Mary Naples | Dominican University of California (original) (raw)
With an emphasis in Women’s Studies, Mary Naples earned a Master of Arts in Humanities from Dominican University of California in 2013. Her master’s thesis: “Demeter’s Daughters: How the Myth of the Captured Bride Helped Spur Feminine Consciousness in Ancient Greece,” examines how female participants found empowerment in a feminine fertility festival. Her deep love of the antiquity is reflected in her writing which explores women’s narratives ranging from the ancient Greek and Roman worlds into the Byzantine era and even into ancient Israel and Judea.
Since 2013, she has been a contributing writer for Classical Wisdom Weekly, an online periodical devoted to the Classical World. In 2018 she also began writing for Ancient Origins, an online periodical focusing on antiquity. Mary hosted a webinar for Classical Wisdom on an ancient Greek feminine fertility cult titled: “Thesmophoria: Feminism, Ancient Greek Style” in March of 2019 and in July she gave a webinar for Ancient Origins on the Hebrew goddess, Asherah titled “Digging for Asherah.” For a complete listing of all of her papers and webinars visit her website: www.femminaclassica.com
Phone: www.femminaclassica.com
less
Uploads
Abstract by Mary Naples
An essay on the role of women in Sparta and its contrasts to their ancient Greek counterparts. ... more An essay on the role of women in Sparta and its contrasts to their ancient Greek counterparts.
To view this paper and many more visit www.femminaclassica.com
In this short essay, the roles of Vestal Virgins and the at time perilous lives are explored.
Drafts by Mary Naples
An essay on the life of Byzantine Empress Theodora.
An essay on the ancient Greek feminine fertility cult, The Thesmophoria, and its oftentimes harsh... more An essay on the ancient Greek feminine fertility cult, The Thesmophoria, and its oftentimes harsh rules against male participation.
An essay on the background and meaning of the ancient Greek religion, Eleusinian Mysteries, and h... more An essay on the background and meaning of the ancient Greek religion, Eleusinian Mysteries, and how it compares and contrasts to its feminine counterpart, The Thesmophoria.
An essay recounting the propagandizing powers of the story of Dido, the legendary Queen of Cartha... more An essay recounting the propagandizing powers of the story of Dido, the legendary Queen of Carthage, from Book IV in Virgil's Aeneid.
A short essay in which the Myth of Demeter and its meaning for women of ancient Greece is recounted.
An essay in which ancient Greek women were able to curtail or enhance fertility by using herbs fo... more An essay in which ancient Greek women were able to curtail or enhance fertility by using herbs for the most part unbeknownst to their male counterparts.
A short essay from my dissertation on the ancient Greek feminine fertility cult called The Thesmo... more A short essay from my dissertation on the ancient Greek feminine fertility cult called The Thesmophoria.
Explores the island of Pithecusae (present day Ischia), the first Greek settlement in Europe. Kno... more Explores the island of Pithecusae (present day Ischia), the first Greek settlement in Europe. Known for many things, the most notable being that it houses the earliest example we have of Greek script as early as 725 BCE.
Papers by Mary Naples
The ancient Greek cult festival known as the Thesmophoria was an exclusively feminine ritual whos... more The ancient Greek cult festival known as the Thesmophoria was an exclusively feminine ritual whose purpose was human and agricultural fertility. The festival honored Demeter, goddess of the harvest and her daughter Persephone. Although men held the festival in high esteem, they were expressly forbidden-sometimes to the point of death-from attending the three-day long event. Men's respect for the Thesmophoria was demonstrated by both their financial support as well as the curtailing of certain civic events in the polis on the second day of the Thesmophoria. Considered one of the oldest and most widespread of all Greek religious festivals, the Thesmophoria is believed to have its origins in the Neolithic age-before the advent of patriarchal marriage. This paper explores the ways in which citizen wives in the patriarchal culture of ancient Greece were empowered by both the ritual and its pre-androcentric origins. v
An essay on the role of women in Sparta and its contrasts to their ancient Greek counterparts. ... more An essay on the role of women in Sparta and its contrasts to their ancient Greek counterparts.
To view this paper and many more visit www.femminaclassica.com
In this short essay, the roles of Vestal Virgins and the at time perilous lives are explored.
An essay on the life of Byzantine Empress Theodora.
An essay on the ancient Greek feminine fertility cult, The Thesmophoria, and its oftentimes harsh... more An essay on the ancient Greek feminine fertility cult, The Thesmophoria, and its oftentimes harsh rules against male participation.
An essay on the background and meaning of the ancient Greek religion, Eleusinian Mysteries, and h... more An essay on the background and meaning of the ancient Greek religion, Eleusinian Mysteries, and how it compares and contrasts to its feminine counterpart, The Thesmophoria.
An essay recounting the propagandizing powers of the story of Dido, the legendary Queen of Cartha... more An essay recounting the propagandizing powers of the story of Dido, the legendary Queen of Carthage, from Book IV in Virgil's Aeneid.
A short essay in which the Myth of Demeter and its meaning for women of ancient Greece is recounted.
An essay in which ancient Greek women were able to curtail or enhance fertility by using herbs fo... more An essay in which ancient Greek women were able to curtail or enhance fertility by using herbs for the most part unbeknownst to their male counterparts.
A short essay from my dissertation on the ancient Greek feminine fertility cult called The Thesmo... more A short essay from my dissertation on the ancient Greek feminine fertility cult called The Thesmophoria.
Explores the island of Pithecusae (present day Ischia), the first Greek settlement in Europe. Kno... more Explores the island of Pithecusae (present day Ischia), the first Greek settlement in Europe. Known for many things, the most notable being that it houses the earliest example we have of Greek script as early as 725 BCE.
The ancient Greek cult festival known as the Thesmophoria was an exclusively feminine ritual whos... more The ancient Greek cult festival known as the Thesmophoria was an exclusively feminine ritual whose purpose was human and agricultural fertility. The festival honored Demeter, goddess of the harvest and her daughter Persephone. Although men held the festival in high esteem, they were expressly forbidden-sometimes to the point of death-from attending the three-day long event. Men's respect for the Thesmophoria was demonstrated by both their financial support as well as the curtailing of certain civic events in the polis on the second day of the Thesmophoria. Considered one of the oldest and most widespread of all Greek religious festivals, the Thesmophoria is believed to have its origins in the Neolithic age-before the advent of patriarchal marriage. This paper explores the ways in which citizen wives in the patriarchal culture of ancient Greece were empowered by both the ritual and its pre-androcentric origins. v