http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/greek Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Fri, 22 May 2026 09:55:14 -0400 Fri, 22 May 2026 09:55:14 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1892/the-eumenides-antigone-and-the-nature-of-objective-justice By Patrick F. Sheils - Justice in The Eumenides is established as an objective entity and it is in The Eumenides that it is solidified as a concept which has causal power over the material world. This metaphysical abstraction seeks to gain purchase through interpersonal relationships and inner-psychological longings. In Antigone, this meta-concept is personified in the material existence of Antigone as a solitary individual. Justice exists as an underlying substructure in both the abstract and the material and can only be instinctually known through its manifestation in human action. This concept is best displayed using... Tue, 30 Mar 2021 09:46 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1892/the-eumenides-antigone-and-the-nature-of-objective-justice http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1882/penelope-helen-and-the-ancient-greek-spectrum-of-femininity-observations-of-womanhood-in-the-homeric-epics By Jenn Beardsley - Although most Ancient Greek literature focused on male characters, a literary analysis of Homeric poetry reveals an inquisition of femininity, motherhood, and what it meant to be a woman in Ancient Greece. Throughout the epic The Iliad and its sequel The Odyssey, the Homeric poets created a spectrum of ideal versus unideal femininity, with notorious Helen on one end and faithful Penelope on the other. Dissection of each epic unveils an exploration into this spectrum of femininity through the use of motifs, or the repetition of a theme throughout a narrative. Specifically, the poets utilized the... Fri, 26 Feb 2021 02:40 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1882/penelope-helen-and-the-ancient-greek-spectrum-of-femininity-observations-of-womanhood-in-the-homeric-epics http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1866/material-nostalgia-in-classical-and-early-modern-drama By Marnie J. Monogue - The inescapability and influence of the past becomes most discernable with homecoming. A particularly powerful sense of nostalgia concentrates in textiles, especially when these objects purposefully invoke the past. More often than not, theatre uses textile props and clothing as the primary representative medium, enhancing storytelling capacity. These symbolic fabrics and costumes can best be characterized as Shakespeare’s “trappings and suits of woe,” as they function as both physical and psychological traps, but also allow for outward expression of “that within which... Thu, 21 Jan 2021 11:38 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1866/material-nostalgia-in-classical-and-early-modern-drama http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1545/a-16th-century-ovid-the-influence-of-classical-mythology-on-the-understanding-of-shakespeares-plays By Emily Gray - Commonly believed to be the single greatest writer and poet of the English language, as well as one of the most distinguished and esteemed dramatists in the entire world, William Shakespeare is credited with authoring approximately 38 works of theatre, 154 sonnets, two lengthy narrative poems, and several additional pieces of verse. While there exists some question concerning the authenticity of authorship of several of these dramatic works, scholars have determined that 32 of the 38 plays can unquestionably be attributed to Shakespeare (Root 119-132). With the majority of the writing of his known... Mon, 27 Feb 2017 05:47 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1545/a-16th-century-ovid-the-influence-of-classical-mythology-on-the-understanding-of-shakespeares-plays http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1206/the-dichotomy-of-gender-in-euripides-bacchae By Hayley E. Tartell - In Euripides’ Bacchae, careful examination of the character Dionysus illuminates discrepancies in action based on gender. Ultimately, Dionysus’ effeminate nature compounded with his subversive measures toward women and male proclivities suggest an inherent duality. Dionysus’ vacillation between masculine and feminine tendencies characterizes him as a heteronormative embodiment of both males and females, in essence, a community or civilized society. However, since his duality also represents a loss of identity, one can deduce that the play advocates a pre-communal state of existence... Mon, 12 Oct 2015 09:44 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1206/the-dichotomy-of-gender-in-euripides-bacchae http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1049/ancient-greek-women-and-warfare-building-a-more-accurate-portrait-of-ancient-women-through-literature By A. H. Aghababian - The present study explores the portrayal of women in ancient Greek literature within the context of warfare. More specifically, this work focuses on Classical Period Greek literature, particularly between 450 and 350 BCE, written by Athenian men. The genres studied include tragedy, comedy, philosophical works, and histories. As a highly elusive and largely unexplored subject, the lives of the women of antiquity are often generalized by modern scholars. Feminists and classicists tend to recombine all the information they find, regardless of genre or context, attempting to produce a well-supported... Tue, 16 Jun 2015 08:58 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1049/ancient-greek-women-and-warfare-building-a-more-accurate-portrait-of-ancient-women-through-literature http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1015/the-many-faces-of-odysseus-in-classical-literature By Hayley E. Tartell - Throughout classical literature, the different depictions of Odysseus range widely: he is variably portrayed as a hero in Homer’s The Odyssey, a villain in Sophocles’ Philoctetes, a self-serving opportunist in Sophocles’ Ajax, a deceitful figure in Virgil’s Aeneid, and a scoundrel in Euripedes’ Hecuba. In The Odyssey, though stubborn and boastful, Odysseus otherwise exhibits courage, cunning, sharp intellect and concern for his men -– all traits that characterize the archetypal hero. In Philoctetes, Odysseus is deceitful and conniving, as he abandons morality... Wed, 18 Mar 2015 04:11 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1015/the-many-faces-of-odysseus-in-classical-literature http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1486/from-fighting-nazis-to-electing-nazis-the-rise-of-golden-dawn-in-greece By Mary Shiraef - The party argues that only those with Greek blood are truly Greek, a statement that moves Golden Dawn beyond the nationalistic character of Italian fascism and closer to the biological racism of the National Socialist party of Nazi Germany. Citing Isokrates' Panegyricus, Golden Dawn seek to deprive foreigners from learning Greek, and further assume an obligation on the part of the Greek people to immerse themselves in Greek culture.3 They say his definition, that ‘people are called Greeks because they share in our education (paideusis) rather than in our birth',4 was meant to be exclusive... Fri, 15 Nov 2013 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1486/from-fighting-nazis-to-electing-nazis-the-rise-of-golden-dawn-in-greece http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/392/the-effect-of-troys-rebirth-on-aeneass-transformation-in-the-aeneid By Sujay Kulshrestha - In the Aeneid, Virgil depicts the struggle of the newly displaced Trojans to find a new home, under the leadership of Aeneas. The Trojans, having only recently lost the Trojan War to the Greeks, travel in search of a new home, eventually settling in Italy−to the dismay of some of the Italians. The motif of Troy’s rebirth plays a major role in the Aeneid in that it is intertwined with Aeneas’s personal destiny; the two domains are so intertwined that Aeneas both prevents his own happiness and alters his own personality to successfully create a new Troy. Over the course of the... Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:34 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/392/the-effect-of-troys-rebirth-on-aeneass-transformation-in-the-aeneid http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/384/the-relationship-between-gods-and-humans-in-aias-and-the-poetry-of-sapphos By Sujay Kulshrestha - Reading Greek plays provides valuable insight into the relationships between gods and humans. While both gods and humans have fairly similar personalities Greek gods have a certain amount of power that, given motivation from an arrogant mortal, they are all too willing to manipulate for their own entertainment without regard to the consequences for others. In Aias, Sophocles begins by telling the story of Ajax some time after the events in Homer’s Iliad. Over the course of the play, Sophocles relates that Ajax feels slighted, because he was not awarded the now-deceased Achilles’s armor... Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:14 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/384/the-relationship-between-gods-and-humans-in-aias-and-the-poetry-of-sapphos http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/105/ovids-metamorphoses-and-the-plays-of-shakespeare By Katherine Blakeney - Publius Ovidius Naso (43 B.C – 17 A.D.), a Roman aristocrat and poet, wrote a collection of poems based on Greek and Roman mythology. Ovid called it “Metamorphoses” as he selected myths that dealt with the transformation of people, gods, and heroes into forces or features of nature. Metamorphoses became one of the most popular and influential literary works in the history of European civilization. Shakespeare must have read Ovid in Latin, as Metamorphoses was part of his school program. There is also a Latin copy of Metamorphoses with Shakespeare’s signature on it, but... Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:35 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/105/ovids-metamorphoses-and-the-plays-of-shakespeare http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/103/hell-hath-no-fury-the-relationship-between-greeces-medusa-and-egypts-wadjet By Elizabeth R. Casto - Two seemingly unconnected goddesses have more in common than most know. The earth is a small place and  mythologies from one country overlap and even overtake myths from another country. Serpents in myth have an amazing connection, especially between Wadjet of Egpyt and Medusa of Greece. These goddesses were fierce and not to be trifled with and they also had an uncanny ability for wisdom. They were the strength that women, as a race, needed at the time when they were being oppressed by man. No man wanted to be turned into stone by Medusa and Wadjet would not stand for anything other than... Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:43 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/103/hell-hath-no-fury-the-relationship-between-greeces-medusa-and-egypts-wadjet http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/71/confrontation-with-death-illuminates-deaths-mystery-in-the-odyssey By Lindsay D. Clark - Even in fairy tales and fantastical legends, the trespassing of the breathing upon the domain of the spirits is rare. It is a disturbing idea; when the dead visit our world, we can at least find comfort in numbers. Yet the hero Odysseus braves the unknown and looks into the eyes of death. And as ghostly whispers blow across the hair on his arms we expect him to return traumatized, changed, darkly enlightened—but no. He emerges a little puffy-eyed, but very much himself. Several times Odysseus seems close to discovering some deathly mystery, brushing the stardust off some universally kept... Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:49 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/71/confrontation-with-death-illuminates-deaths-mystery-in-the-odyssey http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/62/the-emobidment-of-human-tragedy-in-the-illiad By Lindsay D. Clark - Why raise the curtain on this 45 day by 45 night saga? In a story whose ending everybody knows already, why choose these actions of these characters to expound upon? The Iliad is not a war tale one might tell in which friends love friends, who in conjunction hate enemies, and all fight quite openly for comrades, for righteousness, and for glory—for here wherein lies a single truth? Or a story worth telling? The Iliad instead is a story of confusion, of vagueness, of mixed messages and muddled motivations. And it achieves its primary meaning not through fearless Achilles or great Hector... Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:41 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/62/the-emobidment-of-human-tragedy-in-the-illiad http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/48/child-murders-in-medea-parallel-past-and-present-use-of-child-soldiers By Lindsay D. Clark - That wars are fought by the young for the old is a universally known truth. It is an ancient argument, a tired anti-war theme. Tired not in that it is hackneyed or obsolete, but in that its hollering admonitions have for all of time fallen on ears consistently deafened by bugles. The god of war does not discriminate among whose children his brutality destroys, though we ourselves usually tend to think of a “child soldier” as a twelve-year-old African boy hopped up on meth and indoctrinated in violence, or a teenaged Muslim boy strapping on a bomb and muttering prayers. After all, we... Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:14 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/48/child-murders-in-medea-parallel-past-and-present-use-of-child-soldiers