Classical Studies

This thesis provides a general study of the royal iconography of Cleopatra Selene II (40-5 BCE), the Queen of Mauretania who was born as an Egyptian princess to Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony. It explores the ways in which Cleopatra Selene’s multiplicity of identities, both racial and cultural, were presented in her adopted country of Mauretania, a Roman allied kingdom in modern-day northern Africa. The thesis considers Cleopatra Selene’s identities in the context of both racialized gender and cultural code-switching, as well as her role as the iconographic continuation of a long line of exemplary and innovative Ptolemaic Egyptian queens. Until quite recently in the modern historiography, Cleopatra Selene has existed on the margins of Ptolemaic history. Consequently, this thesis recontextualizes Cleopatra Selene as an important historical figure in her dynasty who stood at the intersection of African, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures, rather than an outlier of these histories. This is particularly provided through an iconographic analysis of contemporary images of Cleopatra Selene as a queen of Mauretania, examined in comparison to the royal iconography of Cleopatra VII and other Ptolemaic Egyptian queens. Overall, the thesis hopes to provide a framework through which to confront cultural anxieties about racialized gender by demonstrating Cleopatra Selene’s steadfast commitment to presenting a multiracial and intercultural persona to her diverse population of subjects in Mauretania.

This paper explores Seneca’s representation of Medea both in relation to Euripides’ re-shaping of Greek myth and as an expression of Roman cultural differences. Euripides masculinizes Medea, having her break several gender boundaries in order to achieve her goals. I argue that this created an adverse effect on her character’s reception in Roman culture and influenced a more vilified character of Medea found in Seneca’s Medea. By focusing on Medea’s representation, specifically through her masculinization, I show how her character directly contrasts with Roman values which ultimately reduces her character from a conflicted heroine into an oversimplified villain. Medea may be seen as an extreme example of Roman views on threats posed by powerful women. The representation of Medea and how each playwright depicts her, either masculinizing or vilifying her, have parallel examples in contemporary issues, from depictions of powerful women and even to how women feel they need to present themselves. My final point is how a complex female figure, such as Medea, can serve as a model into Roman attitudes towards powerful women but also as a parallel model to view the treatments of powerful women within our current society.

My talk explores the exaggerated preternaturalness of Maenadic worship as presented in Euripides' Bacchae in relation to Dionysus' revenge. In the play, Dionysus is shown to have complete control over people’s psyche, while simultaneously shown to be calmly in control of his own. His own sophrosyne (σώφροσιν) thereby becomes a reminder to the audience of the power of his control and Maenads in general. I argue that Maenadism becomes a display of power for the new god and a warning to those outside of his worship. This is also laid out by Euripides for the audience in the specific language he uses throughout the play, words connected to the mind, carrying the notion of either having control of one’s mind (φρήν) or not. These words appear as foreshadowing and markers, constantly reminding the audience of the type of god Dionysus is and therefore his power.

The Etruscans are notable for, amongst other things, the production of bronze mirrors. More than 3,000 mirrors are known to us, mostly dating from the sixth to the second centuries BC, offering an insight into Etruscan bronze technology and developments in Etruscan art. The focus on this paper is on a previously unpublished mirror housed in the National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street, Dublin. The mirror, dating to the Hellenistic period, has an engraving of a minor Etruscan divinity, a 'Lasa', on its reverse. The potential meaning of this imagery in relation to the object's function is examined.

Divine concern for, and special protection of, the poor and oppressed is a common theme in the Hebrew Bible as well as other ancient Near Eastern religious, political and ethical literature.  This thesis explores compares the ethical and theological understanding of poverty and divine action in the book of Amos, the earliest Israelite literary prophet, with texts from the Egyptian tradition.