The religious landscape of the Roman Mediterranean in the first four centuries of the common era appears diverse and complex. The inhabitants of the Roman Empire not only worshipped different and sometimes competing deities: they also subscribed to multiple and competing visions of the cosmos and the place of humans within it. Through a selection of the surviving literature, composed by Jews, Christians and devotees of the numerous religious traditions of the ancient Mediterranean, we will consider these diverse "cosmologies" and their relationship to various aspects of ancient culture, particularly constructions of identity. How, for instance, is it possible that people whose lives have a great deal in common nevertheless have vastly different views of the universe and their location within it? Although our focus is primarily on antiquity, our inquiry has implications for our own culturally diverse society. Among the ancient works we are likely to read are: Apuleius, Metamorphoses (selections); Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, the Gospel according to John, 4 Maccabees; Philostratus, Life of Apollonios of Tyana; the Acts of (Paul and) Thecla; Anthia and Habrocomes (or, Xenophon, An Ephesian Tale); Pirke Avot (The Sayings of the Fathers); the Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas; Sefer ha-Razim (the Book of the Mysteries); the Hypostasis of the Archons; the Book of Aseneth. We will also read brief selections from the extensive scholarly literature on these works, and on the world of late antiquity. Requirements: weekly reading; regular and informed class participation; preparation of discussion materials for one class meeting; two to three short papers (3-5 pages); and one final research paper (10-12 pages). Open to all classes without prerequisite. Enrollment limited to 30.

Hour: KRAEMER