Patrick Lee Miller

Writing

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Philology

Oedipus Rex Revisited:
A comparison of recent psychoanalytic and philological interpretations of Sophocles' play, arguing that each field helps supplement the shortcomings of the other. A synthetic interpretation is offered according to which the tragedy depicts not so much "oedipal" problems as "pre-oedipal" trauma. Oedipus re-enacts this trauma-of betrayal, abandonment, and expulsion-and Sophocles thereby issues prophetic warnings not only to the Athenians of the Greek enlightenment, but also to psychoanalysis. ("Oedipus Rex Revisited," in Modern Psychoanalysis v.21, n.2 (Summer, 2007), 229-50.)

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The Body and the Body Politic: Disease in Hippocrates and Thucydides:
An application of the Hippocratic model of disease to Thucydides-not only to his discussion of the plague of Athens, but also to his discussion of civil war. This MA thesis argues that for Thucydides civil war is a 'disease' of the 'body politic'.

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Symptoms of Love in Greek Poetry:
By focusing on the portraits of Romantic love in Sappho, Euripides, Theocritus, and Apollonius of Rhodes, and noticing the more elaborate and specific symptoms of lovesickness in the later poets, this paper argues for an influence of Hippocratic and Alexandrian gynecology on Greek love poetry, and thus perhaps also Greek love.

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The Many Faces of Hellenistic Sculpture:
This paper introduces the method of facial expression analysis developed by Paul Ekman, and then applies it, first, to the most famous and expressive Hellenistic sculptures, and then to the portraits of philosophers that were ubiquitous during the period. The aim is to show how significantly the expressions differ, sometimes undermining certain philosophers' pretence of impassivity.

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The Evolution of Roman Legal Language:
A comparison of the language of the earliest extant Roman code, the XII Tables (449 BC), and the language of the latest one, the Theodosian Code (438 AD), finding the first rich in meter, rhyme, and the other elements of poetry, whereas the second labors under the weight of bureaucratic prose.

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Sexual Misconduct in the Annales:
A presentation of Tacitus' examples of sexual misconduct (e.g., adultery, incest, prostitution) which argues that the Augustan moral legislation which sought to stabilize the state by regulating sexual behavior instead became a focus of subversive activity: first of spurious criminal charges, under Tiberius; later of outlandish displays of vice, under Nero.

Roman and Judeo-Christian Marriage in Literature:
A comparison of Catullus 61 and the Song of Songs that reveals a few surprising results: that Catullus is not only far more concerned with divinity than the Song, but also that the Song accords much more importance to female desire and voice.

The Fall of Babylon:
A comparison of three accounts of the events of 539 BC-Cyrus' Cylinder, Herodotus, and Isaiah-attempting to elicit how competing world-views (Persian conqueror, Greek historian, and Jewish prophet) colored interpretation of these events.

Pseudolus and his Legacy:
A comparison of Plautus' Pseudolus with Molière's L'Etourdi and Beaumarchais's Le Mariage de Figaro, extracting from them the ten essential elements of plot that each preserves from its parent.

Dido and Depression:
An analysis of Dido's psychology according to the list of symptoms characteristic of the Major Depressive Episode found in the DSM IV; the list, however, is found to be lacking in one important symptom, a symptom which Hamlet also suffers and which Emily Dickinson accurately describes.

Bernard on the Body:
An examination of St. Bernard's attitude to the body in his Sermon on the Song of Songs. This paper argues that Bernard, in the tradition of Catholic orthodoxy stemming from St. Paul, values the body as an integral component of the human person, especially when he is read against the background of his Catharist contemporaries.

Félicité:
A vindication of Flaubert's character of the maid from Un Coeur Simple as an authentic Christian hero, perhaps even a saint, rather than, as many critics have assumed her to be, a parody of Christian piety (in French).

Infinity in a Moment: Flaubert, Proust, Augustine:
A comparison of three episodes of ecstasy, and particularly the experience of multiple moments in an instant: the first sentimental, the second artistic, and the third spiritual.

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Roman and Judeo-Christian Marriage in Literature:
A comparison of Catullus 61 and the Song of Songs that reveals a few surprising results: that Catullus is not only far more concerned with divinity than the Song, but also that the Song accords much more importance to female desire and voice.

The Fall of Babylon:
A comparison of three accounts of the events of 539 BC-Cyrus' Cylinder, Herodotus, and Isaiah-attempting to elicit how competing world-views (Persian conqueror, Greek historian, and Jewish prophet) colored interpretation of these events.

Pseudolus and his Legacy:
A comparison of Plautus' Pseudolus with Molière's L'Etourdi and Beaumarchais's Le Mariage de Figaro, extracting from them the ten essential elements of plot that each preserves from its parent.

Dido and Depression:
An analysis of Dido's psychology according to the list of symptoms characteristic of the Major Depressive Episode found in the DSM IV; the list, however, is found to be lacking in one important symptom, a symptom which Hamlet also suffers and which Emily Dickinson accurately describes.