Department of Classical Studies (MU)
The Department of Classical Studies, is one of the academic units of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Classics is one of the founding departments in the University of Missouri. Its primary mission is the teaching of the languages, literature, history, and philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome. But its disciplinary range touches virtually all major aspects of early civilization in the Mediterranean's sphere of influence, from the ancient Near East to North Africa, Spain, Gaul, and even Britain. Little happened in these places that does not have some important impact on our world today; understanding those historical conditions and their implications for us today is the goal of Classical Studies.
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Pauca tamen memorans : A selection of late antique epitaphs commemorating young women
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)My dissertation examines a selection of fourth- and fifth-century inscribed Latin funerary poems commemorating young, Christian women in late antique Rome and Roman Italy. An in-depth analysis of fourteen verse epitaphs ... -
The imperial cult and the individual : the negotiation of Augustus' private worship during his lifetime at Rome
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)This dissertation argues for a reevaluation of the imperial cult in Rome. It demonstrates that worship of the living Augustus began in private acts which progressed into public rituals after his senate-decreed divinity in ... -
Virtus et disciplina : an interdisciplinary study of the roman martial values of courage and discipline
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)This thesis discusses Roman martial values, principally virtus and disciplina, and their literary characterization. This is an interdisciplinary study that employs data and methodologies from anthropology, evolutionary ... -
Not just fun and games : exploring ludic elements in Greek and Latin literature
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)This dissertation explores how Greek and Roman authors use board games and games of chance to answer complex questions about humanity and the relation of the self to the cosmos. I isolate literary topoi rooted in gaming ... -
Animals in Rome
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Humans have coexisted intimately with animals for thousands of years, yet our relationship with them is still fraught with uncertainty. Animal behavior ... -
Mapping Seneca : cognitive cartography and moral imagination in the Natural Questions
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)This dissertation focuses on how Seneca creates a map of the world that defies human limitations and control, thereby instilling within the reader an understanding of self-knowledge. I argue that Seneca "maps" the world ... -
Snake oil salesmen : snake imagery and the sophistic movement in Sophocles' Trachiniae
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)"In the Trachiniae, Sophocles plays on the audience's expectations of a murderous Deianeira to demonstrate the dangers of misinformation. He subverts the traditional role of the centaur Cheiron as a healer and teacher in ... -
Metadrama in the chorus : the first choral ode of Seneca's Oedipus /
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The main topic of this dissertation is the first choral ode of Seneca's Oedipus. Seneca's handling of the choral parts has often suffered from negative ... -
Queen of the Curse : the Odyssey's formulaic interrogation and Arete's determination of Odysseus' identity
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation establishes the compositional authority of Arete, queen of the Phaeacians, in Homer's Odyssey by means of an oral poetic analysis of ... -
Remembering Trajan in fourth-century Rome : memory and identity in spatial, artistic, and textual narratives
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)This study examines a broad range of fourth-century evidence in art, literature, and monuments in order to examine the cultural significance of the Roman emperor Trajan. Trajan was famous in his own day in the second century ... -
A new heroism : a study of the battle scenes in Lucan's Bellum Civile
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)This dissertation provides an examination of how Lucan's Bellum Ciuile redefines epic heroism by focusing on the poet's use of the narrative structures that make up epic large scale battle. It argues that Lucan engages his ... -
Homeric Constructions: The Reception of Homeric Authority
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2014) -
Eunuchs and sex : beyond sexual dichotomy in the Roman world
([University of Missouri--Columbia], 2014)This dissertation explores Roman perceptions of eunuchs, particularly their perceived sex and gender. It covers both slave eunuchs castrated as infants or young children and the galli who are self-castrated after puberty. ... -
Restoring tradition: verbal lyricism and therapeutic song in Theocritus' pastoral Idylls
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2013)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] My research examines the cultural significance of Theocritus' pastoral Idylls as imitations of folk songs, a genre traditionally passed down orally. I ... -
The mechanics of Roman religion : the functionality and aspectualization of the gods
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2011)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] This dissertation examines the practical functioning of Roman religion and the nature of the Roman gods. Roman religion operated as a thaumaturgical ... -
Frustrated desire and controlling fictions : the natural world in ancient pastoral literature and art
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2011)This dissertation examines three intersections of plants and desire in the pastoral literature of Theocritus, Virgil, and Longus. First, the locus amoenus describes a pleasing botanical place that can create a narrative ... -
The directed gaze : enargeia and film in the Annales of Tacitus
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2010)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] My aim in this study is to examine the visual aspects of Tacitus' Annales in order to elucidate his creation of vivid narrative through control of the ... -
When to say when : wine and drunkenness in Roman society
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2010)Not surprisingly, different people offered different opinions on the use of alcohol and the acceptability of drunkenness in Roman society. What certain people said on the subject - and the context they said it in - reveals ... -
Catullus' Attis : counterfeit epic
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2007)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Catullus' carmen 63 presents a confluence of forms - inverted, parodic, and imitative - from which flow diverging streams of critical interpretation. ... -
Agamemnon in Homer : reading character through tradition
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2007)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] In this research project I outline a consistent methodology for assessing characterization in the oral-derived Homeric epics and I apply this methodology ...