12967 - Religions of the Classical World (1)

Academic Year 2019/2020

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student has a general knowledge about the history of studies, methodologies of analysis and theoretical approaches in the field of religious studies, with particuolar reference to the religious history of the classical world (ancient Greece and Rome).The understanding and the correct usage of specific tools of the historico-religious research is another attended goal of the course. In this way, the student will know the crucial themes of ancient polytheisms and reads the sources critically in the historical reconstruction of specific aspects of ancient religious cultures, Finally, he will be able in discussing with competence on the main topics of the discipline.

Course contents

ATTENTION: Limitations of the system force to insert in this page the information related to the "main" teaching

15951 - RELIGIONS OF THE CLASSIC WORLD (12 CFU) - II semester

 and those relating to the teachings from this "borrowed"

12967 - RELIGIONS OF THE CLASSIC WORLD (1) (6 CFU) - II semester / 3rd teaching period

12967 - RELIGIONS OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD (1) (6 CFU) - II semester / 4th teaching period

Between these two distinct didactic units the student is free to choose between the one given in the 3rd didactic period, with an introductory character, tendentially focused on the framing of themes, concepts and perspectives in the study of the "religion" system in general and the religious systems of the classical antiquity in particular, and that imparted in the 4th didactic period, of a monographic nature, typically centered on the treatment of a specific historical-religious theme or topic.

In using this page the student pays particular attention to the reconstruction of the contents related to the teaching chosen by him

 

15951 - RELIGIONS OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD (12 CFU) - II semester / 3rd and 4th teaching period

List of topics:

GENERAL PART

1. Introductory lesson (2 hours)

2. Religion / religions: heuristic pathways and hermeneutical perspectives (6 hours)

3. Tools and methods of historical-religious research (6 hours)

4. The definition of polytheism: themes, concepts, perspectives (6 hours)

5. Functional articulation of ancient polytheisms: the Greek and Roman pantheon in a comparative perspective (6 hours)

6. Religious pluralism between differential comparison and (inter) cultural translatability: the lesson of the ancients (4 hours)

 

MONOGRAPHIC PART

1. The central action of religious doing: the sacrifice / sacrilegium (6 hours)

2. Sacrifice and society in the ancient world: analysis models and research perspectives (6 hours)

3. Sacrifice and society in the ancient world: the Greek, biblical and Vedic case (6 hours)

4. Religious mutations of late antiquity: the "Mosaic distinction" (6 hours)

5. Interiorization and privatization of the cult. From ritualized killing to empsychoi logoi: the end of sacrifices (6 hours)

 

12967 - RELIGIONS OF THE CLASSIC WORLD (1) (6 CFU) - II semester / 3rd teaching period

List of topics:

GENERAL PART

1. Introductory lesson (2 hours)

2. Religion / religions: heuristic pathways and hermeneutical perspectives (6 hours)

3. Tools and methods of historical-religious research (6 hours)

4. The definition of polytheism: themes, concepts, perspectives (6 hours)

5. Functional articulation of ancient polytheisms: the Greek and Roman pantheon in a comparative perspective (6 hours)

6. Religious pluralism between differential comparison and (inter) cultural translatability: the lesson of the ancients (4 hours)

 

12967 - RELIGIONS OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD (1) (6 CFU) - II semester / 4th teaching period

List of topics:

MONOGRAPHIC PART

1. The central action of religious doing: the sacrifice / sacrilegium (6 hours)

2. Sacrifice and society in the ancient world: analysis models and research perspectives (6 hours)

3. Sacrifice and society in the ancient world: the Greek, biblical and Vedic case (6 hours)

4. Religious mutations of late antiquity: the "Mosaic distinction" (6 hours)

5. Interiorization and privatization of the cult. From ritualized killing to empsychoi logoi: the end of sacrifices (6 hours)

Readings/Bibliography

15951 - RELIGIONS OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD (12 CFU) - II semester / 3rd and 4th teaching period

- A. BRELICH, M. MESLIN, Religione e storia delle religioni, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1988

- P. ANTES, A. GEERTZ, M. ROTHSTEIN (eds.), Contemporary Views on Comparative Religion, Equinox, Sheffield and Bristol 2016, pp. 33-46; 47-58; 87-99; 127-140; 141-152 (one freely chosen from the selected papers)

- Ph. BORGEAUD, F. PRESCENDI, Religioni antiche: un'introduzione comparata, edizione italiana a cura di Daniela Bonanno e Gabriella Pironti, Carocci, Roma 2011

- M. BETTINI, Elogio del politeismo: quello che possiamo imparare oggi dalle religioni antiche, Il Mulino, Bologna 2014

- C. GROTTANELLI, N.F. PARISE (a cura di), Sacrificio e società nel mondo antico, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1993

- G.G. STROUMSA, La fine del sacrificio: le mutazioni religiose della tarda antichità, Einaudi, Torino 2006

- NOTES (from the lessons) and INDIVIDUAL READINGS (especially in view of the preparation of the written paper)

* Non-attending students will have to add:

- N. SPINETO (a cura di), La religione come fattore di integrazione: modelli di convivenza e di scambio religioso nel mondo antico, Atti del 4° Convegno internazionale del Gruppo di ricerca italo-spagnolo di storia delle religioni (Università degli studi di Torino, 29-30 settembre 2006), Edizioni dell'Orso, Alessandria 2008

 

12967 - RELIGIONS OF THE CLASSIC WORLD (1) (6 CFU) - II semester / 3rd teaching period:

- A. BRELICH, M. MESLIN, Religione e storia delle religioni, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1988

- P. ANTES, A. GEERTZ, M. ROTHSTEIN (eds.), Contemporary Views on Comparative Religion, Equinox, Sheffield and Bristol 2016, pp. 33-46; 47-58; 87-99; 127-140; 141-152 (one freely chosen from the selected papers)

- Ph. BORGEAUD, F. PRESCENDI, Religioni antiche: un'introduzione comparata, edizione italiana a cura di Daniela Bonanno e Gabriella Pironti, Carocci, Roma 2011

- M. BETTINI, Elogio del politeismo: quello che possiamo imparare oggi dalle religioni antiche, Il Mulino, Bologna 2014

NOTES (from the lessons) and INDIVIDUAL READINGS (especially in view of the preparation of the written paper)

* Non-attending students will have to add:

- N. SPINETO (a cura di), La religione come fattore di integrazione: modelli di convivenza e di scambio religioso nel mondo antico, Atti del 4° Convegno internazionale del Gruppo di ricerca italo-spagnolo di storia delle religioni (Università degli studi di Torino, 29-30 settembre 2006), Edizioni dell'Orso, Alessandria 2008

 

12967 - RELIGIONS OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD (1) (6 CFU) - II semester / 4th teaching period:

- C. GROTTANELLI, N.F. PARISE (a cura di), Sacrificio e società nel mondo antico, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1993

- G.G. STROUMSA, La fine del sacrificio: le mutazioni religiose della tarda antichità, Einaudi, Torino 2006

- NOTES (from the lessons) and INDIVIDUAL READINGS (especially in view of the preparation of the written paper)

* Non-attending students will have to add:

- N. SPINETO (a cura di), La religione come fattore di integrazione: modelli di convivenza e di scambio religioso nel mondo antico, Atti del 4° Convegno internazionale del Gruppo di ricerca italo-spagnolo di storia delle religioni (Università degli studi di Torino, 29-30 settembre 2006), Edizioni dell'Orso, Alessandria 2008

Teaching methods

The course is divided into a series of frontal lectures for the classification and discussion of the topics reported supported by Power Point presentations and at a time of verification in which works (individual and / or group) will be presented consisting of the preparation of a written report of length between 15,000 and 30,000 characters (characters, spaces included) on a specific aspect of the subject matter.

Assessment methods

The course includes a final oral examination in which students must demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the reported bibliography, reasoning skills and critical analysis of the material studied, aptitude for processing and / or identification of conceptual links and intertextual links , language skills.

The following assessment levels will be taken into consideration when assigning the vote:

a judgment of excellence (30 cum laude) will be formulated if the student demonstrates that he possesses solid, critically acquired and solidly reasoned knowledge, wealth of discursive articulation and expressive properties;

the judgment will be excellent (30) if the student proves to possess complete and adequate knowledge, well articulated and expressed correctly;

the judgment will be good (29-27) if the student proves to possess more than satisfactory knowledge, expressed correctly;

the judgment will be discreet (26-24) if the student proves to possess the basic knowledge in the essential lines, but not completely exhaustive and / or not articulated with due correctness;

the judgment will be sufficient (23-21) where the student proves to possess general knowledge but acquired in a superficial way, expressed in a not always appropriate way and articulated in a confused way;

the judgment will be just enough (20-18) where the acquired knowledge is expressed and articulated in a confused, inorganic and / or incomplete way;

the judgment will be below the sufficiency (<18) where the knowledge should be absent or extremely incomplete and the student should show lack of orientation in the discipline.

Edit tools to support teaching

Power Point presentations projected in class and PDF copies of the documentation reported in the Texts / Bibliography section will be made available to students among the teaching materials and / or distributed in class during the course.

Teaching tools

Power Point presentations projected in class and PDF copies of the documentation reported in the Texts / Bibliography section will be made available to students among the teaching materials and / or distributed in class during the course.

Office hours

See the website of Giuseppina Paola Viscardi

SDGs

Quality education

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.