An investigation into the witch-figure in Roman literature

Cavanagh, Nicola (2001). An investigation into the witch-figure in Roman literature. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis sets out to investigate the social and cultural fears articulated in the representation of the witch-figure in Roman literature.

Chapter 1 begins by dismantling barriers to her interpretation, which exist in translations that persist in viewing her as a ‘witch’ in the modern sense.

Chapter 2 suggests that we can tell much about the witch-figure and the fears she embodied by investigating the environment she inhabited in the text.

Chapter 3 is a consideration of the witch-figure as the embodiment of Roman fears about the potency of animal v.’s human sacrifice and the limits of violence and cruelty. Set within the framework of state-sanctioned violence her cruel actions are designed to repel and fascinate the reader whilst articulating these real fears.

Chapter 4 looks at the visual nature of the witch-figure’s representation. This chapter covers forms of visuality as wide-ranging as hair fetishes and Hellenistic sculptures of old women in order to set the witch-figure in her visual context and to decide how the Romans imagined her.

These chapters dismantle and rebuild the image of the witch-figure using Roman literature as evidence, the body as a canvas and theories of fetishism and abjection as tools.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):