Creation of the Sacred: Traces of Biology in Early Religions
| Title | Η δημιουργία του Ιερού. Ερευνητικές προσεγγίσεις στις θρησκείες της αρχαιότητας σύμφωνα με τα δεδομένα της Βιολογίας / Creation of the Sacred: Traces of Biology in Early Religions |
| Code | 2204 |
| Faculty | Theology |
| School | Theology |
| Cycle / Level | 1st / Undergraduate |
| Teaching Period | Winter/Spring |
| Coordinator | Panayotis Pachis |
| Common | Yes |
| Status | Active |
| Course ID | 600015283 |
| Academic Year | 2018 – 2019 |
| Class Period | Spring |
| Faculty Instructors |
|
| Weekly Hours | 3 |
| Class ID | 600125803
|
Course Type 2011-2015
Specific Foundation / Core
Mode of Delivery
- Face to face
Digital Course Content
- e-Study Guide https://qa.auth.gr/en/class/1/600125803
- At the Website of the School:
Erasmus
The course is also offered to exchange programme students.
Language of Instruction
- Greek (Instruction, Examination)
- English (Instruction, Examination)
Learning Outcomes
- To approach the coexistence between the cultural studies and natural sciences.
- To understand the problem of the “natural religion”.
- To perceive the meaning of hierarchy in the ancient Greek religion.
- To realize the significance of the Reciprocity of Giving in the ancient Greek religion.
General Competences
- Apply knowledge in practice
- Retrieve, analyse and synthesise data and information, with the use of necessary technologies
- Adapt to new situations
- Make decisions
- Work in teams
- Work in an international context
- Appreciate diversity and multiculturality
- Respect natural environment
- Demonstrate social, professional and ethical commitment and sensitivity to gender issues
- Be critical and self-critical
- Advance free, creative and causative thinking
Course Content (Syllabus)
Religions, both in the past and present, appear in special cultural, social, and historical settings; they can be elaborated as symbolic systems and interpreted in fascinating ways. Yet this universal and prehistorical phenomenon cannot be explained by or derived from any single cultural system. The search about the source of religion calls for a more general perspective, beyond individual civilizations, which must take account of the vast process of human evolution within the more general evolutionary process of life. This process was once hypostasized by Nature which may still be used as a metaphor. In this sense the history of religions involves the problem of “natural” religion. Cultural studies should merge with general anthropology, which is ultimately integrated into biology.
Keywords
Sociobiology, natural religion, reciprocity, sacred, hierarchy, ritual, myth, sacrifice, rituals, rites of passage.
Educational Material Types
- Notes
- Book
Use of Information and Communication Technologies
Use of ICT
- Use of ICT in Course Teaching
- Use of ICT in Communication with Students
Description
Use of Power-points during the lectures of the Semester.Collaboration with the students through E-Mails.
Course Organization
| Activities | Workload | ECTS | Individual | Teamwork | Erasmus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 62 | 2.5 | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Written assigments | 8 | 0.3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Exams | 2 | 0.1 | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Total | 72 | 2.9 |
Student Assessment
Description
Writing of Papers- Discussion -Exams -Evaluaiton of current scientific theories and methodologies. The rating of the students is a result of the above efficiencies during the Semester.
Student Assessment methods
- Written Assignment (Formative)
- Oral Exams (Summative)
Bibliography
Course Bibliography (Eudoxus)
Pachis, P. - Wiebe, D. (eds.), Chasing Down Religion: In the Sight of History and the Cognitive Studies, Essays in Honor of Luther H. Martin, Thessaloniki, 2010.
Additional bibliography for study
Bell, C., Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice, New York, 1992.
Bloch, M., Prey Into Hunter: The Politics of Religious Experience. Cambridge, 1992.
Braun, W., “Introduction (Review Symposium, W. Burkert Creation of the Sacred. Tracks of Biology in Early Religions, Cambridge, Mass.-London,1996)”, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 10, 1 (1998), 85-88.
Boyer, P., “Creation of the Sacred: A Cognitivist View (Review Symposium, W. Burkert Creation of the Sacred. Tracks of Biology in Early Religions, Cambridge, Mass.-London,1996)”, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 10, 1 (1998),” 88-92.
Burkert, W., Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual, Berkeley, 1979.
---------------, Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth, Berkeley, 1983.
---------------, Creation of the Sacred. Tracks of Biology in Early Religions, Cambridge, Mass.-London,1996.
---------------, “Exploring Religion in a Biological Landscape (Review Symposium, W. Burkert Creation of the Sacred. Tracks of Biology in Early Religions, Cambridge, Mass.-London,1996)”, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 10, 1 (1998)”, 129-132.
Dennett, D.C., “The Evolution of Religious Memes: Who-or-What-Benefits? (Review Symposium, W. Burkert Creation of the Sacred. Tracks of Biology in Early Religions, Cambridge, Mass.-London,1996)”, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 10, 1 (1998),115-128.
Dodd, D. B - Faraone, Chr. A., Initiation in Ancient Greek Rituals and Narratives. New Critical Perspectives, London-New York, 2003.
Gill, Chr. -Postlethwaite – Seaford, R. (eds.), Reciprocity in Ancient Greece, Oxford, 1998.
Lorenz, k., On Aggression, New York, 1963.
Masuzawa, T., “In Natures Trail (Review Symposium, W. Burkert Creation of the Sacred. Tracks of Biology in Early Religions, Cambridge, Mass.-London,1996)”, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 10, 1 (1998),” 106-114.
Padilla M. W., Rites of Passage in Ancient Greece: Literature, Religion, Society, Bucknell Review, London-Toronto, 1999.
Parker, R., Miasma: Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion, Oxford, 1983.
-------------, On Greek Religion, Ithaca-London, 2011.
Robert Phillips R. III, “Walter Burket in Partibus Infidelium”: A Classicist Appraisal of Creation of the Sacred (Review Symposium, W. Burkert Creation of the Sacred. Tracks of Biology in Early Religions, Cambridge, Mass.-London,1996)”, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 10, 1 (1998), 92-105
Seaford, R., Reciprocity and Ritual: Homer and Tragedy in the Developing City State, Oxford, 1994.
Suk Fon Jim, Th., Sharing With the Gods. Aparchai and Dekatai in Ancient Greece, Oxford Classical Monographs, Oxford, 2014.
Vernant, J. P., Mortals and Immortal: Collected Essays, ed. F. I. Zeitlin, Princeton, 1991.
Fraser Watts, Fr- Turner, L., (eds.), Evolution, Religion, and Cognitive Science Critical and Constructive Essays, Oxfrod, 2014.
Wilson, E. O., Sociolobiology: The New Synthesis, Cambridge Mass., 1975.
----------------, On Human Nature, Cambridge Mass., 1978.
Last Update
24-09-2018
