. While learning the new technology is a positive challenge for most people, some students experience a negative computer attitude when faced with computer training. This study sought to determine if there were significant differences about computer attitudes among females enrolled in introductory computer word processing classes in Oregon's community colleges. A sample of 125 traditional-aged females and 125 non-traditional-aged females was surveyed using the Computer Attitude Scale (CAS) developed by Brenda Loyd and Clarice Gressard. A t-test was used to compare groups on the CAS total scale and four subscales. No significant difference at the .05 level was found between the two groups on the total scores in the CAS. No significant differences were found on the two subscales: Computer Confidence and Computer Usefulness. However, on the Computer Anxiety Subscale, the non-traditional-aged group scored significantly lower than the traditional-aged group. There was also a significant difference on the Computer Liking subscale with the traditional-aged group scoring lower than the non-traditional-aged group. The implications of the study resulted in the recommendations that the instructors be alert to students' attitudes about computers as they are exposed to new office technology and that those instructors who gather, design, and scientifically test successful strategies in relieving negative attitudes share their methods with other teachers. It was also recommended that a correlation study between computer attitudes and word processing performance be made. Further recommendations for scientific studies included students' attitudes about technology other than word processing, the affect of age difference on students' attitudes, the affect of the amount of time of previous employment of students' attitudes, and the affect of previous computer experience on students' attitudes