Category: Research

Statues that Speak

DiscentesResearch

Statues that Speak
5th-Century Greek Sculpture as Symbolism for Classical Age Ethos
By Millie Huang

I. Introduction
The Classical Age in Greece (510-323 BC) witnessed many monumental changes in Greek society, including the end of aristocratic culture and the spread of democracy in Athens. Qualities such as egalitarianism, rationality, and austerity became prevalent, and it is said that much of Western artistic thought, on such topics like politics, philosophy, and literature, were derived from this age…

Constantine as Liberator

DiscentesResearch

Constantine as Liberator
An Evaluation of the Self Representations of the Emperor through Eusebius’ Life of Constantine and the Arch of Constantine
By James Nycz

I. The Conversion of the First Christian Emperor…?
The Western Roman emperor is lying on his deathbed. The previous emperor, Diocletian, had famously split the highest office among four with two senior and two junior emperors to ensure a political balance. But this balance is threatened by the impending power vacuum given that the current emperor in the west, Constantius, is approaching his final hours…

The Indo-European Hero

DiscentesResearch

A Comparative Study of the Aeneid and the Mahabharata
By Kushal Modi

The cultures of Ancient Rome and Ancient India are descendants of a common Indo-European culture that flourished in the steppes of the Caucasus several thousand years ago. As several world cultures developed from this proto-culture, they retained certain shared Indo-European cultural and linguistic characteristics…

Blood, Lead, and Tears: The Cult of Cybele as a Means of Addressing Ancient Roman Issues of Fertility

DiscentesResearch

Blood, Lead, and Tears: The Cult of Cybele as a Means of Addressing Ancient Roman Issues of Fertility
By Jordan Reece Tayeh

Divinity has many faces in the Ancient Roman world, none more intriguing than the garland-wearing, lionhearted Phrygian mother-goddess Cybele. Whereas other Phrygian gods and goddesses were left behind, Cybele and a select few others remained alive in the Roman world. But why?

Slaves in Free Spaces

DiscentesResearch

Open Dimensions of Space, Socioeconomic Mobility, and Anxiety About Identity in Classical Athens
By Elizabeth Vo-Phamhi

1. Introduction.
World history from antiquity to the present day has abounded with examples of classism and xenophobia as counterforces against socioeconomic mobility and the democratization of opportunity. Societies with servile components are particularly rich in these narratives, and classical Athens (508 – 322 BCE) presents an interesting case of inter-class dynamics involving socioeconomic tensions formed around a spectrum rather than a binary of servile and free statuses…

“Ther nys a bettre knight”: Hector as a Medieval Knightly Ideal

DiscentesResearch

“Ther nys a bettre knight”: Hector as a Medieval Knightly Ideal
By William H. Weiss

Introduction
In his famous work recounting the Hundred Years’ War, Chronicles, Jean Froissart writes of two interesting episodes that any reader could easily overlook. The first appears in Book III where he details the Battle of Otterburn. He mentions how, during the bloodshed, Earl James Douglas “saw that his men were falling back” so in response he charges into the fray…

The Limits of Ancestral Wealth and Power in Ancient Greece

DiscentesResearch

The Limits of Ancestral Wealth and Power in Ancient Greece
By Shiri Gross

Though historians have often argued that hereditary power and wealth played a critical role in defining an individual’s prospects in Ancient Greek society, there is ample evidence against this conclusion. The prevalence of old archaic noble families is  disputed, and hereditary transfer of political power, where proven to exist, appears short-lived, limited, and insecure…

The Ethics of Excess: Food and Satire

DiscentesResearch

The Ethics of Excess: Food and Satire
By Clare Kearns

Food and eating have always figured prominently in the work of satirists. That food plays upon the somatic realism of satire is evident, but the relationship between food and satire’s moral criticism is more slippery. What, if anything, makes food consumption an appropriate vehicle for the satirist’s moral commentary, rather than other forms of consumption and excess?

A Window’s View into Egyptian Society

DiscentesResearch

A Window’s View into Egyptian Society
By Maria Murad

This window featured in the Penn Museum was once cemented in the walls of the Palace of Merenptah. The palace, along with the window, was built during Merenptah’s reign from 1213 to 1204 BCE in the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt’s New Kingdom. In order to understand the significance of the images and function of the window, it is important to consider the context in which the window was created…