010078 VO Religion in the Ancient Greek World (2017W)

Aim:
The aim is to introduce students to the academic study of religion and to the main religious beliefs and practices of ancient Greece, from the Archaic to the Hellenistic Period and until the establishment of the Roman period (31 BCE).
Students will:
• acquire knowledge of what constitutes ‘religion’ as a category and within Ancient Greek culture, as well as and the various approaches to the academic study of religion in antiquity;
• acquire knowledge of the different myths and ritual practices of ancient Greece, will identify the different and complex nature of the ancient polytheistic religion of Greece, and will be able to compare this vivid ancient religious tradition to the modern monotheistic religions.

Description:
A survey of the religious beliefs, myths, and rituals/practices in Ancient Greece, from the Archaic period to the coming of the Roman Empire (31 BCE). More importantly, the course will also examine whether ‘religion’ in Ancient Greece can be understood in the same manner as modern people conceive ‘religion,’ thus offering an intense comparative aspect to the study of Greek antiquity. Given that the term ‘religion’ was not indigenous to Greece, the course will also focus on the problem of classification in the study of religion and whether and how modern people can talk about ancient Greek religiosity by overcoming the obvious anachronism at work.

Method:
Lectures with visual and textual material in translation.