Topic I: Afterlives – Greek & Roman

QUESTIONS

How does Greek iconography reveal attitudes towards the dead and death?

OR

Is it at all possible to come to a clear understanding of the nature of the Eleusinian Mysteries on the basis of the surviving literary and iconographic evidence?

OR

To what extent does Roman literature and iconography provide a coherent picture of Roman attitudes towards the dead and death?

(Choose only one of the two alternative questions.)

Topic II: Art, Architecture & the Gods

QUESTION

What does the Parthenon reveal about the religion and political ideology of the ancient Athenians? (With particular reference to Connelly 1996 below.)

OR

What do the religious monuments, sanctuaries, and art of the pagan Greeks and/or Romans reveal about Greek and/or Roman religious priorities? Pay especial attention to the Parthenon Frieze (Athens) and the Ara Pacis Augustae (Rome).

[Look at Greek and Roman religious monuments, sanctuaries and art in general for this question. Then consider how these two monuments served particular religious (and perhaps political) purposes.]

# students are expected to undertake significant independent research, to locate and utilise independently researched scholarly items such as journal articles and academic book chapters.

Topic III: Asklepios and His Healing Hands

QUESTION

Why did the ancient Greeks and Romans worship a healing deity despite the existence of a fairly advanced medical profession?

Topic IV: Astrology, Divination, Horoscopes, & Magic

In what ways was the practice of magic amongst the Greeks and/or Romans significantly different from their ‘mainstream’ religious practices?

OR

Could it be said that astrology as practised by the Greeks and / or Romans was alien to their traditional divinatory practices?

OR

Was love magic the main focus of Greek and/or Roman magical rites?