The social and historical context of Plutarch's "Erotikos"
Item
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Title
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The social and historical context of Plutarch's "Erotikos"
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Identifier
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AAI3325422
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identifier
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3325422
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Creator
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Tsouvala, Georgia.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Ronnie Ancona
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Date
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2008
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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History, Ancient | Literature, Classical | Gender Studies
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Abstract
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This dissertation is a study of the geographical, historical, social, and religious context of Plutarch's Erotikos ( Mor. 748A-771E), a philosophical dialogue between Plutarch and his friends at Thespiai and the Valley of the Muses in Boiotia, that considers the role of love (eros) and conjugality through a scandalous story of kidnapping and marriage between a wealthy widow (Ismenodora) and a younger man (Bacchon). Plutarch's Erotikos is unique in Greek literature in combining a philosophical discussion of eros (love) with historical material on Greek, and especially Boiotian, imperial society at the end of the first and beginning of the second centuries CE. The dialogue covers a wide range of subjects including, social, intellectual and economic history, religion, philosophy, and is one of the richest primary sources for the history of Roman Greece during the early Empire. My study, which would be of interest to classicists as well as to scholars of history, epigraphy, religion, and gender studies, includes chapters on the life of Plutarch and his milieu, the historicity of the characters in the Erotikos, and the geographical, historical, and religious background of the city of Thespiai and of the Valley of the Muses. My methodologies, approaches, and data are drawn from a variety of disciplines, including classics, history, epigraphy, and archaeology.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
