Archaeology

Despite rarely appearing together in art and mythology, Gorgons and Sirens have a great deal in common. Although many hybrid creatures evolved in the human imagination over time, Gorgons and Sirens have had a particularly interesting journey from being depicted primarily as fearsome monsters to appearing as something much more human, and even benevolent, in different time periods and in different contexts. Both belong to groups of sisters, and share a primordial connection to water through their parentage. Both groups of sisters reside on remote islands in distant seas, not creatures you would happen upon by accident, but figures that are encountered by heroes and travelers. Both are inherently associated with the senses: the Gorgon’s gaze, the Siren’s song. And both are intimately connected with death and the underworld. Looking closely at iconography and literary sources between the 7th and 4th centuries BCE, this thesis aims to explore these areas of overlap, and to examine whether the development of Gorgons and Sirens in the visual record was a linear process, or if it was instead more complex and dependent on context. (2020)

Image credit: Plate with Gorgoneion surrounded by Sirens, a Sphinx, and wild animals, the Gorgon Painter, ca. 600 BCE, Walters Art Museum

The great fear of proponents of globalism and encyclopedic museums is that succumbing to nationalistic repatriation pressures will open a floodgate of claims from all over the world, draining museums of their treasures. But surely there is a middle ground that can be achieved. The attempts of the Italian government to exercise total control of their cultural patrimony represent one extreme. The refusal of the British Museum to recognize and remedy historical power imbalances represents another extreme. One may say that, “no one owns classical antiquity,” implying that it is impossible for any one country, culture, or entity to lay claim to our shared cultural heritage. Alternatively one may say, “everyone owns classical antiquity,” if we can work together toward preserving a truly shared human heritage. (2018)

Image credit: Installation view of the Victorious Youth at the Getty Villa, J. Paul Getty Museum

This essay explores two ancient monuments—the Parthenon in Athens, and the Templeof Zeus at Olympia—and the colossal statues that once resided inside them. Much of what we know about the temples, and particularly the statues, we owe to Pausanias and his detailed descriptions of what he saw when he visited these sites over eighteen hundred years ago. (2018)

There are a lot of truly wonderful things you can see and hear about in Greece.—Pausanias 5.10.1

Image credit: Jupiter Olympien, Quatramère de Quincy, 1814. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

This essay is not a biography, but rather an exploration of how details of Livia’s life can shed light on the nature of the imperial household. Livia owned property throughout the Roman Empire—including Italy, Egypt, Gaul, Sicily, Asia Minor and Palestine—but this essay focuses on her two primary residences: the Domus Livia on the Palatine Hill in Rome, and the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta. Specifically, it examines how the archaeological record, ancient literary sources, epigraphy, and archaeozoology can help us reconstruct at least a partial picture of Livia’s town and country households. (2019)

Image credit: Villa de Livia, Wikimedia Commons

This essay explores how Hadrian’s politics and personality shaped the city of Rome and reflected the state of the empire during the early 2nd century. It examines the literary sources and looks closely at three important temples within the city limits, which embody key themes of Hadrian’s imperial vision: the Temple of Trajan, the Temple of Venus and Roma, and the Pantheon. (2019)

Image credit: The Pantheon, Wikimedia Commons 

This essay seeks to understand the Baths of Caracalla from the perspectives of those who engaged with the monument during the height of its popularity in antiquity, as well as into the post-Roman period. Starting with a general overview of Roman baths and bathing, the essay touches briefly on Caracalla himself, and then explore the Baths as an ancient visitor might have done, before concluding with a look at the evolution of the Baths from antiquity to the present day. (2019)

Image credit: Baths of Caracalla