Browsing by Author "Becker, Andrew S."

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    Protection Epitaphs: Material Connection Between Death and Magic in Ancient Rome
    Hunkele, Gabrielle Frances (Virginia Tech, 2024-05-24)
    Death culture is a fundamental aspect of human existence, with the primary purpose of commemorating and preserving the identity of the deceased. Epitaphs, a physical object created to mark the tomb, are seen in antiquity and modern cultures. Protection epitaphs, a subset of these epitaphs, are a subculture within ancient Rome that incorporate a request for protection. These epitaphs share a common thread of death culture: care and respect for the dead. Rituals are cultural practices that follow a set protocol, with roles assigned to the practitioner and target, as well as an observer. In this study of protective death epitaphs, the family (typical practitioner) of the protective epitaph commemorates the deceased or potential target of malicious intent. The ritual is the protocol of placing a statement on a tombstone that asks not to defile the tomb. The two main types of protection seen in protective death epitaphs are passive and aggressive. Passive protection gives a broad statement in both the request and the potential consequence, while aggressive protection typically gives a broad statement in the request and a more specific consequence. In conclusion, protection epitaphs are a subset of Roman death culture that emphasizes the importance of care and respect for the dead. This research highlights the underrepresented and marginalized group of people commemorated in these epitaphs and the importance of studying and giving light to their practices and intentions.
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    Religious Practices in Classical Thebes
    Martin, Kaitlyn Renay (Virginia Tech, 2019-07-02)
    My thesis uses Thebes as case study to focus on Theban religious practices during the Classical age (traditionally defined as between 510 BCE and 323 BCE). By narrowing my study to this geographical and chronological scope, my research aims to add to the traditional narrative of Theban history by focusing on religious history rather than the political or military. More particularly, by using both literature (Classical Greek tragedies) as well as material culture found in exceptional religious settings of the Thesmophoria and Kabeirion, I strive to delineate some of the religious practices taking place in the polis of Thebes during the Classical age. While the Theban tragedies provide a view of religion from a broader perspective, the material evidence of the festival of the Thesmophoria and the rites to the Kabeiroi provide a glimpse into the practices of Theban religion that lie outside the traditional, Olympian pantheon. I argue that studying Theban literature and votive offerings in tandem can provide a perspective at the micro-level of Greek religion that can be expanded in order to understand the religious landscape of ancient Greece on a much deeper and richer level.
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    Rhythm in a Sinuous Stanza: The Anatomy and Acoustic Contour of the Latin Alcaic
    Becker, Andrew S. (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012)
    This essay explores the metrical as well as rhythmical aspects of the acoustic contour of the Latin Alcaic, focusing on patterns of natural, audible, performed word accents in coincidence and syncopation with the fixed pattern of the meter, in both the ancient and modern scansions of the stanza. The meter was measured in antiquity with a learned, latent expectation or undercurrent of regular verse beats to scan aloud, to measure for the ear, the pattern of long and short syllables. Within the fixed framework of the meter, variable patterns of accent provide a rhythm, and that rhythm is the focus of this essay. Very little attention falls on sound and sense: the coda argues that sound need not be subordinate to meaning, need not be sound effect, nor explicitly rhetorical, to be worth our attention.