Ancient Religious Reflections
Department of Classics
Monmouth College

This course is primarily directed towards students desiring to meet the requirement for graduation in the Reflections rubric. It is a humanities course without prerequisite, designed for the student of any major. Ancient Religious Reflections also covers themes and subject matter of interest to the Classics major and other students interested in Classical antiquity and its place in Western civilization. The Monmouth College catalogue gives the following description of courses that meet the Reflections requirement:

In these courses we will
1. Learn how our society and other societies past and present have struggled to formulate ethical and moral frameworks, to understand and represent their place in the cosmos, and to grapple with the realities of human existence, including joy, death, pain, suffering, and evil and
2. Critically evaluate how these fundamental questions can, do, or should affect the manner in which we choose to live our lives, interact with others and live in the world.

Every time it is offered Ancient Religious Reflections deals with a different aspect of religion in the world of the ancient Mediterranean. Topics include "Sacred Places," "Mystery Religions Past and Present," and "Classical Mythology and Religion." Students may take more than one Ancient Religious Reflections course with different topics. While special attention is given to the ancient Greeks and Romans, the civilizations of other Mediterranean peoples, such as the Egyptians, are also discussed and special effort will be made to put these ancient reflections in a modern context.

This material has been published on the web by Prof. Tom Sienkewicz for his students at Monmouth College. If you have any questions, you can contact him at toms@monm.edu.

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