Susanne Moraw
EDUCATION
1995 Ph.D., Freie Universität Berlin, Dissertation: Die Mänade in der attischen Vasenmalerei des 6. und 5. Jhs. v. Chr. – Rezeptionsästhetische Analyse eines antiken Weiblichkeitsentwurfs , Advisor: Adolf H. Borbein
1992 M.A., Freie Universität Berlin, Advisor: Luca Giuliani
CURRENT POSITION
Privatdozentin at Augsburg University
AREAS OF RESEARCH
Art, religion and culture of Ancient Greece; ancient Greek theatre; imagery and culture of Late Antiquity; gender studies; childhood studies; human-animal studies; thanatoarchaeology
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
since 2017 Universität Augsburg, Department of Classics
2017–2021 Universität Leipzig, Department of Classics
2016 Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Department of Classics
since 2002 Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, Department of Classics
2000–2002 Ludwig Maximilians Universität Munich, Department of Classics
1997–1998 Universität Rostock, Department of Classics
SCHOLARLY ACTIVITIES
2022 co-organizer of the international conference "Family Affairs? The Intergenerational Transmission of Religious Knowledge", Augsburg University
2015 Habilitation at Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, Department of Classics, habilitation thesis: Die Odyssee in der Spätantike. Bildliche und literarische Rezeption
2010 co-organizer of the international conference "Mädchen im Altertum/Girls in Antiquity", Berlin, in collaboration with "FemArc. Network of Women in Archaeology"
2009 co-organizer of the international conference "Bild – Raum - Handlung", Berlin, in collaboration with "TOPOI. The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations", Exzellenzcluster of the Freie Universität Berlin
since 2005 one of the editors of the series "Frauen – Forschung – Archäologie" (www.femarc.de/hgg/index.html)
since 2004 member of the managing committee of "FemArc. Network of Women in Archaeology" (www.femarc.de)
2002 co-organizer of the international conference "Die andere Seite der Klassik – Gewalt im 5. und 4. Jh. v. Chr." , Bonn, in collaboration with the exhibition "Die griechische Klassik. Idee oder Wirklichkeit"
1999–2003 chair of the working party "Bild und Gesellschaft im antiken Griechenland"
FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS AWARDED
2021-2022 Visiting professorship at Jakob-Fugger-Center of Augsburg University
2010 AIA Study in the United States Fellowship, Brown University (Providence, RI)
2002–2004 Postdoctoral Research Grant Friedrich Schiller University, Jena
2000 International Exchange of Museum’s Employees Fellowship, Musée de l’Ephèbe, Le Cap d’Agde (France)
1996–1997 Travel Grant of the German Archaeological Institute
1992–1994 Berlin Senate Fellowship for Women’s Studies
MEMBERSHIPS
since 2012 International Network for the Study on Late Antiqity (ILAN)
since 2008 working group Archaeology and Gender in Europe (AGE) at the European Association of Archaeologists
since 2007 Archäologische Gesellschaft zu Berlin. Elected member
since 2006 Mommsen-Gesellschaft. Verband der deutschsprachigen Forscherinnen und Forscher auf dem Gebiet des Griechisch-Römischen Altertums
since 1995 Deutscher Archäologen-Verband
since 1994 FemArc. Netzwerk archäologisch arbeitender Frauen.
1995 Ph.D., Freie Universität Berlin, Dissertation: Die Mänade in der attischen Vasenmalerei des 6. und 5. Jhs. v. Chr. – Rezeptionsästhetische Analyse eines antiken Weiblichkeitsentwurfs , Advisor: Adolf H. Borbein
1992 M.A., Freie Universität Berlin, Advisor: Luca Giuliani
CURRENT POSITION
Privatdozentin at Augsburg University
AREAS OF RESEARCH
Art, religion and culture of Ancient Greece; ancient Greek theatre; imagery and culture of Late Antiquity; gender studies; childhood studies; human-animal studies; thanatoarchaeology
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
since 2017 Universität Augsburg, Department of Classics
2017–2021 Universität Leipzig, Department of Classics
2016 Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Department of Classics
since 2002 Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, Department of Classics
2000–2002 Ludwig Maximilians Universität Munich, Department of Classics
1997–1998 Universität Rostock, Department of Classics
SCHOLARLY ACTIVITIES
2022 co-organizer of the international conference "Family Affairs? The Intergenerational Transmission of Religious Knowledge", Augsburg University
2015 Habilitation at Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, Department of Classics, habilitation thesis: Die Odyssee in der Spätantike. Bildliche und literarische Rezeption
2010 co-organizer of the international conference "Mädchen im Altertum/Girls in Antiquity", Berlin, in collaboration with "FemArc. Network of Women in Archaeology"
2009 co-organizer of the international conference "Bild – Raum - Handlung", Berlin, in collaboration with "TOPOI. The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations", Exzellenzcluster of the Freie Universität Berlin
since 2005 one of the editors of the series "Frauen – Forschung – Archäologie" (www.femarc.de/hgg/index.html)
since 2004 member of the managing committee of "FemArc. Network of Women in Archaeology" (www.femarc.de)
2002 co-organizer of the international conference "Die andere Seite der Klassik – Gewalt im 5. und 4. Jh. v. Chr." , Bonn, in collaboration with the exhibition "Die griechische Klassik. Idee oder Wirklichkeit"
1999–2003 chair of the working party "Bild und Gesellschaft im antiken Griechenland"
FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS AWARDED
2021-2022 Visiting professorship at Jakob-Fugger-Center of Augsburg University
2010 AIA Study in the United States Fellowship, Brown University (Providence, RI)
2002–2004 Postdoctoral Research Grant Friedrich Schiller University, Jena
2000 International Exchange of Museum’s Employees Fellowship, Musée de l’Ephèbe, Le Cap d’Agde (France)
1996–1997 Travel Grant of the German Archaeological Institute
1992–1994 Berlin Senate Fellowship for Women’s Studies
MEMBERSHIPS
since 2012 International Network for the Study on Late Antiqity (ILAN)
since 2008 working group Archaeology and Gender in Europe (AGE) at the European Association of Archaeologists
since 2007 Archäologische Gesellschaft zu Berlin. Elected member
since 2006 Mommsen-Gesellschaft. Verband der deutschsprachigen Forscherinnen und Forscher auf dem Gebiet des Griechisch-Römischen Altertums
since 1995 Deutscher Archäologen-Verband
since 1994 FemArc. Netzwerk archäologisch arbeitender Frauen.
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Papers by Susanne Moraw
As a case study, the paper examines the tomb painting of a Late Antique elite girl from Naples. It will be shown that at least in this case, gender was less important for identity than were social status, religion and sanctity. This slightly surprising emphasis was generated first by the family’s high social status (combined with the wish to propagate this status) and second by the task that had been assigned to the little girl: to be the instrument of her parents’ salvation. As such she is represented in the tomb painting, independent of what kind of identity she may have experienced herself. A final paragraph is devoted to the methodological implications that follow from this for the study of gender in Late Antiquity. These implications involve awareness of the kind of evidence that is analyzed, a plea for an intersectional approach, and the question of how many different genders one should postulate for Late Antique society.
When represented as interacting with males, the goddesses were subjected to the gender norms of Late Antique society. These norms asked for male supremacy, visualized by means of composition and iconography, even in those cases where the represented males were mortals, such as an emperor or a high magistrate. Female supremacy, on the other hand, was rendered as inherently bad. A goddess who is dominating other gods or even male mortals is a cautionary tale. The only exception are deptictions of females dominating beings of clear-cut inferiority. This is proven by numerous images of Venus with her retinue of Nereids, Erotes, and creatures of the sea.
Abstract ‒ A tomb painting in the San Gennaro catacomb in Naples depicts a late antique Christian family, consisting of father, mother and an infant daughter named Nonnosa. Referring to research on intersectionality – especially the multilevel analysis represented by Nina Degele and Gabriele Winker –, this paper aims at investigating Nonnosa’s various social identities. What can be said about Nonnosa’s gender, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, religion and ontological status? And how do these systems of discrimination intersect in Nonnosa’s case? It will be shown that almost all of these elements help to construct Nonnosa as someone socially superior. The only exceptions from the rule, Nonnosa’s age and gender, are downplayed and even inverted. It has to be said, however, that this highly positive result is only valid on the level of representation. The tomb painting does not provide any information related to the level of structures or to the level of self-perception. The same goes for the level of representation’s relationship to the other levels: Here, too, we are left with more questions than answers.
The hero of Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus, is twice challenged by female monsters: by the Sirens who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices into staying on their island forever and dying; and by Scylla, a monster with six long necks equipped with grisly heads that managed to catch six of Odysseus’ men, devouring them alive.
In the visual arts of Ancient Greece and Rome, these texts were taken as a basis for rather free reworkings. During a process that can be described as feminization and sexualizing, artists turned the Homeric monsters into attractive creatures half-woman, half-animal. The original confrontation between human being and monster was reinterpreted as a confrontation between male and female. This process can be observed best in late antique art. There, the battle of the sexes ends in a draw: Odysseus escapes from the Sirens thanks to his being tied tightly to the mast of his ship; from Scylla he escapes, too, but is forced to sacrifice six of his men.
Medieval art will change not only the outcome of these two stories but also the balance of power between the protagonists. Odysseus, assuming the pose of Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, stabs Scylla to death (on a Carolingian fresco in the minster of Corvey). Odysseus’s men, now rendered as medieval knights, hunt down the Sirens and throw their corpses overboard in the same way as Archangels hunt down Lucifer and his demons and throw them down to hell (in Herrad’ Hortus deliciarum). By now, the battle between human(connoted male) and monster (connoted female) is reinterpreted as a confrontation between Good and Evil.
In his 1933 pioneering book »Dionysos. Mythos und Kultus«, the philologist and historian of religion Walter F. Otto painted a rather sombre picture of Dionysos as god of extremes, with an emphasis on madness, cruelty, suffering, and death. This picture is partly due to a manipulation of the literary evidence, and mainly to the neglect of the god’s rendering in art.
"
the same way: factors such as the aims of the customer or the producer as well as the context of the reception of the work in question have to be taken into consideration, too. Several contributions to the Berlin conference dealt with the presentation of Dionysos in art.1 Chronologically, the contributions
ranged from the 6th century B.C. to the 4th century C.E. The media discussed included painted vases, mosaics, luxury items, votive reliefs, cult statues and sculptured altar friezes. The present essay will use some of this material, but will look at it from a different angle. It aims to focus on aspects that seem to be
characteristic of Dionysos, aspects that effectively make him a ‘different god’.
The paper deals with Dionysos as god of women and god of epiphany; with the inclusion of mortals in his retinue; with the promise of a blessed afterlife that is projected onto him; with Dionysos as fighter; and with Dionysos as the most human god."
"In late antiquity two well-known female monsters from Homer’s Odyssey, the Sirens and Scylla, were usually imagined as hybrid creatures consisting of a beautiful woman and parts of diverse animals, i. e. birds and dogs or fish respectively. This appears from both textual and visual evidence. As a result of a long lasting process of feminization applied to these mythical creatures, the original Homeric confrontation of man and monster is transformed
into a confrontation of male and female. The animal components underline this message. The Sirens’ talons visualize the disastrous aspect of their erotic seduction, while their seductive character finds its expression in the sweetness of their voices that are compared to the singing of a nightingale etc. The man-devouring dogs that protrude from Scylla’s abdomen emblematize her sexual shamelessness. The male hero facing these monsters mustn’t yield to that temptation. Just as if he were to confront a real animal, for him it is „eating oder being eaten“, a question of life and death. The images of Scylla or the Sirens thus can be interpreted as male phantasies, expressing late antique male anxities about women and sexuality. Sexual desire is not accepted as a part of the (male) conditio humana but projected onto women. The border that seperates civilisation from disorder, man from animal, is localized in the woman.""
Starting from the well known story about Ulisses and the Cyclops Polyphemus, as formulated by Homer in the Odyssey, the paper asks the following question: What did late antique art and literature do with that controversial Homeric hero?
It will be shown that in art, Ulisses was not fully conceived as a positively connoted figure, or as someone a late antique viewer could identify. Instead, he was ridiculed and problematized. The most heroic instant of the Polyphemus story, the giant’s blinding, is almost never rendered in late antique art. A rather different picture, however, emerges if one looks at late antique Latin literature. Here, Ulisses is portrayed as a wise and brave hero, fighting for justice and punishing the monster’s cruelty and hubris. In allegorical reading, Ulisses is seen as an exemplum virtutis.
This allegorical understanding of Ulissis is what will be passed on to the Renaissance while the iconographic tradition ceases with the end of the late antique world.
Folgen haben, so bei Daphne.
Bei der Darstellung nackter Männer spielen Schönheit und Attraktivität auch eine Rolle. Ebenso aber gibt es den gegenteiligen Fall, in dem Nacktheit als Chiffre für einen Opferstatus steht, etwa bei der Darstellung von Gefangenen oder Besiegten. Zusätzlich gibt es jedoch eine Reihe von weiteren, stets mit positiven Vorstellungen verknüpften Bedeutungsmöglichkeiten:
Der schöne nackte Männerkörper kann Tapferkeit und physische Leistungsfähigkeit visualisieren, wie bei Herakles, göttlichen Status, wie bei Apollon, die Unschuld des Menschen vor dem Sündenfall, wie bei Adam, einen von Gott auserwählten Propheten, siehe Jonas oder Daniel; er kann selbst in der Darstellung der Kreuzigung den Triumph Christi zum Ausdruck bringen.
Die antike Bildformel des idealschönen Körpers, die zu dem Zweck geschaffen worden war, etwas Rühmendes über den Dargestellten auszusagen, behält ihre Geltung auch in einer Zeit, in der die
dominanten literarischen Diskurse eine Verächtlichmachung des Körpers propagieren. Der nackte Körper eines Märtyrers oder des Gottessohnes wird nicht in seinem Leiden und in seiner Schwäche
dargestellt, sondern in der antiken Formel des heldenhaften, positiv konnotierten Körpers. Hier gilt weiterhin die Konvention, dass eine Person, über deren Wesen etwas Positives ausgesagt werden soll, zwangsläufig auch äußerlich schön sein muss.
As a case study, the paper examines the tomb painting of a Late Antique elite girl from Naples. It will be shown that at least in this case, gender was less important for identity than were social status, religion and sanctity. This slightly surprising emphasis was generated first by the family’s high social status (combined with the wish to propagate this status) and second by the task that had been assigned to the little girl: to be the instrument of her parents’ salvation. As such she is represented in the tomb painting, independent of what kind of identity she may have experienced herself. A final paragraph is devoted to the methodological implications that follow from this for the study of gender in Late Antiquity. These implications involve awareness of the kind of evidence that is analyzed, a plea for an intersectional approach, and the question of how many different genders one should postulate for Late Antique society.
When represented as interacting with males, the goddesses were subjected to the gender norms of Late Antique society. These norms asked for male supremacy, visualized by means of composition and iconography, even in those cases where the represented males were mortals, such as an emperor or a high magistrate. Female supremacy, on the other hand, was rendered as inherently bad. A goddess who is dominating other gods or even male mortals is a cautionary tale. The only exception are deptictions of females dominating beings of clear-cut inferiority. This is proven by numerous images of Venus with her retinue of Nereids, Erotes, and creatures of the sea.
Abstract ‒ A tomb painting in the San Gennaro catacomb in Naples depicts a late antique Christian family, consisting of father, mother and an infant daughter named Nonnosa. Referring to research on intersectionality – especially the multilevel analysis represented by Nina Degele and Gabriele Winker –, this paper aims at investigating Nonnosa’s various social identities. What can be said about Nonnosa’s gender, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, religion and ontological status? And how do these systems of discrimination intersect in Nonnosa’s case? It will be shown that almost all of these elements help to construct Nonnosa as someone socially superior. The only exceptions from the rule, Nonnosa’s age and gender, are downplayed and even inverted. It has to be said, however, that this highly positive result is only valid on the level of representation. The tomb painting does not provide any information related to the level of structures or to the level of self-perception. The same goes for the level of representation’s relationship to the other levels: Here, too, we are left with more questions than answers.
The hero of Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus, is twice challenged by female monsters: by the Sirens who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices into staying on their island forever and dying; and by Scylla, a monster with six long necks equipped with grisly heads that managed to catch six of Odysseus’ men, devouring them alive.
In the visual arts of Ancient Greece and Rome, these texts were taken as a basis for rather free reworkings. During a process that can be described as feminization and sexualizing, artists turned the Homeric monsters into attractive creatures half-woman, half-animal. The original confrontation between human being and monster was reinterpreted as a confrontation between male and female. This process can be observed best in late antique art. There, the battle of the sexes ends in a draw: Odysseus escapes from the Sirens thanks to his being tied tightly to the mast of his ship; from Scylla he escapes, too, but is forced to sacrifice six of his men.
Medieval art will change not only the outcome of these two stories but also the balance of power between the protagonists. Odysseus, assuming the pose of Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, stabs Scylla to death (on a Carolingian fresco in the minster of Corvey). Odysseus’s men, now rendered as medieval knights, hunt down the Sirens and throw their corpses overboard in the same way as Archangels hunt down Lucifer and his demons and throw them down to hell (in Herrad’ Hortus deliciarum). By now, the battle between human(connoted male) and monster (connoted female) is reinterpreted as a confrontation between Good and Evil.
In his 1933 pioneering book »Dionysos. Mythos und Kultus«, the philologist and historian of religion Walter F. Otto painted a rather sombre picture of Dionysos as god of extremes, with an emphasis on madness, cruelty, suffering, and death. This picture is partly due to a manipulation of the literary evidence, and mainly to the neglect of the god’s rendering in art.
"
the same way: factors such as the aims of the customer or the producer as well as the context of the reception of the work in question have to be taken into consideration, too. Several contributions to the Berlin conference dealt with the presentation of Dionysos in art.1 Chronologically, the contributions
ranged from the 6th century B.C. to the 4th century C.E. The media discussed included painted vases, mosaics, luxury items, votive reliefs, cult statues and sculptured altar friezes. The present essay will use some of this material, but will look at it from a different angle. It aims to focus on aspects that seem to be
characteristic of Dionysos, aspects that effectively make him a ‘different god’.
The paper deals with Dionysos as god of women and god of epiphany; with the inclusion of mortals in his retinue; with the promise of a blessed afterlife that is projected onto him; with Dionysos as fighter; and with Dionysos as the most human god."
"In late antiquity two well-known female monsters from Homer’s Odyssey, the Sirens and Scylla, were usually imagined as hybrid creatures consisting of a beautiful woman and parts of diverse animals, i. e. birds and dogs or fish respectively. This appears from both textual and visual evidence. As a result of a long lasting process of feminization applied to these mythical creatures, the original Homeric confrontation of man and monster is transformed
into a confrontation of male and female. The animal components underline this message. The Sirens’ talons visualize the disastrous aspect of their erotic seduction, while their seductive character finds its expression in the sweetness of their voices that are compared to the singing of a nightingale etc. The man-devouring dogs that protrude from Scylla’s abdomen emblematize her sexual shamelessness. The male hero facing these monsters mustn’t yield to that temptation. Just as if he were to confront a real animal, for him it is „eating oder being eaten“, a question of life and death. The images of Scylla or the Sirens thus can be interpreted as male phantasies, expressing late antique male anxities about women and sexuality. Sexual desire is not accepted as a part of the (male) conditio humana but projected onto women. The border that seperates civilisation from disorder, man from animal, is localized in the woman.""
Starting from the well known story about Ulisses and the Cyclops Polyphemus, as formulated by Homer in the Odyssey, the paper asks the following question: What did late antique art and literature do with that controversial Homeric hero?
It will be shown that in art, Ulisses was not fully conceived as a positively connoted figure, or as someone a late antique viewer could identify. Instead, he was ridiculed and problematized. The most heroic instant of the Polyphemus story, the giant’s blinding, is almost never rendered in late antique art. A rather different picture, however, emerges if one looks at late antique Latin literature. Here, Ulisses is portrayed as a wise and brave hero, fighting for justice and punishing the monster’s cruelty and hubris. In allegorical reading, Ulisses is seen as an exemplum virtutis.
This allegorical understanding of Ulissis is what will be passed on to the Renaissance while the iconographic tradition ceases with the end of the late antique world.
Folgen haben, so bei Daphne.
Bei der Darstellung nackter Männer spielen Schönheit und Attraktivität auch eine Rolle. Ebenso aber gibt es den gegenteiligen Fall, in dem Nacktheit als Chiffre für einen Opferstatus steht, etwa bei der Darstellung von Gefangenen oder Besiegten. Zusätzlich gibt es jedoch eine Reihe von weiteren, stets mit positiven Vorstellungen verknüpften Bedeutungsmöglichkeiten:
Der schöne nackte Männerkörper kann Tapferkeit und physische Leistungsfähigkeit visualisieren, wie bei Herakles, göttlichen Status, wie bei Apollon, die Unschuld des Menschen vor dem Sündenfall, wie bei Adam, einen von Gott auserwählten Propheten, siehe Jonas oder Daniel; er kann selbst in der Darstellung der Kreuzigung den Triumph Christi zum Ausdruck bringen.
Die antike Bildformel des idealschönen Körpers, die zu dem Zweck geschaffen worden war, etwas Rühmendes über den Dargestellten auszusagen, behält ihre Geltung auch in einer Zeit, in der die
dominanten literarischen Diskurse eine Verächtlichmachung des Körpers propagieren. Der nackte Körper eines Märtyrers oder des Gottessohnes wird nicht in seinem Leiden und in seiner Schwäche
dargestellt, sondern in der antiken Formel des heldenhaften, positiv konnotierten Körpers. Hier gilt weiterhin die Konvention, dass eine Person, über deren Wesen etwas Positives ausgesagt werden soll, zwangsläufig auch äußerlich schön sein muss.
The Odyssey’s late antique literary reception was much more multifaceted than the artistic one, as regards topics and geography. In this book, though, the focus will be on those topics that were dealt with in the visual arts, too. Contrasting the late antique pictorial reception with the literary one, and contrasting both with the Homeric epic, reveals the originality of late antiquity’s artists and writers. Both employ the classical heritage with means and ends of their own (or of their patrons), and both are nevertheless deeply embedded in and influenced by late antique discourse, be it on religion, philosophy, slavery, heroism, or gender relations.
Contributors are: Claudia-Maria Behling, Katrin Bernhardt, Olympia Bobou, Susanne Brather-Walter, Stephanie L. Budin, Eve D’Ambra, Peter Emberger, Susanna E. Fischer, Caitlin C. Gillespie, Jochen Griesbach, Ute Günkel-Maschek, Doris Gutsmiedl-Schümann, Kerstin P. Hofmann, Kathrin Kleibl, Julia K. Koch, Claudia Merthen, Marion Meyer, Cecilia Nobili, Viktoria Räuchle, Kathrin Schade, Günther Schörner, Michaela Stark, Wolf-Rüdiger Teegen, Helga Vogel, Manuella Wangert, and Anne Weis. With an English introduction by Susanne Moraw.
In this volume, archeologists, historians and philologists scrutinize the different shapes that violence took in the culture of Classical Greece. How is this “dark side” of Classical Greece rendered in art? How was violence practiced, experienced and valuated in a given social context? It will be shown that – in stark contrast to modern assumptions – the ancient Greeks conceived violence not as something basically immoral, but rather as an acceptable means to an end.
On legal grounds, I post only the chapters wirtten by myself (on playwrights, actors, and audience), and without images.
The main argument indicates that these painted female figures are first of all men’s imaginations, originally designed as ornament for drinking vessels used at the symposion. As such, they offer only scant information about real maenads, i.e. women performing a specific kind of Dionysiac cult. Information about real maenads, or real maenadic cult, is mostly to be found on vases that have been designed for and used by women, e.g. perfume vessels. More abundant, however, are maenadic images on symposion vessels. They can tell us about Athenian men’s perceptions, or fears, about women: first of all about their wives or daughters who may have actually performed maenadic rites; but also about other kinds of females, e.g. about hetairas or goddesses.
For reasons of copyright, I did not upload the figures. In case you need the illustrations, please send me a message.