The Triumph of Life over Death
By Kailia Utley
Exploring the influence of Classical Antiquity on the Italian Renaissance in art pieces that commemorate the lives of prominent individuals such as the Emperors Constantine and Titus from the Roman Empire, and the humanist scholars Leonardo Bruni and Carlo Marsuppuni from the Florentine Renaissance.
Kindred
By Citlali Meritxell Diaz
Niobe and Medea were both mothers who, through their actions, brought about their own children’s end. Mocking Leto for only having two children, Niobe attracted the goddess’ wrath, resulting in the death of her fourteen children at the hands of Apollo and Artemis, Leto’s progeny. Similarly, Medea’s own wrath against her unfaithful husband struck down her children. She killed their children and his new wife, leaving him effaced in his bloodline…
Dido’s Ambiguous Depictions: Powerless or Empowered?
By Caroline Pantzer
Did Roman audiences view powerful female characters of myth and literature in a dismissive, simplistic manner? Or did they understand and appreciate the complexity and ambiguity of such figures? In writing the Aeneid between 30–19 BC, Vergil places himself as an author within the epic tradition’s pre-existing “literary canon” of powerful, intelligent female characters…