Antiquity and Medieval World

Catalog description

This course addresses the possibility of the existence of a proper way or path through life. Texts are chosen based on their ability to clarify moral values in the middle ages and antiquity, and are loosely grouped around themes of devotion, consolation, and the otherworld. Primary texts will be read in conjunction with historical background information. Readings will include selections of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Anchorene Wisse, the letters of Abelard and Heloise, Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, Old English stoic literature, Chaucer’s “Book of the Duchess,” and examples of journeys to the otherworld including Aeneus’ journey to Hades in Virgil’s Aeneid, selections of Dante’s Divine Comedy, Beowulf’s decent into Grendel’s mere, faerie ballads, and The Pearl.