Papers by Ryan Denson
Erasure in Late Antiquity, 2024
Ghosts were a common folkloric belief in Greco-Roman antiquity, though such specters were often c... more Ghosts were a common folkloric belief in Greco-Roman antiquity, though such specters were often conflated with another spirit, the daimōn. This chapter will explore the conceptual erasure of ghosts, as relates to the daimones, in late antique Christian sources. This builds primarily upon the work of Ogden 2019, examining the Christian tendency to fashion ghosts into demons in traditional tales. This and other forms of erasure being applied to classical notions of ghosts can be situated within two broader trends: the demonization of the daimones, demonstrated by Wan 2017, and the Christian imaginings of the processes of death, surveyed by Muehlberger 2019. I argue that it is within these two trends that we should understand this inclination of some Christians to attempt erasing such traditional beliefs about ghosts.
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Classical Quarterly, 2023
This article examines the dog-like aspects and associations of two marine monsters of Graeco-Roma... more This article examines the dog-like aspects and associations of two marine monsters of Graeco-Roman antiquity: Scylla and the κῆτος. Both harbour recognizably canine features in their depictions in ancient art, as well as being referenced as dogs or possessing dog-like attributes in ancient texts. The article argues that such distinctly canine elements are related to, and probably an extension of, the conceptualization of certain marine animals, most prominently sharks, as 'sea dogs'. Accordingly, we should understand these two sea monsters and the sea dogs as being interrelated in the ancient imagination. Such a canine resonance to certain sea creatures offers a valuable insight into the Graeco-Roman imagination of the marine element as being the abode of creatures reminiscent of terrestrial dogs.
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Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural, 2023
Charybdis is a well-known sea monster in both the ancient and modern imaginations resulting from ... more Charybdis is a well-known sea monster in both the ancient and modern imaginations resulting from her prominent appearance in the Odyssey. Yet, in contrast to her counterpart across
the strait, Scylla, she has been overlooked by modern scholars, and few have examined what
makes her monstrous in the first place. This article will argue that Charybdis should be understood as monstrous as a result of her lack of corporeality, which, in turn, also results in an
ontological uncertainty about whether or not she is even a natural phenomenon or, rather, a
supernatural monster. The type of fear and unease that Charybdis’s unique form of monstrosity exerts on humans can, then, be best described with reference to Mark Fisher’s concept of
“the eerie” as a failure of presence where we expect it to be.
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The Ancient Sea: Utopia and Catastrophe in Classical Narratives and their Reception, 2022
Denson, R. (2022), “Order Among Disorder: Poseidon’s Underwater Kingdom and Utopic Marine Environ... more Denson, R. (2022), “Order Among Disorder: Poseidon’s Underwater Kingdom and Utopic Marine Environments,” In Hamish Williams and Ross Clare (eds.), The Ancient Sea: Utopia and Catastrophe in Classical Narratives and their Reception, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 147-164.
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Journal of Late Antiquity, 2022
This article examines the sections of the sixth-century Secret History of
Procopius of Caesarea ... more This article examines the sections of the sixth-century Secret History of
Procopius of Caesarea where the emperor Justinian, and occasionally his
wife, Theodora, were portrayed as demons, further giving special consideration to the three instances where Justinian was referred to specifically as
the “Lord of the Demons” (ἄρχων τῶν δαιμόνων). I argue that Procopius’s
depiction of the demonic Justinian was fundamentally the result of a synthesis of contemporary rumors and apocalyptic thought, imbued with a literary
flourish, while the term “Lord of the Demons” also had a more distinct resonance in the Secret History and in the roughly contemporary commentary
by Oecumenius on Revelation, wherein it is used by both authors to refer
to an Antichrist-like figure in a position of political power. The demonic
Justinian was, then, a figure befitting of a political invective, yet rather than
being a simple caricature premised solely on inversions of the emperor, it
was the manifestation of a complex confluence of political discontent, as
well as aspects of Christian demonology and eschatology,
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Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures, 2022
This article examines the nicor (pl. nicoras) of Beowulf, a type of aquatic monster that appears ... more This article examines the nicor (pl. nicoras) of Beowulf, a type of aquatic monster that appears elsewhere in Old English literature only in the Letter of Alexander to Aristotle and the Blickling Homily XVI. These beasts that attack Beowulf during his swimming contest with Breca and that surround the mere of Grendel and his mother are unfamiliar to modern scholars in terms of their precise nature, being assumed in previous scholarship to be generic water monsters, or hippopotamus-like beasts. Other scholarly suggestions for their underlying influence have been crocodiles and whales. I argue, however, that the nicoras can better be understood as having been influenced by the ancient traditions of the kētos (pl. kētē), the sea monster par excellence of Greco-Roman mythology, which also occupied a prominent place in the Christian imagination. The nicoras in these three Old English texts can be understood, like the dragon of Beowulf, as fantastical creatures that were primarily the product of discernible ancient traditions, rather than generic beasts or purely monstrous versions of real-world animals.
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Divine Nature and the Natural Divine: The Marine Folklore of Pliny the Elder, 2021
This article considers the depiction of the marine world and its mythical inhabitants in the Natu... more This article considers the depiction of the marine world and its mythical inhabitants in the Natural History of Pliny the Elder. Through an ecocritical reading of the text, whereby I consider Pliny's tendency to conceptualise Nature as a divinity and his consequential displacement of the traditionally anthropomorphic Greco-Roman gods, we can better understand the underlying factors in Pliny's selective inclusion of ideas. I argue that Pliny's divinisation of Nature, attributable to the influence of ancient Stoicism, has impacted his conception of the relationship between humans and Nature, an ideal centred around a post-anthropocentric framework. This, in turn, exerts a ripple effect onto the folkloric elements of the text. Both the anthropic figures of the sea (Nereids and Tritons) along with more bestial creatures (sea monsters) become dispossessed of traditionally divine attributes and associations with Poseidon/Neptune, leading to their representation in the Natural History as more 'naturalised' types of sea creatures.
The Version of Record of this manuscript has been published and is freely available in Green Letters: Studies in Ecocriticism: https://doi.org/10.1080/14688417.2021.1951325
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Book Reviews by Ryan Denson
Bryn Mawr Classical Review. , 2024
Review of Maciej Paprocki, Gary Patrick Vos, David John Wright (eds.), The Staying Power of Theti... more Review of Maciej Paprocki, Gary Patrick Vos, David John Wright (eds.), The Staying Power of Thetis: Allusion, Interaction, and Reception from Homer to the 21st century, Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2023
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2024/2024.02.51/
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Journal of Hellenic Studies, 2023
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Thesis Chapters by Ryan Denson
This dissertation focuses on the imaginative portrayals of Ethiopia and the Ethiopians in the per... more This dissertation focuses on the imaginative portrayals of Ethiopia and the Ethiopians in the period of Late Antiquity. It examines the nature of their portrayals in both major literary works by “pagan” authors and in the exegetical, monastic, and hagiographical works by Christian writers of the period. While the Ethiopians have had a long literary history since the Homeric works, I argue that despite variations in their portrayals, the relativistic quality of “otherness” remained an underlying constant when the Ethiopians were depicted in Late Antique textual sources. The “otherness” of the Ethiopians was, moreover, fundamentally tied to the geographic conception of them as a people that existed in an extremely distant and remote location. The fundamental differences in their portrayals throughout the ancient world were, then, a result of both the changing perception of the most distant regions, through either ethnocentric or inverse ethnocentric perspectives, and divergent ideas on what was perceived as an “other.”
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This thesis offers a holistic study concerning a set of imagined marine figures in Greco-Roman an... more This thesis offers a holistic study concerning a set of imagined marine figures in Greco-Roman antiquity from archaic Greece to the end of Late Antiquity. Utilizing both textual and iconographic material, it explores the significance of the seeming paradox of the sea being home to monstrous figures, creatures generally distinct from humanity, and simultaneously being inhabited by anthropic figures. This study, then, endeavours to provide an in-depth examination of this aspect of ancient imagination concerning the marine world, highlighting the individual evolutions and continuities in the conceptions of such figures, while also drawing out the significant similarities and contrasts between them. The apparent paradox of sea monsters and sea people can be explained as a result of the prominence of one figure, the kētos, and the relationship between monstrosity and divinity in the ancient world, as demonstrated in the conclusion. Part One considers the sea monsters of Greco-Roman antiquity and is broken into three chapters. The first two of these concern the main traditions of the kētos: that of the divinely associated tradition (1) and the geographical tradition (2). The final chapter (3) of this part explores the other two sea monsters of the ancient world, Scylla and Charybdis. Part Two surveys the two most pervasive anthropomorphic figures of Greco-Roman mythology, with respective chapters devoted to the Tritons (4) and the Nereids (5). Part Three considers the Christian reflex of the kētos in Late Antiquity, representing a substantial shift in the ancient traditions of sea monsters. This is divided into three chapters, the first of which gives the relevant background for the three Old Testament sea monsters responsible for this transformation and the Christian exegeses 6 of them (6), followed by a similarly structured chapter on Jonah’s sea monster (7). The final chapter (8) concludes with examining the remaining Christian references to sea monsters in late antique literature. The conclusion, then, draws together some of the overarching features and trends of these traditions concerning the ancient imagination of the marine realm. Appendix A examines the hippocamps and other marine versions of terrestrial animals, figures interrelated to this topic, but which are neither properly sea monsters nor sea people. Appendix B collates a selection of images referenced throughout this study. The word count of this thesis is 94,043 (excluding footnotes, bibliography, appendices, and preliminaries)
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Conference Presentations by Ryan Denson
I am delighted to share the brand new Lived Realities in Ancient History series published with Tr... more I am delighted to share the brand new Lived Realities in Ancient History series published with Trivent Publishing.
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Papers by Ryan Denson
the strait, Scylla, she has been overlooked by modern scholars, and few have examined what
makes her monstrous in the first place. This article will argue that Charybdis should be understood as monstrous as a result of her lack of corporeality, which, in turn, also results in an
ontological uncertainty about whether or not she is even a natural phenomenon or, rather, a
supernatural monster. The type of fear and unease that Charybdis’s unique form of monstrosity exerts on humans can, then, be best described with reference to Mark Fisher’s concept of
“the eerie” as a failure of presence where we expect it to be.
Procopius of Caesarea where the emperor Justinian, and occasionally his
wife, Theodora, were portrayed as demons, further giving special consideration to the three instances where Justinian was referred to specifically as
the “Lord of the Demons” (ἄρχων τῶν δαιμόνων). I argue that Procopius’s
depiction of the demonic Justinian was fundamentally the result of a synthesis of contemporary rumors and apocalyptic thought, imbued with a literary
flourish, while the term “Lord of the Demons” also had a more distinct resonance in the Secret History and in the roughly contemporary commentary
by Oecumenius on Revelation, wherein it is used by both authors to refer
to an Antichrist-like figure in a position of political power. The demonic
Justinian was, then, a figure befitting of a political invective, yet rather than
being a simple caricature premised solely on inversions of the emperor, it
was the manifestation of a complex confluence of political discontent, as
well as aspects of Christian demonology and eschatology,
The Version of Record of this manuscript has been published and is freely available in Green Letters: Studies in Ecocriticism: https://doi.org/10.1080/14688417.2021.1951325
Book Reviews by Ryan Denson
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2024/2024.02.51/
Thesis Chapters by Ryan Denson
Conference Presentations by Ryan Denson
the strait, Scylla, she has been overlooked by modern scholars, and few have examined what
makes her monstrous in the first place. This article will argue that Charybdis should be understood as monstrous as a result of her lack of corporeality, which, in turn, also results in an
ontological uncertainty about whether or not she is even a natural phenomenon or, rather, a
supernatural monster. The type of fear and unease that Charybdis’s unique form of monstrosity exerts on humans can, then, be best described with reference to Mark Fisher’s concept of
“the eerie” as a failure of presence where we expect it to be.
Procopius of Caesarea where the emperor Justinian, and occasionally his
wife, Theodora, were portrayed as demons, further giving special consideration to the three instances where Justinian was referred to specifically as
the “Lord of the Demons” (ἄρχων τῶν δαιμόνων). I argue that Procopius’s
depiction of the demonic Justinian was fundamentally the result of a synthesis of contemporary rumors and apocalyptic thought, imbued with a literary
flourish, while the term “Lord of the Demons” also had a more distinct resonance in the Secret History and in the roughly contemporary commentary
by Oecumenius on Revelation, wherein it is used by both authors to refer
to an Antichrist-like figure in a position of political power. The demonic
Justinian was, then, a figure befitting of a political invective, yet rather than
being a simple caricature premised solely on inversions of the emperor, it
was the manifestation of a complex confluence of political discontent, as
well as aspects of Christian demonology and eschatology,
The Version of Record of this manuscript has been published and is freely available in Green Letters: Studies in Ecocriticism: https://doi.org/10.1080/14688417.2021.1951325
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2024/2024.02.51/