RLB249 Divination in Ancient Religions

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2008
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Aleš Chalupa, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Dušan Lužný, Dr.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Lucie Čelková
Timetable
Wed 11:40–13:15 zruseno D51
Prerequisites (in Czech)
RLB23 Ancient Near Eastern Religions || RLB24 Graeco-Roman Religions || RLB206 Roman Religion || RLB238 Greek Religion || RLB239 Hellenistic Religions
Vzhledem k nedostatku moderní literatury v češtině věnované problematice věštění ve starověkých náboženstvích je doporučena znalost anglického jazyka. K zápisu do kurzu je (v případě religionistů v bakalářském studiu) vyžadováno předchozí absolvování alespoň jednoho ze základních bakalářských kurzů věnovaných starověkým náboženským tradicím (RLB23 – Starověká náboženství Předního Východu; RLB24 – Náboženství antiky; RLB206 – Římské náboženství; RLB238 – Řecké náboženství; RLB239 – Helénistická náboženství).
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 6 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course provides a comprehensive introduction into the study of various methods of divination used in ancient religions, taking into account their historical and social context. The lectures concentrate especially on the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, but try to expand the subject with relevant examples taken from older civilizations of Asia Minor, Middle East or Egypt. The course discusses the most important strategies of divination and typology of persons concerned with this activity and tries to interpret them in regard to the prevalent contemporary political, cultural and religious conditions. The lectures accentuate larger social implications and cognitive predispositions which could decisively help to endorse the credibility of divination as useful strategy of attainment of critical information otherwise inaccessible to humans.
At the end of this course, students should:
- know elementary facts about divination in ancient religions
- know the history of the study of ancient divination during the 20th century and major trends at the beginning of 21st century
- be able to critically interpret our most important literary sources and archeological discoveries concerning divination in antiquity
- understand the role that divination played in the life of inhabitants of the ancient world
Syllabus
  • 1. Introductory Lecture; 1. Divination in Ancient Religions – An Introduction; 3. Seers and Prophets; 4. Oracles in the Antiquity; 5. Sibylline Books and Other Prophetic Texts; 6. Prodigies and Omens; 7. Divination from Birds 8. Divination from Animal Entrails (Hepatoscopy); 9. Necromancy(Consultations of the Dead) and "Magical Divination"; 10. Divination from the Dreams; 11. Astrology. 12. Why Divination: The Role of Divination in the Ancient World. 13. End-of-term test.
Literature
  • Věštění a prorokování v archaických kulturách. Edited by Tomáš Vítek - Jiří Starý - Dalibor Antalík. Vyd. 1. V Praze: Hermann & synové, 2006, 261 s. ISBN 8087054040. info
  • CURNOW, Trevor. The oracles of the ancient world. 1st pub. London: Duckworth, 2004, xxvii, 180. ISBN 0715631942. info
  • VANDENBERG, Philippe. Tajemství věštíren. Frýdek-Místek: Alpress, 2002. info
  • RÜPKE, Jörg. Náboženství Římanů. Translated by David Sanetrník. Vydání první. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2007, 341 stran. ISBN 9788070218075. info
  • BURKERT, Walter. Griechische Religion : der archaischen und klassischen Epoche. 1. Aufl. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1977, 508 s. ISBN 3170043455. info
Assessment methods
Contents of the semester:
Lectures and home reading of texts concerning themes of individual lectures.
Conditions of Completion:
Successful completion of the end-of-term test (subject matter of the course and knowledge of primary sources).
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujícího.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2009.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2008, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2008/RLB249