Syllabus
Week 1: Introduction: the key concepts
Week 2: Titans, Prometheus’ Fire and technology
Week 3: Gods, goddesses and the forces of ‘Nature’
Week 4: Eleusinian mysteries and the cult of Delphi
Week 5: Pan, nymphs and Dionysus
Week 6: Acropolis and Athenian myths of origin
Week 7: Wolves of Rome: Romulus, Remus and the Luperci
Week 8: The mysteries of Etruscan mythology
Week 9: Fire and Water: the mythology of the Vestals
Week 10: Rivers and the cult of the Tiber
Week 11: The mythology of plagues and pandemics
Week 12: Ovid’s Metamorphoses from an ecological perspective
Annotation
Greek and Roman mythology has been an infinite source of inspiration for authors, artists, and thinkers throughout the centuries. This short course reveals a fascinating world of stories that are fundamental to our cultural heritage and that focus on the environment. The course explores famous Greek and Roman myths in their ancient context, demonstrating how they developed in relation to the environment.
Natural phenomena played a crucial role in the stories that the Greeks and Romans told about their gods. Divine intervention was believed to be the cause of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and pandemics. The ancient mysteries developed as a response to natural cycles of human and animal life, taking their structure from the rhythm of the seasons.
The course analyses the stories of Greek and Roman divinities, the titan Prometheus, and Roman heroes and heroines. It also addresses specific texts such as Ovid’s Metamorphoses from an ecological perspective, demonstrating how ancient myths not only delight the imagination but also offer insights into the human condition and thus remain just as relevant in the modern world.