MA English Literature Thesis
My master’s thesis, The Ganymede Myth from Homer’s Greece to Marlowe’s England, examines the literary and cultural evolution of the Ganymede myth from ancient Greek literature through medieval Europe and into the early modern English stage. The project traces how Ganymede first appeared in classical sources as a beautiful Trojan youth taken by the gods and later developed into a figure associated with homoerotic desire, pederastic tradition, queer symbolism, and coded literary expression.
The thesis follows this transformation across several historical and literary contexts, including Homeric and classical Greek sources, medieval European writing, changing Christian attitudes toward sexuality, and the legal and social pressures of early modern England. It argues that by Christopher Marlowe’s time, Ganymede had become more than a mythological figure. He had become a recognizable symbol through which writers could engage with male-male desire, social nonconformity, and the risks of queer expression within restrictive cultural systems.
The final section focuses on Marlowe’s Dido, Queen of Carthage, especially the play’s opening scene with Zeus and Ganymede. My analysis considers how Marlowe uses classical myth, theatrical comedy, and literary tradition to present homoerotic meaning in a way that could remain culturally legible while also being shielded by erudition and mythological precedent. This thesis reflects my earlier graduate work in literary history, close reading, queer literary analysis, and scholarly argument.