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SoSe 20: Griechen und Perser: clash of civilizations?

Arash Zeini und Sebastian Zerhoch

Information for students

Die Lehrveranstaltung findet über Blackboard statt und wird gelegentlich von WebEx-Meetings (für Gruppen- sowie für Individualgespräche) begleitet.

Additional information / Pre-requisites

Joint course of the Institute of Iranian Studies and the Institute of Religious Studies.

Comments

Fueled by the predominant ancient Greek perspective on the Persian Wars of 490-478 BCE, the relationship between Greeks and Persians in antiquity is often described as a clash of civilizations. Recently, however, scholars have started to question one-sided and reductive views and to point out the complexity of the relationship between Greeks and Persians, taking into consideration a wider historical context and a variety of different sources. The interdisciplinary course discusses the ancient Greek and Persian civilizations by looking at three major areas: political history, culture and religion. Written documents and images from both cultures form the basis of the discussions. The main focus of the course, however, will be on religion: which religions were practiced in the Persian Empire during the time of the Achaemenids? What has the term magic to do with ancient Persian and Greek religions? What are the similarities and differences between Greek religion and Zoroastrianism (gods, hymns and rituals)? All texts will be provided in translation. close

Suggested reading

Suggestions for reading: E. Kearns, Ancient Greek Religion: A Sourcebook, Malden, MA 2010. S. Iles-Johnston (Hg.), Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide, Cambridge, MA 2004 (Einträge zu Iran und Greece). J. Morgan, Greek Perspectives on the Achaemenid Empire: Persia Through the Looking Glass, Edinburgh 2016. A. Kuhrt, The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period, New York 2007. M. Stausberg (Hg.), Zoroastrian Rituals in Context (Numen Book Series 102), Leiden 2004. M. Stausberg, Y. Sohrab-Dinshaw (Hg.), The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism, Chichester 2015. A. de Jong, Traditions of the Magi: Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin literature, Leiden 1997. W. Will, Die Perserkriege, München 2010. close