GRST 302 - The Blegen Seminar

1 unit(s)

Topic for 2022/23a: Death and Dying in the Ancient World. In this seminar, we explore the concept of death and its impact upon the peoples of the ancient Mediterranean. In the ancient world as in the modern one, death touched all facets of life, from religion to law to politics, while a high mortality rate shaped the dynamics of families and the rhythms of daily life. We approach the broad cultural topic of ancient death from a wide variety of angles, including religious ideas of the soul and the afterlife, funerary practices across cultural identities and social statuses, the demographic structure of ancient populations, the intersections between gender and grief, and modern scientific approaches to understanding ancient skeletal remains. By drawing on texts such as the Homeric epics, Greek and Roman elegiac poetry, Petronius’ Satyricon, and the Egyptian Book of the Dead, as well as epitaphs, burial monuments, and other ancient art, we also consider how to use a diverse range of sources to approach a phenomenon that intersects every ancient Mediterranean culture. Carolyn Tobin.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS