research – Page 2

Oct 15

The Allied Perspective on Athenian Imperialism

The Allied Perspective on Athenian Imperialism
By Alex Larrow

The Delian League was a prominent institution during the fifth century BCE, as it encompassed most of the Aegean from 478 to 404. The dynamic between Athenian imperialism in the league and democracy at home is frequently discussed. Something less talked about though just as important, is the perspective of the other cities in the league. One difficulty surrounding this question is the absence of primary sources from the allied states; as historian Dominique Lenfant notes, all sources from the time of the league are Athenian…

Fifth-Century Athens: Despotic, Democratic, or Both?

Oct 8

Discentes

Fifth-Century Athens: Despotic, Democratic, or Both?

Fifth-Century Athens: Despotic, Democratic, or Both?
By Arthur Li

In the Greek tragedian Aeschylus’ 472 BC play The Persians, the Persian queen Atossa asks, “Who is set over [the Athenians] as shepherd and is master of their host?” The chorus resonates, “Of no man are they called the slaves or vassals” (Aeschylus, Persians, 241-42). Indeed, the Greeks’—and in particular, Athens’—victories over Persia at the battles of Plataea and Mykale seven years earlier had marked a paradigm shift in their conceptions of eleutheria—freedom. Prior to the Persian Wars, freedom referred merely to the status of people not enslaved; afterwards, to the status of entire city-states devoid of foreign influence and domination…

Money and Identity: The Socio-Political Power of Ancient Coinage and the Emergence of Greco-Bactrian Culture

Oct 1

Discentes

Money and Identity: The Socio-Political Power of Ancient Coinage and the Emergence of Greco-Bactrian Culture

Money and Identity: The Socio-Political Power of Ancient Coinage and the Emergence of Greco-Bactrian Culture
By Michael Pagano

Deep in the heart of Central Asia lies a civilization lost to time, a symbol of the interconnected nature of the ancient world near modern-day Afghanistan: the Kingdom of Greco-Bactria. For hundreds of years, this kingdom served as a hub of multiculturalism along the Silk Road. The taxation of luxury goods along the Silk Road and abundant natural resources allowed the Greco-Bactrians to fund massive initiatives to build hundreds of cities…

The Prosody of Latin S Impura Consonant Clusters in the Waltharius

Sep 24

Discentes

The Prosody of Latin S Impura Consonant Clusters in the Waltharius

The Prosody of Latin S Impura Consonant Clusters in the Waltharius
By Blake Lopez

Comprising the single most comprehensive account of the exploits of Germanic legendary hero Walther of Aquitaine, the Waltharius is a ninth or tenth-century CE Latin epic poem whose nearly 1500 dactylic hexameters offer a goldmine for the study of prosodic developments in post-Classical Latin poetic meter. In 1992, Edoardo D’Angelo tapped many of these veins in his Indagini sulla tecnica versificatoria nell’esametro del Waltharius, where he adroitly discusses and categorizes many instances of innovative vowel lengthening within the prosody of the poem…

Analysis of a Surveyed Landscape: Euesperides, Cyrenaica

Aug 6

Discentes

Analysis of a Surveyed Landscape: Euesperides, Cyrenaica

Analysis of a Surveyed Landscape: Euesperides, Cyrenaica
By Josiah Canon DeSarro-Raynal

Lying on the northwest coast of Cyrenaica in modern Libya, Euesperides is an important archaeological site that has been the focus of extensive research through surveys and excavations since the mid-twentieth century. Demonstrated through the findings later explored in this analysis, the site offers an exceptional opportunity to reconstruct the physical appearance of a Greek city from the late-sixth century to the mid-third century BCE…

The Anatolian Connection: Traditional Epithets of Apollo in the Iliad

Jul 23

Discentes

The Anatolian Connection: Traditional Epithets of Apollo in the Iliad

The Anatolian Connection: Traditional Epithets of Apollo in the Iliad
By Garrett Lincoln Ashlock

Ever since Milman Parry’s foundational study on Homer’s use of traditional epithets, L’Épithète traditionnelle dans Homère (1928), scholars have recognized that Homer relied on an ancient deposit of epithetic formulae due to the form of his dactylic hexameter…

Jul 16

Discentes

Athens and Its Allies

Athens and Its Allies
By Daniel Stein

In March of 2021, Discentes published an article by Andrew Liu entitled “Athens: Cruel Imperial Power or Falsely Maligned?” It argued that the fifth century Athenian Empire was “a cruel imperial power” that maintained a “regime of control . . . based on fear and intimidation, not willing compliance” over subject peoples, concluding, “it is hard to argue that the Athenians were not a cruel and hated empire.”[1] This essay will take the opposing position. I argue that the Empire was not universally hated…

Plague, Climate Change, and the End of Ancient Civilizations

Jun 25

Discentes

Plague, Climate Change, and the End of Ancient Civilizations

Plague, Climate Change, and the End of Ancient Civilizations
By Daniel Stein

Periodically, civilizations collapse. Whether through war, disease, famine, or internal strife, complex societies can rapidly vanish, leaving the survivors to start a process of rebuilding that can take centuries. “A society has collapsed,” writes anthropologist Joseph Tainter, “when it displays a rapid, significant loss of an established level of social complexity”…

γνῶθι σαυτόν: A Reassessment of Plato’s Medical Metaphors, The ‘Self’ as a Scientific Subject of Ethics

Jun 11

Discentes

γνῶθι σαυτόν: A Reassessment of Plato’s Medical Metaphors, The ‘Self’ as a Scientific Subject of Ethics

γνῶθι σαυτόν: A Reassessment of Plato’s Medical Metaphors, The ‘Self’ as a Scientific Subject of Ethics
By Sheena McKeever

Cohered with empirical knowledge, Plato’s medical metaphors illuminate the physical and ethical constituents of the human being. His interrogative dialogues set out to identify personhood, to know thyself (γνῶθι σαυτόν). Plato places the person, as opposed to physical elements of the universe, at the center of his philosophy. As a scientific subject, the person provides access to understanding human nature. Plato imbues his dialogues with medical analogies that delineate the person systematically as a subject of ethics. His medical metaphors, highlighting a range of phenomena…

Women, Barbarians, and Gendered Xenophobia

May 21

Discentes

Women, Barbarians, and Gendered Xenophobia

Women, Barbarians, and Gendered Xenophobia
By Diotima Belmehdi

In Agesilaos, the Athenian historian Xenophon recounts that while attempting to rile up his troops against the Persians, King Agesilaos of Sparta did the following…

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Tag: research

The Allied Perspective on Athenian Imperialism

Fifth-Century Athens: Despotic, Democratic, or Both?

Money and Identity: The Socio-Political Power of Ancient Coinage and the Emergence of Greco-Bactrian Culture

The Prosody of Latin S Impura Consonant Clusters in the Waltharius

Analysis of a Surveyed Landscape: Euesperides, Cyrenaica

The Anatolian Connection: Traditional Epithets of Apollo in the Iliad

Athens and Its Allies

Plague, Climate Change, and the End of Ancient Civilizations

γνῶθι σαυτόν: A Reassessment of Plato’s Medical Metaphors, The ‘Self’ as a Scientific Subject of Ethics

Women, Barbarians, and Gendered Xenophobia

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