Underworld and Afterlife (ANCW30011)

The journey to the underworld, the existence of an afterlife, the survival of the bereaved, the mummification of the dead, human sacrifice, communicating with ghosts - the ancient world blossomed with myths and rituals associated with all these things. This subject focuses on these topics in the literature and material culture of antiquity including the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, the myths of Homer, Greek tragedy, Roman epic, epitaphs commemorating the deceased, and archaeological evidence from funerary and other ritual contexts.

On completion of this subject students should not only have an understanding of ancient myths and death-rituals. They should have assessed critically the relevant literary and material sources through multidisciplinary practice; have learned the major scholarly approaches to death, bereavement and the afterlife in the ancient world; and have discussed the ethical and cultural implications of these practices today.