An Innovation in Mundanity: Theocritus and the Quotidian Woman

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dc.contributor.advisorHunt, Jeff
dc.contributor.authorPersyn, Marcie
dc.contributor.departmentClassics.en_US
dc.contributor.otherBaylor University.en_US
dc.contributor.schoolsHonors College.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2014-06-02T18:58:55Z
dc.date.available2014-06-02T18:58:55Z
dc.date.copyright2014
dc.date.issued2014-06-02
dc.description.abstractThis thesis proposes to analyze the representation of women in the urban mimes of the Greek Hellenistic poet Theocritus. Best known for his bucolic poetry which incorporates aspects of mime into a country setting, Theocritus nevertheless also wrote more traditional mimes, known as the urban mimes, as a subset within his main work, the Idylls. Of these poems, Idylls 2 and 15 describe, respectively, a young woman’s attempt to avenge her lost chastity with magic, and the participation of two housewives in a religious ceremony held at Alexandria. These Idylls reveal a striking development in the representation of female characters in literature, featuring women who no longer conform to the artificial paradigms inherited from myth and epic, but instead fall under a newly emergent archetype of the Hellenistic period: the quotidian woman. By implementing this new literary figure, which epitomizes the mundane and humanizes his poetry, as the chief voice of his urban mimes, Theocritus simultaneously draws upon and innovates the work of his forebears and contemporaries, enhancing the female figure into a relatable and realistic character, both comic and poignant, through whom he can more artfully relate the themes of his poetry.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2104/9032
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.rightsBaylor University projects are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.en_US
dc.rights.accessrightsWorldwide accessen_US
dc.titleAn Innovation in Mundanity: Theocritus and the Quotidian Womanen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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