Date of Graduation
8-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies (MA)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies
Advisor/Mentor
David Fredrick
Committee Member
Rhodora Vennarucci
Second Committee Member
Mohja Kahf
Third Committee Member
Curtis Maughan
Keywords
Epigraphy;Graffiti;Network Analysis;Pompeii;Space Syntax;Virgil
Abstract
This study analyzes Pompeian domestic spaces in which graffiti that quote the works of Virgil have been found. This is particularly compelling because of the Aeneid’s status as a ‘national epic,’ simultaneously ‘high’ culture and seemingly part of the ‘common’ imagination. In the past scholars have argued that the presence of Virgilian graffiti was not indicative of widespread interaction with Virgil, and that a select few individuals were responsible for these quotations. Drawing from ideas proposed by modern graffiti studies and spatial theorists and employing the methodology developed by the Virtual Pompeii Project, this study uses network analysis measures to show that a variety of people likely created Virgilian graffiti, rebutting former assumptions that they were the work only of educated elite men or school children.
Citation
Murray, R. (2023). Who Sings and Who Falls Silent? A Spatial and Social Analysis of Virgilian Graffiti in Pompeii. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/4858