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The material of this thesis is the area of personal humour roughly covered by τὸ ὸνομαστὶ κωμῳεν - the body of jokes which involve reference or allusion to individuals from the contemporary or near contemporary world, and which gave rise to the ancient compilation of κωμῳδούμενι. In an introductory chapter I draw on the combined evidence of plays and fragments to give some impression of the role of this type of satire in Old Comedy as a whole in the later fifth century, stressing in particular the overlap between Aristophanes' choice of targets and his rivals', and suggesting that this indicates the genre's capacity to create publicity for its own exploitation. The second chapter analyses the treatment of personal jokes in the scholia on Aristophanes, and shows that this typically involves a questionable model of satire, largely taken over by modern commentators on the plays, as a reflector of the truth about its targets. In the third chapter I argue that we need to adopt a view of Aristophanes as a much more active creator of publicity and of satirical images which may often owe as much to the appeal of popular stereotypes of disapproved behaviour as to the facts about the individuals to whom they are comically attached. Chapter four concentrates on choral jokes, demonstrating in particular the special scope for inventive satirical colour allowed by the separation of the major choral sections from the concerns of the dramatic episodes. The final chapter focusses on a variety of functional, formal and technical aspects of personal jokes: these include the ways in which jokes are integrated into the composition of dialogue; comically expressive uses of antilabe; the importance of the position of a name within the structure of a joke; and visual elements in personal satire. An index of names and references is included.

The aim of this thesis is twofold: it explores Giacomo Leopardi's (1798-1837) interpretation of, and engagement with, Greek pessimistic thought and, through him, it investigates the complex and elusive phenomenon of Greek pessimistic thought itself. This thesis contends that Greek pessimistic thought – epitomised by but not limited to the famous wisdom of Silenus, the µὴ φῦναι topos – is an important element of Greek thought, a fundamental part of some of Greece's greatest literary works, and a vital element in the understanding of Greek culture in general. Yet this aspect of ancient thought has not yet received the attention it deserves, and in the history of its interpretation it has often been forgotten, denied, or purposefully obliterated. Furthermore, the pessimistic side of Greek thought plays a crucial role in both the modern history of the interpretation of antiquity and the intellectual history of Europe; I argue that this history is fundamentally incomplete without the appreciation of Leopardi's role in it. By his study of and engagement with ancient sources Leopardi contributed to the 19th century rediscovery of Greek pessimistic wisdom, alongside, though chronologically before, the likes of Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Jacob Burckhardt. Having outlined some fundamental steps in the history of the reception of Greek pessimism, this thesis examines the cardinal components of Leopardi's reception of it: his use of Greek conceptions of humanity to undermine modernity's anthropocentric fallacy, his reinterpretation of the Homeric simile of the leaves and its pessimistic undertones, and his views on the idea that it would be best for man not to be born.

My PhD thesis, The Flower of Suffering, offers a philosophical evaluation of Aeschylus' Oresteia in light of Presocratic ideas. By examining several aspects of the tragic trilogy in relation to some of Aeschylus' near-contemporary thinkers, it aims to unravel the overarching theological ideas and the metaphysical and epistemological assumptions underpinning the Oresteia's dramatic narrative. My aim is to bring to relief those aspects of the Oresteia which I believe will benefit from a comparison with some ideas, or modes of thought, which circulated among the Presocratic philosophers. I will explore how reading some of this tragedy's themes in relation to Presocratic debates about theology and cosmic justice may affect and enhance our understanding of the theological ‘tension' and metaphysical assumptions in Aeschylus' work. In particular, it is my contention that Aeschylus' explicit theology, which has been often misinterpreted as a form of theodicy where the justice of heaven is praised and a faith in the rule of the gods is encouraged, is presented in these terms only to create a stronger collision with the painful reality dramatized from a human perspective. By setting these premises, it is my intention to confer on Greek tragedy a prominent position in the history of early Greek philosophical thought. If the exclusion of Presocratic material from debates about tragedy runs the risk of obscuring a thorough understanding of the broader cultural backdrop against which tragedy was born, the opposite is also true. Greek tragedy represents, in its own dramatic language, a fundamental contribution to early philosophical speculation about the divine, human attitudes towards it, indeed, the human place in relation to the cosmic forces which govern the universe.

Aristotle's concept of lexis has been discussed by numerous scholars, yet no comprehensive account of lexis has been produced so far. To fill this gap in scholarship, this thesis offers a systematic analysis of Aristotle's concept of lexis by dividing it into three levels, which allow a step-by-step approach to understanding this multi-layered concept. By considering Plato's and Isocrates' thoughts on lexis, Chapter 1 outlines the intellectual context in which Aristotle's ideas on the concept of lexis developed. Chapters 2-5 focus on the three levels of lexis and Chapter 6 brings a concluding discussion of metaphor. In Chapter 2 the linguistic elements treated under the notion of lexis and Aristotle's theory of language are delineated. These not only present Aristotle's thoughts on language as an abstract system, but they also form the most fundamental level upon which the remainder of Aristotle's thoughts on the concept of lexis are based. Chapter 3 explores Aristotle's remarks regarding individuals' use of linguistic elements as determined by sociolinguistic factors. Aristotle's occasional statements about language usage within the concept of lexis provide valuable pieces of evidence for studies in sociolinguistics and for his ideas on lexis on its third level as discussed in Chapters 4 and 5. In Chapter 4 the intra-textual aspect of Aristotle's remarks on lexis as a means for the creation of different kinds of poetry and rhetoric, i.e. lexis as technē, is examined. In Chapter 5 extra-textual factors are considered and are followed by a discussion of the purpose and function of lexis on its third level. Chapter 6 concludes the discussion of lexis by focusing on metaphor, the linguistic and stylistic element par excellence treated under the notion of lexis, which further highlights the benefits of a three-level approach to Aristotle's concept of lexis.

This thesis is dedicated to exploring the ways in which Chrysippus, the third head of the Stoic philosophical school, employed beauty terms (especially to kalon) in his arguments, and what conceptualisation of aesthetic properties these usages underpin. It consists of an introduction, five chapters and an epilogue. I start my enquiry by presenting some general philosophical issues pertinent to theories of the beautiful and discussing methodological issues, including the problematic nature of fragmentary Stoic sources. Then the consecutive five chapters are dedicated to analysing and discussing the following Chrysippean ideas and arguments: the Stoic definition of beauty as summetria, the role that beauty plays in the process of acquiring philosophical knowledge, the argument that only the beautiful is the good, the Stoic theological and theodicean arguments that use the presence of beauty to establish the rational generation/maintenance of the world and, finally, Stoic ideas on human beauty, particularly concentrating on their paradoxical claim that only the wise man is beautiful. In the epilogue, I briefly summarise my arguments and discuss how Stoic ideas could be of interest even today. All my examinations of Chrysippus' ideas in this work result in the reconstruction of his theorisation of aesthetic properties in more generally as well as the evaluation of not only the significance of his ideas in their historical context but also their contribution to the aesthetic tradition in general.

This thesis offers a technically informed examination of Plato's pervasive, though not innocent, use of musical theory, practice and musical concepts more generally within the ambitious ethical project outlined in many of his dialogues: fostering the ‘excellence' of the soul. Starting from Republic 3, Chapter 1 will focus specifically on music stricto sensu in order to assess Plato's interpretation of the basic ‘building blocks' of musical performances, creating a core repertoire of musical concepts that will prepare the way to analyse Plato's use of musical terms or categories in areas that, at first sight, do not appear to be immediately connected to this art, such as politics, ethics and psychology. Chapter 2 examines a selection of passages from Laws 2 concerning the concept of musical beauty and its role in ethical education, demonstrating how Plato's definition is far from being moralistic and, instead, pays close attention to the technical performative aspects of dramatic musical representations. Chapter 3 looks first at the harmonic characterisation of the two central virtues of the ideal city, sophrosyne and dikaiosyne, showing how their musical depictions are not purely metaphoric: on the contrary, Plato exploited their cultural implications to emphasise the characteristics and the functions of these virtues in the ideal constitution. The second half of Chapter 3 analyses the Platonic portrayal of musical παρανομία, studying both its educational and psychological repercussions in the dialogue and in relations to contemporary Athenian musical practices. Chapter 4 looks at how different types of music may be used to create an inner harmonic order of passions in the soul in different contexts: the musical-mimetic education outlined in the Republic, the musical enhancement of the psychological energies in the members of the Chorus of Dionysus in the Laws, and finally the role of the aulos in the Symposium.

Often praised for its sophistication in the narrator- and character-text, the Odyssey is regarded as the ultimate epic of a warrior’s much-troubled nostos. As a corollary of both its theme and the polytropia of the main hero, the poem explores extensively the motifs of secrecy and disguise. Apart from the lying tales of Odysseus, one important, albeit less obvious, example of the tendency to secrecy and disguise is the exchanges between the gods, which constitute a distinct group of speeches that have significant implications for the action of the poem. The aim of this dissertation is to study the divine dialogues of the Odyssey from the angle of communication and persuasion. Employing findings from narratology, discourse analysis, and oral poetics, and through close readings of the Homeric text, I argue that the overwhelming majority of these related passages have certain characteristics, whose common denominator is obliqueness. Apart from Helius’ appeal to Zeus (Chapter 2), distinctive in its own narratorial rendition, the rest of the dialogues, namely Hermes’ message-delivery to Calypso (Prologue), the two divine assemblies (Chapter 1), plus the exchanges of Zeus with Poseidon (Chapter 2) and Athena (Epilogue) conform to set patterns of communication. Within this framework, interlocutors strongly tend towards concealment and partiality. They make extensive use of conversational implicatures, shed light only on certain sides of the story while suppressing others, and present feigned or even exaggerated arguments in order to persuade their addressee. Direct confrontation is in principle avoided, and even when it does occur, it takes a rather oblique form. In this communicative scheme, the procedure of decision-making is not clear-cut, and the concept of persuasion is fluid and hidden behind the indirect and subtle dialogic process.

The principal claim defended in this thesis is that for Aristotle arousing the emotions of others can amount to giving them proper grounds for conviction, and hence a skill in doing so is properly part of an expertise in rhetoric. We set out Aristotle’s view of rhetoric as exercised solely in the provision of proper grounds for conviction (pisteis) and show how he defends this controversial view by appeal to a more widely shared and plausible view of rhetoric’s role in the proper functioning of the state. We then explore in more detail what normative standards must be met for something to qualify as “proper grounds for conviction”, applying this to all three of Aristotle’s kinds of “technical proofs” (entechnoi pisteis). In the case of emotion, meeting these standards is a matter of arousing emotions that constitute the reasonable acceptance of premises in arguments that count in favour of the speaker’s conclusion. We then seek to show that Aristotle’s view of the emotions is compatible with this role. This involves opposing the view that in Rhetoric I.1 Aristotle rejects any role for emotion-arousal in rhetoric (a view that famously generates a contradiction with the rest of the treatise). It also requires rejecting the view of Rhetoric II.2-11 on which, for Aristotle, the distinctive outlook involved in emotions is merely how things “appear” to the subject.

The thesis consists of five chapters: the first functions as an overture; the second, third and fourth deal with Plato, Cicero and Montaigne respectively; and the fifth raises some questions. The overture explores the ways in which Odysseus, Lucretius and Seneca approached death, and in the process introduces some obvious distinctions - between death viewed as the act of dying and death viewed as the state of being dead, between the death which comes to everyone and the death which comes to me, between our own death and the death of others - and anticipates certain recurring themes. The second chapter, on Plato, is concerned chiefly with the Phaedo and the question of what is involved in "the practice of death". This entails an examination of related concepts and terminology in the Gorgias and the Republic, and of the whole subject of Platonic myth. The third chapter discusses Cicero's views on death and immortality - both the considered reflections of the philosopher and the spontaneous reactions of the bereaved father - principally as these emerge from the Tusculan Disputations and the letters to Atticus. The fourth chapter approaches Montaigne - his own experiences of death, the relationship between his earlier and later approaches, the tension between his professed Catholicism and his pagan inclinations, the difficulty and perhaps undesirability of extracting a 'message' from the Essais on this or any other subject. The conclusion asks to what extent these various approaches succeed in what they set out to do, and whether any generalised, objective approach to death can ever successfully address the individual predicament, either in relation to one's own death or in facing bereavement.

This thesis consists of four individual studies, divided into two sections; "Narrative Structure" and "Narrative Texture". The first chapter ("Heliodoros and the Conventions of Romance") addresses the issue of the essence of romance; it attempts to get behind the narrative of the Aithiopika in such a way as to reveal how Heliodoros works within the boundaries and received practice of the genre ancient romance, and how he adapts and deviates from them. The second chapter ("Hearing Voices: Incorporated Genres in the Aithiopika") deals with genre, but in a different context. This study takes a concept- incorporated genre- from the theorist M.M. Bakhtin, and applies it to Heliodoros' narrative. Here the term "genre" takes on a broader significance, meaning not the romances themselves, but types of narrative, and ways of narrating, which Heliodoros has introduced into his story. Both chapters one and two are systematic analyses of the text; they deal with how Heliodoros has structured his narrative in ways conventional and unconventional. In the final chapters the term genre encompasses specific works and literary groupings. These studies help to demonstrate how Heliodoros has fleshed out the basic structure of the Aithiopika, or, in other words, they provide a feel for some of the texture of the romance. "Heliodoros and Homer" is explicitly narratological in outlook, showing one way in which Heliodoros has provided a paradigm for reading, perhaps not just the novel itself, but specifically within the novel the references to and allusions from Homer. "Heliodoros and Tragedy" tackles the meaning of theatricality, and references to the theatre, in an author writing in the late Roman Empire. But this chapter, too, provides a glimpse at the narrative texture, especially with regard to the way in which Heliodoros co-opted yet another literary predecessor, Euripides.