Aristophanic Oracles

Karatzoglou, Orestis

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/44157 Copy

Description

Title

Aristophanic Oracles

Author(s)

Karatzoglou, Orestis

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Traill, Ariana

Department/Program

Classics

Discipline

Classics

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree

M.A.

Dissertation or Thesis

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Aristophanes
• Oracles
• Ancient Comedy
• Old Comedy
• Politics
• Political discourse
• Manipulation

Abstract

Four out of the eleven extant Aristophanic comedies contain, or refer to, oracles (Knights, Peace, Birds, Lysistrata). This thesis aims (a) to discuss Aristophanes’ stance toward oracles and oracle-collections; (b) to comment on each oracle in these four plays in chronological order, and to reach conclusions regarding Aristophanes’ usage of them while paying close attention to their language. The conclusions reached are that oracles are depicted in a way that takes for granted their political manipulation, that their language is never self-sufficient and authoritative by itself, and that the persuasive force of an oracle depends equally on an interpretation that has to be linked to something easily recognizable by the audience.

Date Deposited

2013-05

Identifiers: URI or URL

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/44157

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2013 Orestis Karatzoglou

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