Module CLAS3531: THE WORLD OF GREEK RITUALS

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS3531: THE WORLD OF GREEK RITUALS

Prerequisites

• Remembering Athens (CLAS1601) OR Study of Religions (THEO1131).

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To gain insight into Greek rituals both as forms of social interaction within society as well as a form of interaction of a society with its religious beliefs.

Content

• The module investigates the world of Greek rituals in the broadest terms. Starting off with the rituals belonging to the realm of social interaction and the rites du passage of female and male members of society (the attic Brauronia/ Arkteia/ female dedications; rituals specific for men: ephebic / paiderastic rituals / transvestism), we will explore the group rituals (e.g. marriage rituals; rituals for the deceased / fallen; rituals for heroes; processions; scapegoat rituals; sympotic rituals; family rituals; healing rituals; cleansing rituals), as well as their protagonists (esp. the priests) and social contexts.
• First series of lectures will be devoted to modern approaches to ritual. Starting with the traditional definitions of ritual, we will investigate the phenomenon of ritual dynamic i.e. the ways in which rituals change over time, and will try to reconstruct the agents modifying rituals and their reasons for doing so.
• The second series of lectures will be dedicated to individual elements of Greek rituals, and will focus on the sacrifice (both blood sacrifices and other types of offerings, such as fireless ones).
• The central section of the module is devoted to individual rituals, and will be organized according to social hierarchy: beginning with rituals that every citizen of a given polis had contact with, or had to take part in, we will further focus on group rituals and end with rituals of power in Hellenistic period and rituals for emperors in the Greek world.
• The final series of lectures will be dedicated to magic (both erotic magic and Schadenzauber) and mystic rituals.

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of sources relevant for study of Greek rituals, as well as present day methodological approaches.

• An ability to analyze and evaluate a variety of sources and understand the social dimension of sacral and non-sacral ritual as means of interaction within a given group or polis.
• Understanding of the most influential modern scholarly approaches to epigraphic and literary sources, and ability to evaluate their relevance and / or significance.
• An ability to engage with and make one's own synthesis of the results of the scholarship.

• Analytical, evaluative and synthetic ability necessary for an approach to heterogeneous historical sources.
• Awareness of methodological pitfalls.
• Critical acumen paired with argumentative ability.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures are organized in the following manner: After a series of lectures on definition of, approaches to, and elements of Greek ritual, one will focus on types of rituals, and the actual ritual actions, and will end with the socio-historical contexts, thus enabling students to understand methodological and source-specific difficulties in approach to Greek rituals.
• Students will be introduced to the most important methodological issues in the realm of Greek religion and epigraphy.
• Seminars and Tutorials will give students an opportunity to present and develop their own ideas.
• Essays will assess students' competence to analyze and criticize a given argument on the basis of the Learning Outcomes: Students will be given selected sources and invited to verify or falsify a series of hypotheses.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Essays/Seminar contributions for the tutorials/seminars. No collections.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University