Greek and Roman Religions and Society

Catalog description

This course studies the nature and practice of religion in the ancient Greek and Roman world. It explores how Greeks and Romans conceptualized the divine and its interaction with human spheres of activity. Particular attention is given to the practice of ancient religion, the rituals, priesthoods, festivals, and ceremonies through which humans engaged in religion, and the underlying concepts that gave shape and meaning to these practices. Attention is also given to related topics such as ancient philosophical critiques of religious practice, to the intersection of religion and magic, and to the ways in which Greeks and Romans reacted to new or foreign religious ideas, practices, and beliefs and to parallels with contemporary responses to encounters with other religions.