Constructing the monster : notions of the monstrous in classical antiquity

Focussing on humaniod monsters, this thesis uses insights from Foucault's theory about the "archaeology" of discourses and Derrida's practice of deconstruction to examine how monstrosity was spoken of in antiquity, and how the various "sciences" dealt with anomalous monsters without jeopardising their epistemological credibility. Discussion begins with a survey of the semantic field of teras and monstrum. Since portentousness was central to both terms, the signification of monstrous portents in divinatory practice is next aalysed in the historiography of Herodotus, Livy, and others. Cicero's De divinatione reveals the theory and the problem for that science posed by accidental monstrosities. Chance and novelty are also issues in mythical and scientific cosmogonies < of Hesiod, and Orphism, Empedo-cles, and Lucretius> , where monsters arise and are dealt with while cosmic regularities, reproductive and ethical, are being established. Teleology and the stability of species'forms emerge as important concerns. These issues are further considered in Aristotle's bioogy and in medical writings from Hippocrates to Galen. There, theories are produced about monstrous embryology which attempt to answer the question of how deformities occur if species' forms are perpetuated through repro-duction. Biological and taxonomic--as well as ethical--boundaries are violated also by mythic human-beast hybrids. Narratives about such anomalies clarify the nature of monstrous deviance and enact solutions to the problem. Their strategies have much in common with other modes of discourse. Ethnography is posed similar questions about monstrous races' physical and ethical deviations from the civilised norm; it speaks of those issues in terms of invariance of form through generations, geographical remoteness and the codes which situate those races ethically. Finally, Augustine’s discourse on monstrous individuals and races is examined as Christianity’s belief in God’s governance reformulates the ancient’s discussions of chane or novelty and the invariance of species. In all these discourses founded on determinate meaning, the persistant paradox of monstrosity need offer no challenge to rationality provided its indefinable diversity is unacknowledged and the notion is constructed in such a way as to reaffirm the certainties.

Responses to Australian society and culture by Greek-Australian writers

Focuses on the themes and preoccupations in Greek-Australian literature that reflect the influence of Australia on the traditional sense of identity of Greek migrants. Predominant concerns connected with identity are those of nostalgic references to the homeland, feelings of alienation and discrimination. These themes are related to what is recognised in life and in literature as "xenitia". Second generation writers reveal an acceptance of belonging to two cultures and having dual identities.

Twice born : Dionysos films and the establishment of Greek film circuit in Australia

From the late 1940s until the late 1970s Melbourne was home to a dynamic Greek cinema circuit made up of some 30 different inner-city and suburban venues operated by a handful of vertically integrated exhibition/distribution businesses. Dionysos Films was amongst the first Greek film exhibition/distribution companies to form in Australia and from 1949 until 1956 it operated with little significant competition, establishing the parameters for a diasporic Greek film circuit that stretched across regional and metropolitan Australia and into New Zealand. This article measures the shadow cast by Dionysos Films (and its charismatic proprietor Stathis Raftopoulos) over the history of Antipodean Greek film experiences and the implications that this neglected aspect of Australian and Greek film history has for our understanding of the national cinemas in both countries.

Occupant interaction with interior environment in Greek dwellings during summer

User behaviour significantly affects energy consumption simulation estimates, which can consequently influence architectural design decisions at an early stage. Different regional behavioural patterns could, therefore, hinder the applicability of certain architectural and environmental strategies. Through questionnaires analysis and field studies, this study investigates the pattern use of manual control of windows, shading and air condition units, in residential buildings in Greece, during summer. Initial findings of the analysis indicate significant interaction of Greek residents with the building shell, in their effort to maintain comfort.

The invincible summer : on Albert Camus’ philosophical neoclassicism

What follows is a work of critical reconstruction of Camus' thought. It aims to answer to the wish Camus expressed in his later notebooks, that he at least be read closely. Specifically, I hope to do three things. In Part I, we will show how Camus' famous philosophy of the absurd represents a systematic scepticism whose closest philosophical predecessor is Descartes' method of doubt, and whose consequence, as in Descartes, is the discovery of a single, orienting certainty, on the basis of which Camus would proceed to pass beyond the 'nihilism' that conservative critics continued to level against him (MS 34). Part II will unfold the central tenets of Camus' mature thought of rebellion, and show how Camus' central political claims follow from his para-Cartesian claim to have found an irreducible or 'invincible' basis for a post-metaphysical ethics, consistent with the most thoroughgoing epistemic scepticism. Part III then undertakes to show that the neoclassical rhetoric and positioning Camus claimed for his postwar thought—as a thought of moderation or mesure, and a renewed Greek or Mediterranean naturalism—is more than a stylistic pretension. It represents, so I argue, a singular amalgam of modern and philosophical classical motifs which makes Camus' voice nearly unique in twentieth century ideas, and all the more worth reconsidering today. So let us proceed.

The Sophists (Ancient Greek)

The sophists were itinerant professional teachers and intellectuals who frequented Athens and other Greek cities in the second half of the fifth century B.C.E. In return for a fee, the sophists offered young wealthy Greek men an education in aretē (virtue or excellence), thereby attaining wealth and fame while also arousing significant antipathy. Prior to the fifth century B.C.E., aretē was predominately associated with aristocratic warrior virtues such as courage and physical strength. In democratic Athens of the latter fifth century B.C.E., however, aretē was increasingly understood in terms of the ability to influence one’s fellow citizens in political gatherings through rhetorical persuasion; the sophistic education both grew out of and exploited this shift. The most famous representatives of the sophistic movement are Protagoras, Gorgias, Antiphon, Hippias, Prodicus and Thrasymachus.

The historical and philological difficulties confronting an interpretation of the sophists are significant. Only a handful of sophistic texts have survived and most of what we know of the sophists is drawn from second-hand testimony, fragments and the generally hostile depiction of them in Plato’s dialogues.

The philosophical problem of the nature of sophistry is arguably even more formidable. Due in large part to the influence of Plato and Aristotle, the term sophistry has come to signify the deliberate use of fallacious reasoning, intellectual charlatanism and moral unscrupulousness. It is, as the article explains, an oversimplification to think of the historical sophists in these terms because they made genuine and original contributions to Western thought. Plato and Aristotle nonetheless established their view of what constitutes legitimate philosophy in part by distinguishing their own activity – and that of Socrates – from the sophists. If one is so inclined, sophistry can thus be regarded, in a conceptual as well as historical sense, as the ‘other’ of philosophy.

Perhaps because of the interpretative difficulties mentioned above, the sophists have been many things to many people. For Hegel (1995/1840) the sophists were subjectivists whose sceptical reaction to the objective dogmatism of the presocratics was synthesised in the work of Plato and Aristotle. For the utilitarian English classicist George Grote (1904), the sophists were progressive thinkers who placed in question the prevailing morality of their time. More recent work by French theorists such as Jacques Derrida (1981) and Jean Francois-Lyotard (1985) suggests affinities between the sophists and postmodernism.

This article provides a broad overview of the sophists, and indicates some of the central philosophical issues raised by their work. Section 1 discusses the meaning of the term sophist. Section 2 surveys the individual contributions of the most famous sophists. Section 3 examines three themes that have often been taken as characteristic of sophistic thought: the distinction between nature and convention, relativism about knowledge and truth and the power of speech. Finally, section 4 analyses attempts by Plato and others to establish a clear demarcation between philosophy and sophistry.

Health-related religious rituals of the Greek Orthodox Church : their uptake and meanings

Aim
To examine the uptake of religious rituals of the Greek Orthodox Church by relatives of patients in critical condition in Greece and to explore their symbolic representations and spiritual meanings.
Background
Patients and their relatives want to be treated with respect and be supported for their beliefs, practices, customs and rituals. However nurses may not be ready to meet the spiritual needs of relatives of patients, while the health-related religious beliefs, practices and rituals of the Greek Orthodox Christian denomination have not been explored.
Method
This study was part of a large study encompassing 19 interviews with 25 informants, relatives of patients in intensive care units of three large hospitals in Athens, Greece, between 2000 and 2005. In this paper data were derived from personal accounts of religious rituals given by six participants.
Results
Relatives used a series of religious rituals, namely blessed oil and holy water, use of relics of saints, holy icons, offering names for pleas and pilgrimage.
Conclusion
Through the rituals, relatives experience a sense of connectedness with the divine and use the sacred powers to promote healing of their patients.
Implications for nursing management
Nurse managers should recognize, respect and facilitate the expression of spirituality through the practice of religious rituals by patients and their relatives.

Cultural understanding of health and adjustment to cardiovascular disease among the Greek elderly

The onset of chronic illness is a major lef event that presents serious challenges for the individual at a micro and macro level. The way in which adaptation to such illness occurs is closely related to cultural and linguistic factors that are an integral part of personal identity. This study presents the health beliefs of elderly Greek Australians and they way in which they understand health and disease. The process by which this population conceptualizes CVD and seeks medical care is discussed in the context of their specific cultural views and attitudes towards illness.

Maintenance of cultural identity

The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the transmission of health beliefs among three generations of Greek families in Melbourne, Australia and the way they understand both health and disease as an aspect of cultural maintenance in the context of the larger Australian society. More specifically this paper will discuss the extent to which the immigrant generation has created a memory culture and how this has affected the sense of cultural identity of the first and second generation Greek Australians. Unlike the mainstream Australian community, the Greek population has so far maintaned a traditional framework due to the importance they ascribe to both culture and traditions that have been handed down from from the immigrant generation to the first and second generation Greek Australians. However, it is not only the immigrant generation that holds on to these traditions. More and more the first and second generation Greek Australians are set on maintaining their Hellenic heritage, and many community organizations in Melbourne, Australia are now largely supported by the younger generations. The results of this study have practical applications in elucidating how the memory culture that has been created by the immigrant generation may impact this cultural group’s conceptualization of health and the potential this may have to impact the use of health care by providin insight into the role of culture in forming individual or group conceptulizations of health in this community.

Illness in old age is part of an individual's fate and must be approached with acceptance

Older members of the Greek community see aging and the ill health that may accompany it as an inevitable part of life. They associate illness very closely with God’s will, and largely believe their state of health is an aspect of fate and / or luck that they do not have control over and must simply accept. This paper, based on research conducted in Melbourne, Australia, describes the way in which the experience of old age is understood in the worldview of this group. The words fate and luck (τύχη = tyche; γραφτό = graphto) are often used by older Greeks to characterize their situation. Luck, to this group, is not random. The term (τύχη) was used in classical times to refer to a kind of minor deity that controlled the fortune of the Greek city states, and an element of this idea of intention remains today. In the modern context, luck comes from God, and for this group, is part of γραφτό, or destiny, something that is written. In its usual usage in Greek, γραφτό refers to something that must happen to a person because it is predetermined and cannot not occur. The meaning that these older Greek individuals give to the word luck in the modern world is manifested in their acceptance of the problems of aging and their approach to coping with their own experience.