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Ancient Madness

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Psychological & Brain Sciences 4647 | Fall, 2018
In this course we will ask what madness meant in Greek and Roman culture. We will find reading strategies that are sensitive both to ancient evidence and to the ethical demands of talking about, evaluating, and categorizing people treated as mad. While we will concentrate on literary (particularly tragic and epic), philosophical, and medical texts, we will also look at visual representations and evidence from ritual and cult. An important part of our project will involve tracing the afterlife of classical ideas: the history of melancholia will ground this aspect of the course. Finally, we will consider how antiquity informs psychoanalysis (Oedipus, Antigone, Narcissus), and how ancient madness might partake in a critique of contemporary understandings of mental illness.
Related Courses: 
L08 4647
L16 4647
L85 4647
Course Attributes: 
EN H
AS HUM
AS LCD
FA HUM
AR HUM
CFH MH

Section 01

Ancient Madness
Course Listings page
Instructor: 
Purchase
Room Schedule: 
MoWe 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm | Seigle Hall, Room 305
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