IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: THE PARADOX OF THE ROMAN PERCEPTION REGARDING THE SOCIAL STATUS OF THE EUNUCH PRIEST IN IMPERIAL ROME Silvia de Wild Supervisor 1: dr. M. (Martijn) Icks Second Reader: dr. M.P. (Mathieu) de Bakker MA Classics and Ancient Civilizations (Classics) Student number: 11238100 Words: 22.603 June 25, 2020
[email protected] 2 IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: THE PARADOX OF THE ROMAN PERCEPTION REGARDING THE SOCIAL STATUS OF THE EUNUCH PRIEST IN IMPERIAL ROME University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Humanities Amsterdam Centre for Ancient Studies and Archaeology (ACASA), Classics and Ancient Civilizations: Classics (MA) Silvia de Wild Schoolstraat 5 8911 BH Leeuwarden Tel.: 0616359454/ 058-8446762
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[email protected] Student number: 11238100 Supervisor: dr. M. (Martijn) Icks Second Reader: dr. M.P. (Mathieu) de Bakker Words: 22.603 (appendix, bibliography, citations, source texts and translations not included) June 25, 2020. I herewith declare that this thesis is an original piece of work, which was written exclusively by me. Those instances where I have derived material from other sources, I have made explicit in the text and the notes. (Leeuwarden, June 25, 2020) 3 I would like to thank dr. L.A. (Lucinda) Dirven for sharing her time and expertise on this subject. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Research question 6 Methods and overview 7 1. Introduction 9 2. The imperial (r)evolution of the cult of Cybele and Attis 16 3. Eunuch priests in the eye of an ass: a case study on the perception of the wandering priests in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses 8.24 - 9.10 30 4.