| The purpose of this dissertation is to offer a new approach to the interpretation of religious symbols in the Graeco-Roman world by describing the various referents and associations of a particular image in the culture of which it is a part, and by applying this complex of referents and associations to the interpretation of specific textual and iconographic examples. In this project, I focus on the symbolism of the fish in early Christianity. In so doing, I first show that it is impossible to comprehend the meaning of a symbol in specific ancient religious traditions without a complete understanding of the functions and associations of the content of that symbol in the wider world from which it has been drawn. Thus, I provide an extensive analysis of the function and symbolism of the fish in the Graeco-Roman milieu. Second, on this account, I demonstrate that (contrary to the majority of interpreters who view symbols as theological or psychological codes with one meaning per symbol) religious symbols had a multitude of referents and associations that were incorporated into intricate symbol complexes. This entails detailed presentation and analysis of fish symbolism (including the determination of appropriate texts and the rendering of their translations, as well as descriptions of relevant iconography), so that one can glimpse its astonishing complexity. Furthermore, I argue that ancient religious symbols not only reflected, but also to some extent organized, the religious perceptions and representations of the world as ancient persons viewed that world. For these reasons, my dissertation contends that symbols such as the fish were, in effect, important components of the cultural system of ancient religion. |
