Unmasking Bacchus : an examination of gender constructions in in the participants of Bacchic rites
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Ramsden, Madeline Emma
issued: 2020-05-19T16:37:51Z
issued: 2020
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: The rites of Bacchus have long been a source of intrigue among academics. Previous scholarship has often assumed a normative set of Bacchic worship based on the literary evidence available to us, primarily Euripides’ Bacchae. As a result, scholars these rites as a female-only set of practices. However, epigraphic and archaeological evidence has revealed more diversity in the rites, leading scholars to challenge gender composition of participants within the rites. It is now known men and women participated in these rites equally. This thesis seeks to further our understanding of the gender of participants in Bacchic rites by examining how the gender identities of participants were constructed across the various media of Bacchic rites. I argue that, in the epigraphic evidence, participants are represented as conforming to conventional gender norms, whereas literary sources construct participants as subverting these norms. Through the production and display of inscriptions, participants in Bacchic rites legitimated their practice and promoted their rites. In reverse, the literature constructs participants as subverting traditional gender roles, which serves to delegitimize the rites and participants and acts as a discourse of deterrence from the rites. This research also points out a larger issue regarding the study of gender in antiquity: the conflicting representation of Bacchic participants in the literary and epigraphic evidence acts as a reminder to historians that gender is not a neutral subject. As such, constructions of gender identities across any ancient media must, in the future, be viewed with a critical eye.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/74522
note: UNMASKING BACCHUS: AN EXAMINATION OF GENDER CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE PARTICIPANTS OF BACCHIC RITES by Madeline Emma Ramsden B.A., The University of British Columbia, 2016 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Ancient Culture, Religion, and Ethnicity) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2020 © Madeline Emma Ramsden, 2020 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, a thesis entitled: Unmasking Bacchus: An Examination of Gender Constructions in the Participants of Bacchic Rites submitted by Madeline Emma Ramsden in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Ancient Culture, Religion, and Ethnicity Examining Committee: Dr. Katharine Huemoeller, Assistant Professor, Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies, UBC Supervisor Dr. Matthew McCarty, Assistant Professor, Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies, UBC Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract The rites of Bacchus have long been a source of intrigue among academics. Previous scholarship has often assumed a normative set of Bacchic worship based on the literary evidence available to us, primarily Euripides’ Bacchae. As a result, scholars these rites as a female-only set of practices. However, epigraphic and archaeological evidence has revealed more diversity in the rites, leading scholars to challenge gender composition of participants within the rites. It is now known men and women participated in these rites equally. This thesis seeks to further our understanding of the gender of participants in Bacchic rites by examining how the gender identities of participants were constructed across the various media of Bacchic rites. I argue that, in the epigraphic evidence, participants are represented as conforming to conventional gender…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2020-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0390917
language: eng
degree discipline: Ancient Culture, Religion and Ethnicity
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/74522