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The Pagan World

Written by: Hans-Friedrich Mueller, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Hans-Friedrich Mueller
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Publisher's Summary

In The Pagan World: Ancient Religions Before Christianity, you will meet the fascinating, ancient polytheistic peoples of the Mediterranean and beyond, their many gods and goddesses, and their public and private worship practices, as you come to appreciate the foundational role religion played in their lives. Professor Hans-Friedrich Mueller, of Union College in Schenectady, New York, makes this ancient world come alive in 24 lectures with captivating stories of intrigue, artifacts, illustrations, and detailed descriptions from primary sources of intriguing personalities.

In the ancient Mediterranean area, religion was not separate from daily life. To the contrary, religion was daily life. The many dozen gods of this ancient world were everywhere, with spirits inhabiting every crack and crevice of life. These polytheists believed they had a strict contract with their deities: If they took care of their gods, their gods would take care of them (or at least not harm them). Consequently, they built extraordinary temples to honor their deities, brought food and wine to them, sacrificed animals for them, and held sacred meals with their gods. In fact, they followed numerous rules and regulations that circumscribed almost all aspects of life both inside and outside the home - anything and everything to keep the gods happy. Consequently, the religious practices of the ancient Mediterranean make a wonderful lens through which to develop a deeper understanding of their world.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 The Great Courses (P)2020 The Teaching Company, LLC

What listeners say about The Pagan World

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armchair historian

A little on the feminist studies side of the aisle but still lots of interesting stuff in it. also not a big fan of his presentation style. To be fair I'm not his usual demographic but I found him a little condescending. It could well be my issue alone but I thought it was worth mentioning.

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great narrator

Interesting material was animated by vivacious and lively speaker. Perspective was broad, refreshing lack of religious bias and condescension. Excellent program.

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Great overview

This is a fascinating overview of religions of antiquity with an entertaining professor presenting the lessons.

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Great Class

Delivery was good, although at times the pace was slow.
I really liked his session closures, « May your day be auspicious » or a disambiguation of that.
Content was extraordinary!

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I wouldn't pay for it

If you can get it for free, it has some great information focussing on pre-christian Mesopotamia and Rome. That said the incessant, grandiose and irrelevant lists drive me crazy. It's like he wrote a thesis paper and read it aloud.

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Dry as the Egyptian desert.

Like listening to someone reading the encyclopedia to you. They call it a “course” but I would expect someone teaching a course to somehow try and engage the reader with some sort of story telling. This lecturer would have put me to sleep if I’d had him reading a textbook this way to me in class.

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