Eta Sigma Phi sponsored a panel of papers at the recent meeting of the Southern Section of the Middle West and South. The five papers were selected by the Program Committee from twenty submitted by undergraduate members. Kirsten Block, a recent graduate of Hillsdale College and presently a graduate at Notre Dame University, analyzed the usage of the term ὀργή in the second book of Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War. She noted a particular meaning of the word when Pericles applied it to the Athenian assembly. Michelle Currie, formerly of Rhodes College and now pursuing a graduate degree at Florida State University, described the Roman attributes of the final scenes of Seneca’s Medea. The escape of the anti-heroine shares many qualities with a Roman triumph. Emily Goodling, a junior at Hillsdale College, diligently reviewed the detailed descriptions of Venus from the story of Cupid and Psyche in Apuleius. These ekphrases vivify the images for the novel’s audience. Sean Minion of Xavier University in Cincinnati noted a basic paradigm for the sons of heroes in Homer and the post-Homerica. He further explained how the lives of Neoptolemus and Telemachus interact with that paradigm. Andrew Zigler of the University of Texas at Austin addressed the thorny question of the origins of Mithraism in the Roman Empire. He suggested an origin during the reign of Nero as a result of the visit of the Armenian king Tiridates I to Rome.
The papers were offered in honor Thomas J. Sienkewicz, who recently completed his term as Executive Secretary. He served in that position for ten years.
The conference was held from November 1-3 at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
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