Description

This dissertation focuses on how the Greek and Germanic cultures dealt with the krataphonic symbol of alcohol. It examines the literature to understand how the alcohol of each culture (wine, mead or ale) was handled. These two cultures were chosen because both exhibit a standard literary record as well as being relatively equivalent regarding technology and cultural influences in the centuries of study: roughly 800 BC- 200 BC for the Greeks and 700 AD-1300 AD for the Germanics. In order to explore the literature contextually this dissertation uses tools found in the field of rhetoric. The specific tool used to explore alcohol in myth is the rhetorical situation, adjusted for the field of mythological studies.