 2015 - 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 0621-1205-01 | Religion and Politics in Ancient Greece | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FACULTY OF HUMANITIES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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University credit hours: 2.0
Course description
"The world is full of Gods," claimed the ancient Philosopher Thales of Miletus. It may be hard for us to understand a world with plenty of gods and goddesses, nymphs and mythological heroes who are worshipped by the state. "Religion" (the concept did not exist as such) was everywhere: in the sacred hearth at home and at the public Council House, in the calendar and festivals, at the Oracle of Delphi, and in social and religious organization of society. The religion of the Greek city state had neither sacred texts, nor dogma, nor a professional caste of priests. Religion and state were interwoven and the citizens, as at Athens, were elected by lottery to a fixed term of priesthood. Religion and mythology also shaped the constitutive stories for collective (ethnic and political) identity. The course will survey salient features of Greek religion and mythology; discuss religion as the organizing framework for collective identity; and discuss the concept of equality and the institution of the lottery