Browsing by Author "Humble, Noreen"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Depictions of Spartan Masculinity in Thucydides and Xenophon
    (2013-12-13) Heydon, Kendell; Humble, Noreen
    Because we have no Classical Spartan writing we are reliant on the views of outsiders to try to reconstruct their social mores. Using traditional philology combined with social constructionist theory I examine how Thucydides and Xenophon depict Spartan masculinity. I have found that these authors differ in their descriptions of the Spartan masculine subject, reflecting primarily the purposes for which they wrote. Despite this, both authors describe inter-Spartan relations and relations between Spartiates and “others”, both within the Spartan system and those external to it, so as to suggest that the employment of officially propagated images of Spartan masculinity played a significant role in Spartan dealings. Accounts of Spartan employment of masculine ideology correspond significantly to hegemonic frameworks discussed in social constructionist theories of masculinity, suggesting the veracity of these aspects in accounts of Spartan society as well as the applicability of constructionist frameworks to the study of Spartan masculinity.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    East Looking West: the Relationship between the Western Satraps and the Greeks
    (2018-11-08) Ward, Megan Leigh Falconer; Bertolín Cebrián, Reyes; Pownall, Frances; Humble, Noreen; Sigismund Nielsen, Hanne; Ferris, John Robert; Cooper, Craig
    The satraps of Persia played a significant role in many affairs of the European Greek poleis. This dissertation contains a discussion of the ways in which the Persians treated the Hellenic states like subjects of the Persian empire, particularly following the expulsion of the Persian Invasion in 479 BCE. Chapter One looks at Persian authority both within the empire and among the Greeks. Chapter Two focuses on political corruption and acculturation due to extended cohabitation. Chapter Three discusses financial corruption and the loss of Hellenic identity through money. Chapter Four looks at the treatment of the Greek states as Persian subjects by means of diplomatic intervention. A brief conclusion states that the stability of the Persian Empire directly resulted in satrapal interest in expanding their borders and intervention in Greece. The treatment of the Greeks as if they were subjects of the empire provided a stabilizing influence to the Hellenic states despite the image of the Persians often depicted in literary sources.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Greek Romans? An Analysis of Greek Funerary Inscriptions from Rome
    (2024-01) Di Rosa, Monica; Nielsen, Hanne; Humble, Noreen; Toohey, Peter; Bertolin Cebrian, Reyes; Spangler, Jewel; Rowe, Gregory
    This dissertation examines the Greek funerary inscriptions from Rome between the 1st and the beginning of the 5th century CE. The main goal was to examine together the material produced by the pagan, Christian and Jewish communities, in order to look at commonalities and differences in the epigraphic practice of these communities; this is a valuable approach, quite different from the traditional scholarly approach which focuses on one or two groups at once. This helps to show how these communities did not live separately, but side to side in the same city. The research also compared the Greek epigraphic practice from the city of Rome, whether it was informed by Latin practice or influenced by the practice of Greek-speaking areas (i.e., Asia Minor, Greece, etc.). Secondly, quantitative analysis has been used to look at language issues (in particular, syntax and formulas), the relationship between commemorator and dedicator, epithets, age at death and status of the deceased. This research has shown how complex this material is: the different communities influenced each other, and the Greek funerary inscriptions present the adaptation of some aspects and formulas from the contemporary Latin epigraphic practice, as well as different peculiarities which Greek-speaking immigrants probably introduced to the city of Rome from there areas of the Empire, in particular Asia Minor.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The Idea of Consent in Shakespeare
    (2020-09-24) McNeil, Timothy Graham; Bennett, Susan; Humble, Noreen; Ullyot, Michael
    If consent is one person agreeing together with another person permitting a specific action, what elements within Shakespeare’s plays Richard III, Hamlet, and Twelfth Night specifically comprise the consent that characters like Richard, Hamlet, and Viola obtain that allow them to engage in actions that transform the normative order? This thesis explores the idea of consent in Shakespeare through these early plays, considering how consent is comprised in a history, a tragedy, and a comedy. Drawing on the concepts outlined in John Kleinig’s “The Ethics of Consent,” this thesis considers how (A) might grant consent to (B) to do (ɸ) (5), and the effects of consent on the normative order in which each character operates, locating the conception of consent as a crucial element. I place these readings in contrast to Stephen Greenblatt’s conception of Shakespeare’s dramatization of an absolutist state and Christopher Fitter’s more radical conception of the same period.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Krypteia and Xenelasia: Reassessing the Notion of Spartan Secrecy
    (2021-09) Newman, Julie Rayanne; Humble, Noreen; Humble, Noreen; Bertolin Cebrian, Reyes; Yessenova, Saulesh
    When compared to the open and democratic polis of Athens, the ancient polis of Sparta is often portrayed as closed off and secretive; this characterization emerges already in some ancient sources, like Thucydides. The notion of an inherent, constitutional secretiveness in ancient Sparta has been debated for decades in its validity amongst modern scholars, without reaching a clear and definitive basis for consensus. When this idea is discussed, two key Spartan institutions will usually be invoked: the krypteia and xenelasia. This dissertation aims at conducting a close analysis of these two institutions, in order to ascertain the efficacy of their use for claiming whether the Laconian polis was constitutionally secretive or not. The study reveals that both the krypteia and the xenelasia had aspects that can convey a perception of secrecy; however, as the analysis of ancient sources and modern scholarship reveals possible biases and unduly extensions respectively, this research suggests that these aspects alone of the two institutions are not sufficient on their own to constitute the basis for the argument that Sparta as a polis was inherently secretive.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Le christianisme chez Corneille : Lumière sur la subversion morale
    (2017) Carron, Samantha; Maher, Daniel; Humble, Noreen; Vijayan, Devika
    Avec l’écriture de ses tragédies chrétiennes Polyeucte (1643) et Théodore (1646), pièces qui relèvent de la question très sensible qui est celle de la religion chrétienne au théâtre, Pierre Corneille agite autant les gens de lettres que les hommes d’Église. En ajoutant le drame du martyre à sa plume, il rassemble deux concepts ; le théâtre et la religion, tous deux en conflit depuis des siècles déjà, ce qui pervertit rapidement la tragédie. À travers la combinaison de la période romaine avec la croyance catholique, Corneille met le péché mortel au premier plan et subvertit alors l’instruction morale au XVIIe siècle, bousculant la bienséance. Il ose donc s’opposer aux règles du théâtre, à la morale sociale et religieuse, ainsi qu’à l’autorité royale en traitant de sujets tels que la sexualité, les mœurs et le péché. C’est ainsi que ces deux tragédies chrétiennes constituent une étape importante de la carrière esthétique, dramaturgique et idéologique de Corneille.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Myth Matters: Intelligent Imagination in Plato's Phaedo and Phaedrus
    (2018-01-10) Kotow, Emily Claire; Rohlman, Elizabeth; Humble, Noreen; Tumasz, Virginia
    This thesis examines the function of myth in Plato’s Phaedo and Phaedrus. Focusing on the afterlife of Phaedo, and the palinode of Phaedrus, I assert that Plato emphasizes the limits of understanding, and as a consequence, the need for intelligent imagination. Ultimately, myth serves to underscore the essential philosophical project of cultivating self-knowledge and therefore is an integral part of Plato’s philosophical project.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Mythologies of Outer Space
    (University of Calgary Press, 2025-01-15) Humble, Noreen; Ellis, Jim
    Every culture and society has read stories in the night sky. From the careful attention of astronomers across all times and all parts of the world to the search for alien life, the stories found in the shapes of constellations to the expansive imaginings of science fiction, there has always been life up there, at the very least, for our imaginations. Mythologies of Outer Space brings together academics and artists to explore diverse imaginings of outer space. It examines questions that, in a world where outer space is increasingly accessible, are no longer only science fiction. Is outer space terra nullius, open for settlement? What if there is life beyond earth? Will we repeat the mistakes of the colonial age on other planets? Should parts of outer space be protected, like nature reserves? What about resource extraction? Do celestial bodies, like the moon, have rights? Astronaut Robert Thirsk, Mi’kmaw astronomer Hilding Neilson, digital humanities scholar Chris Pak, and outer space archaeologist Alice Gorman, among others, are joined by artists including David Hoffos and Dianne Bos, literary scholars, art critics, scientists, and a poet to explore how humanity thinks about outer space in this joyful, curious book.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The Roman-Campanian Hermaphroditus: Visual Representations and the Performative Body under Dionysus
    (2022-08) DeMone, Brittany; Hughes, Lisa A.; Humble, Noreen; Palacios, Joy
    Hermaphroditus is an intersex deity, described and depicted in ancient sources as having female breasts and a male phallus. Scholars have fixated on the phallic nature of the deity, often interpreting Hermaphroditus as symbolizing fertility, sexual union, marriage, or serving an apotropaic function in the ancient world. However, what if this is a common misconception? My study re-examines what we know of Hermaphroditus by focusing on artistic representations of the deity found in the Campanian region of Italy, looking specifically at material remains found in Roman domūs and villas. I draw on recent studies of gender and sexuality in the ancient world to interpret Hermaphroditus as an object of attraction rather than one of fear or revulsion. I argue that Hermaphroditus finds a place within the Dionysian sphere, with the intersex deity iconographically linked to the god of wine and theatre, as well as spatially and socio-culturally tying Hermaphroditus to the Roman concept of otium, convivial settings, and garden spaces. The inclusion of Hermaphroditus within the sphere of Dionysus, provides Hermaphroditus with a space where hir gender androgyny serves performative roles. Hermaphroditus not only exhibits features of gender performativity, but also role-plays as identifiable motifs such as the sleeping maenad/Ariadne, the woman at her toilette, and even Dionysus himself. I further link this performativity to a theatrical environment where Hermaphroditus displays parallels with gender ambiguous performers such as pantomime dancers. I conclude with an exercise in viewing Ovid’s story of Hermaphroditus and Salmacis found in his Metamorphoses as a possible source for adapted pantomime libretti and looking for artistic representations of the intersexed deity as serving as a visual metonym for performers and performative space. By redefining Hermaphroditus as the embodiment of idealized male youth and female gender, the androgyny is reconceptualized within the liminality of Dionysian space. This allows for new understandings of sex and gender, creating a space for identities of marginalized groups where androgyny may not be recognized as conventional within Roman society but was still coveted for its beauty and sexual appeal.