Current PhD candidates
Ben Clarkson
BSc(Hons), DipGrad (Classics), BA(Hons), MA (Otago)
The Chimeric Nature of Belief: A Cognitive Examination of Homeric Myth, Oracles and Occultism
The principal aim of this research is to examine Homer's Iliad from a cognitive perspective, and to use approaches from the field of cognitive science in an attempt to elucidate how features of the narrative structured the engagement of the individual in the classical context. I hope to examine both the roles of the narrator and the audience of the text in this regard, and aim to pay special attention to the piece as a performative work - viz. as a spoken text and a piece of (originally) oral composition. As an extension of this I intend to examine the role of seers and oracles in the Iliad, as there are several interesting passages dealing with manteis that warrant examination.
Supervisors: Arlene Allan and Joseph Watts (Religion)
Karl Hart
Primary supervisor: Sean McConnell
Christopher Hext
MA (London), LL.B.(Hons) (Leicester), BSc (Otago)
The Character and Origin of the Paschal Computus
The Paschal computus is a complicated function used by the Christian church to determine the date of its most important festival, Easter day. The calculation involves, in particular, a cycle of dates predicting incidences of the full moon. The reasons for the complexity, and for the involvement of the moon at all, are far from being immediately obvious; especially given that other Christian festivals, such as Christmas and saints' days, are simply assigned to fixed dates in the civil calendar.
In the first five centuries the computus was a remarkable preoccupation of church leaders and scholars, and it generated substantial controversy. It is a very unusual fusion of theological and scientific thought. The object of this research is to achieve a better appreciation of the principles underlying the character and origin of the computus, and an understanding of why it developed the way it did. Important areas to be considered are the connection between the computus and Jewish calendrical practice ; the extent to which the computistical ideas of the seventh century and later can safely be projected back to the early period ; and the relationship between the calendric parameters of the computus system, which are i) the range of dates on which Easter day can possibly fall, ii) the range of dates on which relevant full moon can possibly fall, and iii) the range of the number of days which are allowed to intervene between the two.
Supervisors : Sean McConnell and Paul Trebilco (Theology)
Jaymie Orchard
BA(Hons) (University of British Columbia), MA (University of Western Ontario
The Manipulation of Roman Social Memory through the Curated Display of Plunder
Around the turn of the second century BCE, the practice of plundering culturally significant artifacts from conquered communities and bringing them back to Rome for display became an increasingly important aspect of identity creation for Rome, as an empire, as well as for individuals. Plunder entered Rome for the first time to be seen by the public in the triumph, a highly ritualized military procession, and was subsequently displayed in more permanent public spaces.
I investigate how the display of plundered cultural artifacts was curated by victorious generals to manipulate the social memory of events of conquest, how this display created positive narratives of Roman imperialism among the citizenry, and how the display of plunder was used as a tool of empire building. Though, I focus on ancient Rome, I also consider the ongoing modern practice of the display of stolen cultural artifacts still housed in museums around the world.
Supervisors: Gwynaeth McIntyre and Dan Osland
Matthew Watts
BA, BA(Hons), MA (Otago)
The Metz Epitome: Translation and Historical Commentary
The Epitoma rerum gestarum Alexandri Magni, more commonly known as the Metz Epitome, was likely composed during the 4th or 5th century CE. This text is understudied and often overlooked despite providing valuable information on Alexander the Great’s campaigns through Bactria, Sogdiana, and India. Though the sole manuscript containing the text was destroyed in 1944 during an Allied bombing raid over the city of Metz, the text has survived in several critical editions, with P H Thomas’ 1966 edition serving as the standard text for scholarly use. The text itself has been viewed simply as an abridgement of the Cleitarchic tradition and disregarded in favour of more complete narratives. This PhD project translates the text and provides a historical commentary of the source. Through the utilisation of a functionalist lens, this project investigates the text and its intended audience. It situates the Metz Epitome in the context of other historical sources of Alexander and refutes the notion that the text was only a simple abridgement of the Cleitarchic tradition. Instead, this project argues that the Metz Epitome should be read as a conscious condensation and compilation of the historical traditions surrounding Alexander’s campaigns.
Supervisors: Sean McConnell and Dan Osland
Current MA students
Completed PhDs
Dean Alexander BA (Hons), MA (Otago)
Ultimus Romanorum: The Rise of Cassius the Tyrannicide
Supervisors: Jon Hall and Robert Hannah (Dean, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, University of Waikato)
Kara Braithwaite-Westoby PgDip, BA (Otago)
Epameinondas and the Theban Hegemony
Supervisors: Pat Wheatley and Sean McConnell
Charlotte Dunn BA (Hons), MA (Otago)
The Career of Demetrius Poliorcetes
Supervisors: Pat Wheatley and Jon Hall.
Kyle Gervais BSc (Hons), MA Classics (Queen's University)
A Commentary of Statius, Thebaid 2
Supervisors: William Dominik and John Garthwaite
Joel Gordon BMus, BA(Hons), MA (Victoria), GradDip (App Theol)
Imagining the Underworld: Topography Versus Eschatology
Supervisors: Arlene Allan and Sean McConnell
Thomas Köentges BA, MA (Leipzig)
A Commentary on the "pre-Cena" Section of Petronius' Satyrica
Supervisors: John Garthwaite and William Dominik
Maria Mackay BA, Dip Tchng, DCE, PGDipArts (English, Classics), Dip Grad (English, Classics), MA (Otago)
Klytaimestra: Gene and Gender Conflict in Greek Tragedy.
Supervisors: Arlene Allan and Brian Boyd (University of Auckland)
Cameron McPhail BA (Hons), MA (Otago)
The Continents and Panhellenism: From Homer to Herodotus.
Supervisors: Robert Hannah (Dean, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, University of Waikato) and Pat Wheatley
Stefan Pedersen BA (Massey), PGDipArts, MA (Otago)
Regularly Irregular Motion in Proclus' Celestial Physics
Supervisors: Robert Hannah (Dean, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, University of Waikato), Peter Anstey (Department of Philosophy)
Susan Pelechek BA (Coe College), PG Dip (Otago)
Representations and Receptions of Scipio Africanus
Supervisors:William Dominik, Jon Hall, and Pat Wheatley
Alessandra Pugliese BA, MA (Università Cattolica)
The Greek World and Rome in the Late Hellenistic Period
Supervisors: Pat Wheatley and Robert Hannah (Dean, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, University of Waikato)
Bill Richardson BA (Hons) (UTAS)
The Origin of Philip II's Panhellenism
Supervisors: Pat Wheatley and Sean McConnell
Constance Sleeth BA (Hons) (Trent), MA (Royal Holloway, U. of London)
Euripides' Zeus, Seneca's Jupiter: The Tragic 'Father of Gods and Men'
Supervisors: Arlene Allan and William Dominik
Andrew Stopyra BA (Hons) (Otago), MPhil (Cambridge)
Diodorus Siculus on Alexander
A transalation and commentary of Diodorus Siculus Book 17 on Alexander the Great.
Supervisors: Pat Wheatley and Jon Hall
Completed MAs
Scott Bezett
Searching for the Graecian Gesamtkunstwerk : The aesthetics of ancient tragedy as a model in opera from the Renaissance to Wagner
Supervisors: Gwynaeth McIntyre and Terence Dennis (Music)
John Blackler
Laughter in Plato
Supervisor: Sean McConnell
Chloe Bray
The Many Faces of the Moon: Lunar Mythology and Religion in the Ancient World
Supervisors: John Garthwaite and Robert Hannah (Dean, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, University of Waikato)
Tyler Broome
Ventriloquism in Ciceronian Oratory
Supervisor: Jon Hall
Campbell Calverley
The Rhetoric of Incest in Senecan Drama and Histories of Nero
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Ben Clarkson
Magic, Marriage and the Maiden: Love Magic and the Individual in the 5th and 4th Centuries B.C.E.
Supervisor: Arlene Allan
Jen Copedo
There's something in the Water: Personified dangers of the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic.
Supervisor: Alene Allan
Supun Ekanayake
'Ruling “the other”: Roman provincial administration and its hegemony during the Late Republic as reflected in selected works of Cicero'
Supervisor: Jon Hall
Will Harvey
Reflections on the Enigmatic Goddess: The Origins of Hekate and the Development of her Character to the End of the Fifth Century B.C.
Supervisor: John Garthwaite
Chelsea Johnston
Beware of that Cup!: The Role of Food-tasters in Ancient Society
Supervisor: Pat Wheatley
Lila Knight
From Commodus to Constantine: The Function and Administration of the Roman Imperial Mints in the Third Century CE
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Amanda Macauley
Plutarch and the Virtues of the Roman matrona: Feminine First Person Discourse in the Parallel Lives
Supervisor: Jon Hall
Andy MacManus
Roman Glass in the Otago Museum
Supervisor: Dan Osland
John Matthews
Doctor Ovid: Teaching what to whom in Tristia 2?
Supervisor: Jon Hall
Rhys Maurer
Agis III: Rebellion and Resistance – A historiographical account of Agis' rule and revolt in the context of Alexander's empire
Supervisor: Pat Wheatley
Jacqui Moate
'Alleviating Death Anxiety in Epicureanism'
Supervisor: Sean McConnell
Jon Rolfe
The Politics and Social Prestige of Priesthoods in the Late Republic
Supervisor: Jon Hall
Jessy Ruiter
Cultural Influences on Roman Burial Practices in the West
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Hannah Schmierer
'Men Who Conform to the Will of God': The Judaean Experience under the Early Ptolemies, According to Josephus
Supervisor: Pat Wheatley
Nathan Watson
From Philosophising Ass to Asinine Philosopher: Satire in Book 11 of Apuleius' Metamorphoses
Supervisor: John Garthwaite
Matthew Watts
India and South East trade with the Greek West: an examination of cross-cultural trade relations in the 4th Century BCE
Supervisor: Pat Wheatley
Classics BA with Honours
Classics BA (Honours) 2024
Kaleb Donald
Masculinity and Libertas: the Tamers of the Male Gaze
Supervisor: Sean McConnell
Ruby Dyke
Aristotelian Infinity in a Finite Universe: A Critical Close Reading of Aristotle’s Physics III
Supervisor: Sean McConnell
Julia Feehan
Life in the Oldest Profession: Examining the Lived Experience of Roman Sex Workers
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Charlie Hamblin
Gendering the Kneading Trough: Linguistic enquiry in Classical Athens
Supervisor: Sean McConnell
Alice Hodges
Modern Media Medeas: Magic, Mythology and Murder
Supervisor: Sean McConnell
Ella Mitchison
The Power Behind the Throne: A comparative study of the political power and influence of Livia Drusilla and Agrippina the Younger
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Hannah Moffat
Mobility Impairment in the Greco-Roman World
Supervisor: Dan Osland
George Morris
Some Roman Republican Coins from the Tūhura Otago Museum Collection
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Payton Yimloy
Seeing Double: Myth and Exemplarity in Ovid’s Ars Amatoria Supervisor: Sean McConnell
Classics BA (Honours) 2023
Jasmin Fisher
The Lions Odyssey: The Symbolic Journey of Lions in Homeric Epics, Tragedies, and Artistic Depictions
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Jade Guptill
Shedding Light on the Dark: An Archaeological Study of Settlement Patterns and Interactions in Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Greece
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Callum Hancock
Reimagining the Symposium: Using Artificial Intelligence to Engage with Classical Texts
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Classics BA (Honours) 2022
Ingrid Hurle
The Modern Identity Crisis for the Vestal Virgins
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Ruby Mackle
Influences on Virgil's Italian Landscapes
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Classics BA (Honours) 2021
Samuel W E Gamble
Fit For A God: The Emergence of the Greek Temple
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Taichi Kojima
The Man of Many Turns: The Heroism, Suffering, and Intellect of Odysseus
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Michael Mckenzie
The Arms and Armour of Alexander the Great's Macedonian Army
Supervisor: Pat Wheatley
Alessandro Pezzuto
The Golden Statesmen: Augustus and Pericles?
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Hannah Schmierer
Everywhere but His Back: The Injuries and Illnesses of Alexander the Great
Supervisor: Pat Wheatley
Morgan Page-Browne
Airs, Waters, Places: Ethnography or Medicine
Supervisor: Jon Hall
Lauryn Hortle
The Lion, the Witch, and the Weaver: A study in Modern Receptions of Homer's Odyssey
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Classics BA (Honours) 2020
Scott Bezett
Xenophon's Spartan Fabrication: The Construction of an Ideal State in Xenophon's Constitution of the Lacedaemonians
Supervisor: Sean McConnell
Ben Clarkson
Binding and Demons: δαίμονες in Ancient Greek κατάδεσμοι
Supervisor: Arlene Allan
Kiri Lenagh-Glue
Paene potius puer: The use and manipulation of age identifiers in Cicero's Philippicae
Supervisor: Jon Hall
Lydie Leurquin
To what extent did the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures influence the Late Bronze Age Aegean? A preliminary study of eastern Aegean tombs and the origins of the material culture.
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Rhys Maurer
The Tragic Rule of Lysimachus: A Thematic Study of the Exclusion of Lysimachus' Rule in the History of the Diadochi
Supervisor: Pat Wheatley
Megan Snell
The Roman Empire and Gaul, 260–476
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Eliza Thompson
Ideological change in Athenian Funerals: A Case Study of the Lekythoi Vases in the Otago Museum
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Classics BA (Honours) 2019
Tyler Broome
'Moral decline in Sallust's Bellum Catilinae and Bellum Iugurthinum'
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Madeleine Fountain
'Life on the Northern Frontier of Roman Britain'
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Pia Huston
'Gender in the Underworld'
Supervisor: Arlene Allan
Helena Jones
'Aristophanes' wives and lovers'
Supervisor: Arlene Allan
Sarah MacManus
'On the side of man: Athena as a civilizing force'
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Jacqui Moate
'Homer and the Presocratics on the soul'
Supervisor: Sean McConnell
Classics BA (Honours) 2018
Samantha Ball
'“...the Macedonians would never tolerate being governed by a woman” (Plut. Alex. 68.4). The Macedonian royal women as successors'
Supervisor: Pat Wheatley
John Blackler
'Deface the philosopher: a consideration of Lucian's contribution to Cynicism'
Supervisor: Sean McConnell
Robyn Cooper
'The archaeological evidence of Roman household religion'
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Heather Hutchings
'Form and function in Vergil's Georgics'
Supervisor: Sean McConnell
Charlotte Murray
'Mistresses, priestesses, and wives: an analysis of female power in fifth century Athens'
Supervisor: Arlene Allan
Jessy Ruiter
'The development of the Roman military shield'
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Matthew Watts
'Silver and sand: economic policies of Ptolemy I Soter'
Supervisor: Pat Wheatley
Classics BA (Honours) 2017
Tom Brown
Creating an Emperor: Examining the Augustan Persona through Time and Author
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Mallory Heslop
'Dying with Artemis: Greek women's lives, liminality, and encounters with death'
Supervisor: Arlene Allan
Lila Knight
Perceptions of Caligula's Relationship with the Roman Army on Imperial Coinage
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Tabitha Moe
Minoan Prowess
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Classics BA (Honours) 2016
Serena Gold
Deciphering Lost History: Arrian's τὰ μετὰ Ἀλέξανδρον and its Historical Significance
Supervisor: Pat Wheatley
Gene Haggie
Origins of felicitas in Sulla's Reign
Supervisor: Gwynaeth McIntyre
Libby Neumann
Seen but Not Heard: An Exploration of Childhood and the Role of Children in the Art and Archaeology of Campania
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Rowan Newton
Cognitive Spectatorship in Greek Theatre and Performative Ritual
Supervisor: Arlene Allan
Classics BA (Honours) 2015
Campbell Calverley
A Woman Scorned: Literary Representations of Phaedra
Supervisors: William Dominik and Jon Hall
Katie Greene
Iambic Invective: The Protest Music of Archaic Greece
Supervisor: Arlene Allan
Christopher Hawtin
An innovative proof of concept webpage featuring the first one-hundred lines of Virgil's Aeneid with digital annotations
Supervisor: Dan Osland
Ruth Tae'iloa
The Value of a Virtue: Homeric Masculinity in Traditional Tonga
Supervisor: Sean McConnell