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GOALS
The objectives of this course will be to study the Greco-Roman myths that treat the origin
of the world, the generations of the gods, the creation of the human race, and the
relationship between mortals and immortals. We will also examine the ancient notions of
worship, including the significance of the sacrifice and of mystery cult. We will employ a
variety of contemporary theoretical perspectives to interpret the meaning behind these
stories both for the ancients and for the modern world and to evaluate their force in the
development of Greek and Roman culture, literature, and art and their subsequent
influence on later peoples.
This course satisfies a Core Area Requirement in Religious Dimensions (CAR: OLD
CORE) as well as a Franciscan Concern Core in Diversity (CFD: NEW CORE).
The Franciscan concern for diversity flows from its affirmation of each individual as
worthy of respect and compassion. Individuality implies plurality of perspective, both on
the level of differences among persons and on the level of differences among peoples.
Appreciating diversity requires that students have the opportunity to see things from
perspectives they do not normally occupy. This includes the examination of diverse
intellectual perspectives.
In general terms, this course reflects diversity. In compels students to grapple with a
religious/spiritual outlook very different from their own. It encourages them to understand
how their judgments about a society’s religious/spiritual ideas and values are conditioned
and dependent on where they stand in relation to that society, that is to say, whether they
stand within a cultural framework and so typically entertain a privileged viewpoint, or
stand outside of cultural framework and so typically engender a bias that they would never
usually apply to their own culture.
In dealing with the myths, religious practices, and spiritual ideas of the Greeks and
Romans they will certainly encounter the perspective of the “other." They will have to
come to terms with the fact that the very term “myth" is almost exclusively used to
describe the religious stories of another culture not their own; that in so doing they adopt a
less critical attitude towards aspects of their own religious traditions and a more dismissive
attitude towards aspects of another religious tradition.
This course will include discussions throughout the semester on the dynamics of this very
issue and how a study of another culture’s ideas and values can lead both to a greater
appreciation of that difference and a more critical eye toward their own unexamined
