Universität Wien

010076 VO Becoming God: Human Deification in the History of Religions (2026S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 1 - Theologien und Religionswiss.
MIXED
Moodle
Th 19.03. 15:00-16:30 Hörsaal 6 Franz König Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 9 Hof 5

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Details

Language: English

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Thursday 05.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 6 Franz König Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 9 Hof 5
  • Thursday 26.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 6 Franz König Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 9 Hof 5
  • Thursday 16.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 6 Franz König Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 9 Hof 5
  • Thursday 23.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 6 Franz König Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 9 Hof 5
  • Thursday 30.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 6 Franz König Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 9 Hof 5
  • Thursday 07.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 6 Franz König Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 9 Hof 5
  • Thursday 21.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 6 Franz König Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 9 Hof 5
  • Thursday 28.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 6 Franz König Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 9 Hof 5
  • Thursday 11.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 6 Franz König Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 9 Hof 5
  • Thursday 18.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 6 Franz König Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 9 Hof 5

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Description:
Deification, or apotheosis, is a very popular phenomenon across many cultures and traditions. Human history is replete with examples of deified individuals either as a result of their power or due to some special abilities. The course will examine examples from different cultural contexts, including posthumous deification and self-deification of individuals, in an array of ancient and modern understandings of the phenomenon: from Ancient Greece and Rome to Jesus Christ, and from the Japanese Emperor to Hollywood stars, popular singers, and athletes. Particular emphasis will be placed on the blurry lines between the notion of divinity and humanity.

Aim:
The aim is to introduce students to the academic study of religion and to the main beliefs and practices associated with the ideas of deification of humans. The course will cover various examples, ancient and modern, of deified individuals.

Students will:
• acquire knowledge of what constitutes ‘deification’, and how can be studied in a comparative context;
• acquire knowledge of the different myths, stories, and ritual deification practices of different cultures, across time and space; will identify the different and complex nature of the deification traditions; and will be able to compare this vivid religious and political institution from antiquity to the modern times.

Method:
Lectures with visual and textual material in English.

Assessment and permitted materials

Oral exam (in English).
Permitted Instruments: None.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Oral exams in English that will correspond to 100% of the final grade.

Examination topics

Lecture content available on Moodle.

Reading list

(1) Litwa, M. David. 2012. We are Being Transformed: Deification in Paul’s Soteriology. Berlin: de Gruyter.
(2) M. David Litwa. 2016. Desiring Divinity: Self- deification in Early Jewish and Christian Mythmaking. New York: Oxford University Press.
(3) Anna Della Subin. 2021. Accidental Gods: On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine. New York: Metropolitan Books.
(4) Nickolas P. Roubekas. 2017. An Ancient Theory of Religion: Euhemerism from Antiquity to the Present. London & New York: Routledge.
(5) Spencer Cole. 2006. “Cicero, Ennius, and the Concept of Apotheosis at Rome,” Arethusa 39.3: 531-548.
(6) Francis Oakley. 2006. Kingship: The Politics of Enchantment. Malden, MA & Oxford: Blackwell.

Association in the course directory

Masterstudium Religionswissenschaft NEU: M2 VO oder VU zu vergleichend-systematischer Religionswissenschaft; 066 800 [ALT] M3; M16

Last modified: Fr 27.02.2026 10:45