Thesis

[hawkwing_lb]

In case any of you, at this point, are wondering what sort of animal my thesis is, I post the outline of what the final draft should look like below the cut.


"Isis in Greece between the death of Alexander and the age of Augustus: case studies on Delos and Athens"


1. Introduction.

i.) research aims

ii.) outline of pre-Alexander Greco-Egyptian contact


2. The Archaeological Evidence for the Cult of Isis at Delos and Athens
(this section will treat of the evidence diachronically)

i.) Delos

ii.) Athens

iii.) some remarks on the inter-relationship between Delos and Athens (period of Athenian domination, etc.)


3. The Image of Isis

i.) Representations

ii.) Literature

a. Philae - Lower Egypt
b. Isidorus - Fayyum
c. aretalogies - M-text, Kyme, Maroneia, Apuleius
d. epithets in inscriptions

iii.) the relationship between Isis and Demeter at Athens

iv.) assessment of the image of Isis - change, continuity, universality and specificity


4. Theoretical Models for Assessing the spread/popularity/form of the cult of Isis in Greece

i.) trends in Hellenistic religion: widening horizons and universal and personal deities

ii.) hellenisation vs. hybridity: does our vocabulary affect our view of Hellenistic cults?


History is fun.