RELST-207 The Social Lives of the Ancient Dead
What happened to people after they died in the ancient world? Often, their story was only beginning. This course looks at the ways the dead remained part of everyday life. We will read curse tablets that call on restless spirits, laws about stolen bodies, stories about cities fighting over heroic bones, and Christian accounts of remains that heal or protect the living. We will also study tombs and inscriptions to see how people used the dead to make claims about family, memory, status, and belonging. The course ends close to home. For the final project, students will turn to Hamilton’s own cemetery and investigate how one grave, monument, or burial story creates a social life for the dead on our campus. The larger question throughout the course is simple: what can the dead still do for the living?
Standard Course (40)
Credits
1