Infancy and Childhood in Ancient Greek Religion

HDS 1780 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

As in all ancient societies, infants and children in ancient Greece were both uniquely vulnerable to early death and valuable as social beings. Children represented the future of family, polis, military, economy, and the worship of the gods. The survival of the culture depended on their religious protection and social incorporation. What do we know of ancient Greek ritual responses to this stage of life? What special roles did children play in cult? What space was created for children’s toys, games, beloved animals, and emotions? How do infants and children appear in art? What were the roles of gender, ethnicity, class, and caste? What did ancient Greek philosophers think of the first years of human life? How were young bodies buried, and early deaths commemorated? Through primary sources, including literature, iconography, and the archaeological record, as well as recent scholarship, we will consider how infants and children were nurtured, socialized, and initiated, with attention to themes of their liminality and mediating power. How should we read the many myths of abandonment, killing, consumption, or sacrifice of infants and children at the hands of adults, often at the gods’ demand? We will also consider Roman and other ancient Mediterranean religions. Students will have an opportunity to develop their own research projects. Please write to Prof. Patton to express your interest: kpatton@hds.harvard.edu. 

Jointly offered with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as RELIGION 1323.