Masters Degrees (Ancient Studies)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Ancient Studies) by browse.metadata.advisor "De Villiers, Annemarie"

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    Childhood companions: children and animal companions on attic red-figure vases
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Sanders, Michelle Sharon; Masters, Samantha; De Villiers, Annemarie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In ancient Greece, children and animals found themselves on the periphery of social importance, more closely grouped with slaves than with their older male citizens. This lack of importance has resulted in a lack of documentation on them, in both ancient and modern-day times. However, in recent years there has been a surge of interest in the animals and children of ancient Greece, allowing scholars the opportunity to potentially fill in certain gaps of knowledge. One of the gaps which has yet to be filled, is the relationship and interactions between children and their pets. The aim of this thesis is then to research the relationship that may have existed between children and their ‘personal animals’. Although sources on these topics can be scarce and problematic, one of the best sources we have showing these interactions are on red-figure vase paintings. Therefore, 203 red-figured vases showing children and animal interactions were selected from the Beazley Archive, catalogued and studied. Vases which contain animals such as Spitz-type lap dogs, hunting dogs, deer, goats and hares were included in this study. By studying these vases in as much detail as possible, this thesis aimed to identify which animals were consistently paired with which age category of the child, whether or not the vase paintings could be viewed as real life scenarios, whether it would be possible to read in these differing pairings of animal and child other reflections of identity and perceptions of childhood and finally how the symbolism of the image would change in accordance to the animal and the age category of the child it is paired with. To do so, this study utilised a number of primary and secondary sources to gain some insight into the lives of ancient Greek children and the above-mentioned animals to better understand not only their roles in society but also the possible meaning and symbolism linked with the various animals. It was found that certain animals are in fact consistently paired with specific age groups, while the symbolism attached to animals which are depicted with a number of age groups does appear to change, depending on the age group.
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    'n Post-koloniale vertaling van Vergilius se Eclogae: "In alle dele van die land is sulke onrus!"
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Viljoen, Shani Claudia; De Villiers, Annemarie
    AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om ʼn hedendaagse vertaling van Vergilius se Eclogae in Afrikaans te skep. Met die koms van demokrasie het die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing vanselfsprekend handomkeer verander. Sedertdien het daar op sosiale, sowel as politieke vlak, integrasie plaasgevind om ʼn demokratiese Suid-Afrika te vorm. As ʼn byproduk van hierdie sosiale integrasie het die manier waarop Suid-Afrikaners hulself uitdruk, veral rondom emosies soos verlies en vrees, ook verander. Daar bestaan daarom ʼn vraag vir post-1994 vertaling; ʼn vertaling aktief besig om aan die post-1994 literêre landskap te skaaf, en terselfdertyd ʼn produk van daardie landskap self. Vergilius se Eclogae verskaf die ideale bronmateriaal vir ʼn hedendaagse Suid-Afrikaanse vertaling vanweë die politieke aard van die werk. Met hierdie vertaling is daar spesifiek aandag geskenk aan die realiteit van die hedendaagse Suid-Afrikaner. Die tale van Suid-Afrika reflekteer die werklikheid van die mense wat daar woon, en so verander taal (en die werklikheid wat dit uitbeeld) ook daagliks. Met die wete dat daar konstante ruimte vir interpretasie is, en weens hierdie konstante ontwikkeling van taal, bly daar ook voortdurend ruimte vir verdere vertalings van die Eclogae. Die behoeftes rondom sekere vertalings hang gevolglik ook van die vertaal opdrag af. Onder leiding van hierdie opdrag, gegrond op teorieë rondom vertaling, het ek my eie vertaalteorie geskep, naamlik post-1994 vertaling. Post-1994 vertaal teorie is van toepassing op Suid-Afrikaanse vertalers wat met die unieke uitdagings van ons sosio-politieke werklikheid en ons land se posisie in die globale wêreld gekonfronteer word. ʼn Post-1994 vertaling is een wat gewortel is in post-koloniale bewustheid van mag; tussen die voorheen gekoloniseerde en die vorige koloniseerder, tussen die teks en die leser, tussen die betrokke tale en tussen die vertaler en haar gehoor. Hierdie teorie leen ook van funksionalistiese vertalings strategieë en bied ʼn vars perspektief op domestikering teenoor vervreemding.
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    Reading Ovid in the #MeToo era : a feminist reception of rape scenes in the Metamorphoses
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12) Van der Merwe, Chene; De Villiers, Annemarie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The 21st century seems to a continuation of the incurable plagues which have pained our society for decades: gender-based violence, rape, and the sexual assault of women. The recent uprisings of international and South African movements such as #MeToo and #AmINext resulted in the exposure of sexual predators like Jeffrey Epstein, Larry Nassar, and Harvey Weinstein, and in the South African context Bob Hewitt. These movements also cast light on the immense problem of influential men who abuse their power to rape and sexually assault females – much like the god Apollo in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, who rapes his mortal victims from a position of immortal power. There are roughly fifty scenes in the Metamorphoses where a kind of rape culture is clearly identifiable. The omniscient narrator, however, seems to question the conduct of the perpetrators by casting them in the roles of cruel antagonists, and the female victims as sympathetic characters. Assuming that the rapes and sexual assaults in Ovid’s Metamorphoses are to some extent a reflection of his contemporary society’s attitude towards women, this study argues that Ovid’s unique retelling of myths illustrates that he is indeed a proto-feminist as he challenged the patriarchal standards of his time. Using the framework of second and third wave feminism, as these movements placed their focus on rape and pornography, selected rape scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses are analysed from a feminist point of view to investigate to what extent the speaker may be seen to question the reigning male-dominated view that women are dispensable. The findings of this investigation show that Ovid places a focus on the female victims’ suffering, and gives a “voice” to the victims which, in earlier versions of the myths, these females did not have. Thus, as the #MeToo movement has provided a platform for modern-day rape victims to finally tell their stories, Ovid’s sympathetic approach to the rape victims in the Metamorphoses – including his unprecedented focus on their narratives – allows the veil of silence cast by patriarchy to be lifted.
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    Succeeding the Great Aeneas: ideological parallels of Augustan succession in the Aeneid and on the Ara Pacis
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Stassen, Heidie; De Villiers, Annemarie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The succession narrative was commonplace in Republican Rome among the senatorial families, where the children of said families would not only accumulate their own “political authority” (auctoritas) but also inherit that of their parents. This study investigates succession during the early Principate and how it was connected to auctoritas, its hereditary nature and how this served as a foundation for Augustus to gain auctoritas from his familial lineage that linked him with Julius Caesar, and more importantly, to Aeneas. Therefore, this study aims to cross-examine how Augustus consolidated the key-virtue of Aeneas by incorporating and propagating the virtue of pietas across all of his own public monuments and depictions. Although individual studies have examined the political and religious propaganda of the Principate’s ideology in Virgil’s Aeneid and on the Ara Pacis – arguably the two most important artefacts related to the establishment of the Principate – no studies have examined the parallels between these works which highlight those virtues that may have served to legitimise Augustus’ rule in the eye of the public. Therefore, this study considers both the visual (Ara Pacis) and the literary (Aeneid) in correlation to each other, within the context of the political ideology created under Augustus, and alongside other artistic mediums. The method of analysis that is used is that of iconographic exegesis, which examines both visual and literary mediums in order to identify possible iconographic patterns or coinciding themes. An investigation into identified values/ideals and specific figures that were portrayed throughout the Aeneid and on the Ara Pacis reveals where and how the element of succession is present, and how it was used to support Augustus’ claims to authority, along with the portrayal of pietas as a familial and inherited virtue. The evidence collected across the various and different mediums suggests that the Principate propagated the familial and divine lineage of the imperial family, specifically Augustus, which ultimately worked to both legitimise and ensure his reign. Therefore, this thesis concludes that there is a clear theme present in the Aeneid and on the Ara Pacis, one relating the necessary pietas of the princeps as the only guarantee for maintaining the Golden Age. The main themes across all state-sponsored media indicates a continuous promotion of the pietas of Augustus while also comparing him to the very first Roman, Aeneas, his divine ancestor.
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    Truth to power: the vengeful meditations of exilic Ovid in the metamorphoses
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Dalbock, Abigail Margaret; De Villiers, Annemarie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When read in light of Ovid's banishment from Rome, much of the Metamorphoses can be interpreted as an allegory for the mercurial nature of power and revenge. Like Augustus, who had the power to exile Ovid at his discretion, the gods, as portrayed in the Metamorphoses, have absolute authority over life and death in the mortal world. This thesis will suggest that specific narratives within the Metamorphoses may reference Ovid’s censorship and exile by Augustus and his revenge against this punishment by continuing his craft and subtly manipulating the material on his mythical platform to speak truth to power.