Papers by Katherine A Gruber
The Greek sport of wrestling and the pankration reflect intriguing aspects of identity, iconograp... more The Greek sport of wrestling and the pankration reflect intriguing aspects of identity, iconography, and rituals to achieve manhood. I will look at the Panhellenic game's organization and the development of male identities by reviewing pankration and wrestling iconography on pottery against literary sources. I looked at how the ancient Greek education for the games is structured to envisage a character that can help build and defend a territory against foreign enemies. Additionally, based on the decorated pots, I focus on how male-gendered roles are portrayed and the ideas behind artistic expressions showing naked youths fighting and training for these events. Using spatial analysis, I focused on the academic discourse of how depicting the pankration or wrestling on pottery can be similar or different depending on the available data. I aim to inform my reader how some of these pots should be contextualized as a group and then individually based on general attributes and individual characteristics. In the conclusion, I discuss how this scrutiny shows the importance of depicting the pankration and wrestling in various public forums.
The Ancient Greek athletic community had four main great 'Panhellenic' festivals to compete in, O... more The Ancient Greek athletic community had four main great 'Panhellenic' festivals to compete in, Olympic, Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian games. The goal for competing in the festivities is to have the victors commemorate themselves or by others in their polis, and this would have involved poetry being written about their victory being granted by the gods. In addition to the poetry, they commissioned portrait sculptures in honor of their achievement. My research focuses on the spatial spheres of the Olympic and Pythian Games using Pindar's epinikion poetry and cross-referencing them with sanctuary art and architecture. Additionally, this study will focus on the meaning and significance between νíκη and ἀρετή.
The four major festivals of the Panhellenic games were: Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian ga... more The four major festivals of the Panhellenic games were: Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games. Of these four sites, ancient Olympia and Delphi are unique archaeological sites because they have multiple geographic features that are natural hazards and could threaten cultural heritage preservation. Ancient Olympia and Delphi are surrounded by loose sediment hills and experience seismic events, but both sites have different risk factors. The site of Ancient Olympia is on a flood plain of the Alpheios and Kladeos rivers. The site of Delphi is carved into the lower slope of Mount Parnassus, which creates an iso-elevation layout of the site, making it susceptible to soil erosion and landslides. Image processing techniques allow for fast detection by comparing pre-and post-satellite imagery statistics utilizing textural and brightness patterns. In these cases, these techniques yielded significant results in certain areas of the site concerning surface displacement and recommendations on how to improve the maintenance care of a site. Combined with results from archaeological surveys, archaeologists and preservationists can develop techniques beyond these case studies to monitor cultural heritage sites and better determine how to excavate the sites for future exploration.
The intentional damage to Syrian Cultural Heritage sites since the start of the Civil War in 2011... more The intentional damage to Syrian Cultural Heritage sites since the start of the Civil War in 2011 has received widespread reporting coverage from major media outlets. Satellite data provides a way to monitor the damage in these non-accessible areas. Image processing techniques allow for fast detection by extracting textural and brightness value changes and comparing pre-and post- satellite images. Highlighting damaged buildings and sites enables the experts to assess the damages to these designated Cultural Heritage sites. Areas that are confirmed examples of looting and site damage can be used to develop techniques to monitor Middle Eastern Heritage sites and the destruction of their surrounding environment.
This paper will explore the representation of Roman deities in the art of Roman Britain from post... more This paper will explore the representation of Roman deities in the art of Roman Britain from post-conquest around the 1st c. to 4th c. AD. Starting at the time of Roman occupation in Britain around 43 AD, Roman religious iconography is concentrated in areas with fortresses. Scholars often point out the high degree of organization brought in by the legions and colonies of Roman veterans in the 1st c. AD to commission and import works made in a Roman manner. The production and importation of Roman material concentrated on commemoration for the dead and religious images. Physical remains of earlier fortresses reveal highly decorated Roman motifs with Mars and Venus. During the Roman conquest, Mars played a significant role for the legions as the figure of war, agrarianism, and protector against disease. Venus is a prominent Roman goddess sculpted to emphasize a female’s biological functions and is connected to the founding of Rome through her son Aeneas. Virgil, a favored Latin poet of Augustus, sculpted a narrative that Rome’s objective was to rule over all but spare the conquered and put down the proud.1 The portraits of Mars and Venus play a significant role in consolidating powers to communicate different messages of Roman traditions. Over time, post-conquest, artisans would romanticize the occupation by showing Roman deities reshaped into Celtic art. Martin Henig and Claire Lindgren present these reshaped classical art forms to show plurality and contrast of standards found in objects classified as Roman influenced at various locations in Britain. The adapted art forms of the deities require a change in the relationship between artists and their patrons. I will be analyzing the depiction of Mars and Venus as it moves away from the major concentration of troops supporting workshops into urban settings. This examination will help establish the nature of Roman contribution to Celtic art and how the deity figures were modified and perceived after the conquest of Britain.
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Papers by Katherine A Gruber