The influence of myth on the fifth-century audience’s understanding and appreciation of the tragedies of Aeschylus

This thesis seeks to establish how the fifth-century audience’s perception of Aeschylean tragedy was influenced by their prior knowledge of the myths on which the dramas were based. Thus we study references to these myths in earlier epic and lyric sources in an attempt to detect borrowings and deviations from the earlier material on the part of the poet. The earliest surviving tragedy, the Persae, has a historical basis and so mythical knowledge is supplanted by the audience's own first-hand experience of the recent war. We see how foreknowledge of the Greek victory at Salamis will prove a deep influence on the audience s perception of the presentation of the enemy court and how Aeschylus presents the Persians as being utterly devastated by the defeat. Likewise an appreciation of the Seven Against Thebes is greatly enhanced if we remember that from the very beginning of the drama the audience were anticipating the double fratricide from their knowledge of this events in previous versions of the myth. During the Supplices, the audience would have suspected that not only would the Argives accept the supplication of the Danaids but also that these helpless girls would shortly murder their bridegrooms on their wedding-night, and Aeschylus includes many dark hints at this future event during the course of his play. Our study of the myth of Agamemnon will enable us to appreciate the exploitation of audience expectation throughout the Oresteia and their foreknowledge that murder is plotted against Agamemnon on his return and that Orestes will return to exact vengeance proves vital to the tragic effect. In addition we detect certain areas in which Aeschylus may diverge from his inherited material, such as his presentation of Clytemnestra as the sole unaided killer of her husband and his inclusion of a trial of Orestes before the court of the Areopagus. Thus it is hoped that by considering the mythical knowledge shared by both Aeschylus and his audience we are able to gain a fuller appreciation of the effects sought by the poet in the fifth-century theatre

Precarious Lives

Presents the first evidence of forced labour among displaced migrants who seek refuge in the UK. Through a critical engagement with contemporary debates about precarity, unfreedom and socio-legal status, the book explores how asylum and forced labour are linked, and enmeshed in a broader picture of modern slavery produced through globalised working conditions

Designing for conservation of insects in the built environment

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73772/1/j.1752-4598.2008.00024.x.pd

The ecology of fruit bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) in a Malaysian lowland dipterocarp forest, with particular reference to the spotted-winged fruit bat (.......................

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN053136 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Daily behaviour and microhabitat use of the waterfall frog Litoria nannotis in Tully Gorge, Eastern Australia

[Extract] The daily activities of amphibians are influenced by their need to obtain food, mates and shelter, avoid predators, and maintain adequate physiological conditions (Dole, 1965; Beshkov and Jameson, 1980; Wool-bright, 1985; Zug, 1993; Cohen and Alford, 1996; De Oliveira, 1996). Most amphibians share certain behavioral similarities. Because of the permeability of their skin, they are highly susceptible to dehydration from evaporative water loss. Therefore most amphibians are typically nocturnal and tend to shelter in moist refuges during the day and become active only at night (Duellman and Trueb, 1986)

Seasonal sexual and ontogenetic variations in the diet of the 'declining' frogs Litoria nannotis, Litoria rheocola and Nyctimystes dayi

Faecal analyses were used to investigate the diets of the endangered frogs Litoria nannotis, L. rheocola and Nyctimystes dayi in Tully Gorge, North Queensland. Comparisons of diet and food availability indicate that thesespecies feed indiscriminately on a range of terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates. Changes in morphology and foraging behaviour significantly influenced diet composition and created subtle shifts in the degree of selectivity displayed in prey choice. Interspecific differences in numeric and volumetric diet composition were attributed to variations in gape size and microhabitat selection. Within the diets of L. nannotis and L. rheocola, a decline in prey selectivity observed during the dry season reflected a reduction in foraging activity. Differences in the gape size and foraging behaviour of males and females of L. nannotis were responsible for sex-specific differences in diet composition. L. nannotis also diplayed an ontogenetic shift in prey size and type. As snout-vent length increased, L. nannotis consumed fewer, but larger prey and increasingly discriminated against dipterans, dipteran larvae and hemipterans. Importantly, L. nannotis, L. rheocola and N. dayi demonstrated the capacity to compensate for fluctuations in food availability by feeding on less lucrative prey