The goddess Isis and her place in Graeco-Roman literature and religion

Timetable

Module aim (aims)

The student recognises the place of Isis in Egyptian, Greek and Roman religion.

The student analyses Graeco-Roman texts in the context of the worship of Isis.

The student points out aspects, domains and functions ascribed to Isis by her worshippers.

The student recognises the differences between Isis in secular, philosophical and religious texts.

The student analyses the figure of Isis in the context of Platonic philosophy.

The student analyses the role of Isis in late antique magical texts.

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

Basic knowledge of Latin and Greek.

Basic knowledge of Greek religion and mythology.

Basic knowledge of Greek and Latin literature.

Basic knowledge of ancient philosophy.

Syllabus

1. Introduction – Isis and her cult in Egypt
2. Isis in Egyptian religious texts
3. The Interpretatio Graeca – Herodotus and his description of Egypt
4. The Hellenistic Isis – Isidiac Aretalogies
5. The Hellenistic Isis – Isidorus and his four hymns
6. The Hellenistic Isis – Sea goddess and syncretism
7. Diodorus Siculus and the worship of Isis
8. Isis and other Greek goddesses
9. Isis in Platonism: Plutarchus and De Iside et Osiride
10. Isis in magical texts of Graeco-Roman Egypt
11. Isis in the Latin texts: Roman elegies – Tibullus, Propertius and Ovid
12. Isis in the Latin texts: Ovid and the Metamorphoses
13. Isis in the Latin Texts: Apuleius, Metamorphoses XI and the mysteries of Isis
14. Isis in Latin Texts: Minor references: Juvenal, Horace
15. Final test

Readings:

Meeting 1: -

Meeting 2: J. Assmann (1969) and (1999) – a choice

Meeting 3: Herodotus, Histories

Meeting 4: -

Meeting 5: Isidorus, Hymns

Meeting 6: Diodorus Siculus, book 1.

Meeting 8: -

Meeting 9: Plutarchus, De Iside et Osiride

Meeting 10: Greek Magical Papyri

Meeting 11: Tibullus, Elegies, 1.3; Propertius, Elegies, 2.33a; Ovid, Amores, 2.2, 2.13

Meeting 12: Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book IX, 666-797

Meeting 13: Apuleius, Metamorphoses, Book XI

Meeting 14: Juvenal, Satyres, 6; Horace, Odes, 1.37

Reading list

Primary literature:

Bricault, L., Versluys, J. M. (2007). The Hellenistic face of Isis: Cosmic and saviour goddess. Leiden, Boston: Brill.

Bricault, L., Versluys, J. M. (2014). Power, Politics and the Cults of Isis. Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 180. Leiden: Brill.

Bricault, L. (2020). Isis Pelagia: Images, Names and Cults of a Goddess of the Seas. Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 190. Leiden: Brill.

Bremmer, J. (2014). Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.

Burkert, W. (1987). Greek Religion. Trans. J. Raffan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Burkert, W. (1989). Ancient Mystery Cults. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

 

Eingartner, J. (1991). Isis und ihre Dienerinnen in der Kunst der römischen Kaiserzeit. Mnemosyne, Supplements 115. Leiden: Brill.

Gasparini, V., Veymiers, R. (2018). Individuals and Materials in the Greco-Roman Cults of Isis: Agents, Images, and Practices. Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 187. Leiden: Brill.

Heyob, S. K. The cult of Isis among women in the Graeco-Roman world. Études préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'Empire romain 51. Leiden: Brill.

 

Merkelbach, R. (1955). Isis-regina Zeus Sarapis: Die Griechisch-Ägyptische Religion nach Quellen dargestellt. Leipzig, Stuttgart: B. G. Teubner.

Nilsson, M. P. (1956). Geschichte der griechischen Religion. Vol. I-II. München: C.H. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.

Pachoumi, E. (2017). The Concept of the Divine in the Greek Magical Papyri. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

Suk Fong Jim, T. (2022). Saviour Gods and Soteria in Ancient Greece. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Takacs, S. A. (1994). Isis and Sarapis in the Roman World. Leiden: Brill.

Mazurek, L. A. (2022). Isis in a Global Empire: Greek Identity through Egyptian Religion in Roman Greece. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Versnel, H. (1998). Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion, Volume 1: Ter Unus. Isis, Dionysos, Hermes. Three Studies in Henotheism. Studies in Greek and Roman Religion 6/1. Leiden: Brill. 

Supplementary literature:

Assmann, J. (1969). Liturgische Lieder and den Sonnengott: Untersuchungen zur altägyptischen Hymnik. Berlin: Verlag Bruno Hessling.

Assmann, J. (1999). Ägyptische Hymnen und Gebete: Übersetzt, kommentiert und eingeleitet. Freiburg Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Göttingen.

Babbitt, F. C. (1936). Plutarch: Moralia, Volume V: Isis and Osiris. The E at Delphi. The Oracles at Delphi No Longer Given in Verse. The Obsolescence of Oracles. LCL 306. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bortolani, L. M. (2016). Magical Hymns from Roman Egypt: A Study of Greek and Egyptian Traditions of Divinity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bricault, L. (2005). Recueil des inscriptions concernant les cultes isiaques: RICIS. Diffusion, De Boccard: Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres.

 

Heitsch, E. (1961). Die Griechischen Dichterfragmente der Römischen Kaiserzeit. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Hanson, J. A. (1989). Apuleius: Metamorphoses. LCL 453. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Keulen, W. H. (2015). Apuleius Madaurensis Metamorphoses, Book XI, The Isis Book: Text, Introduction and Commentary. Leiden: Brill.

Kockelmann, H. (2008). Praising the Goddes: A Comparative and Annotated ReEdition od Six Demotic Hymns and Praises Addressed to Isis. Berlin, New York: Walter De Gruyter.

Miller, F. J. (1916). Ovid: Metamorphoses, Volume II: Books 9-15. LCL 43. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Peek, W. (1930). Der Isishymnus von Andros und verwandte Texte. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung.

Showermann, G. (1914). Ovid: Heroides. Amores. LCL 41. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Vanderlip, V. (1972). The four hymns of Isidorus and the cult of Isis. Toronto: The American Society of Papyrologists.

Žabkar, L. V. (1988). Hymns to Isis in Her Temple at Philae. Hanover: Brandeis University Press.