Saints and Sinners: Women in Late Antiquity (AH8150A)

Content

This unit will provide students with a comprehensive overview of women’s roles, position and status in Late Antiquity (the period of transition from the ancient to the medieval world, 3rd to 8th century CE), and attitudes towards them. By reading selected primary sources, this unit will introduce students to some of the most powerful and influential women in antiquity such as Hypatia the philosopher, Melania the aristocrat, Theodora the Empress, Pelagia the harlot, and Syncletica the desert mother. The unit will also analyse the roles these women played in religious and theological debates, the home, and social and economic life.

Learning outcomes

Pedagogy

Face to Face: 12 weekly sessions consisting of lectures, presentations, and class discussion.

Indicative Bibliography

Primary sources:

• John of Nikiu, Chronicle: downloadable from http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/nikiu2_chronicle.htm
• Palladius, Historia Lausiaca: downloadable from http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/palladius_lausiac_02_text.htm
• Procopius, Secret History: downloadable from http://arcticbeacon.com/books/Procopius-Anecdota-The_Secret_History.pdf
• Pseudo-Athanasius, The Life and Regimen of the Blessed and Holy Syncletica, Part 1 & 2, ed. & trans. Mary Schaeffer, (Peregrina, 2001 & 2005).
• Socrates, Historia Ecclesiastica: downloadable from http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.toc.html
• Ward, Benedicta, Harlots of the Desert, (Kalamazoo, 1987).

Secondary sources:

• Brock, Sebastian & Susan Harvey, Holy Women of the Syrian Orient, (London, 1998).
• Clark, Elizabeth, Women in the Early Church (Collegeville, 1983).
• Clark, Gillian, Women in Late Antiquity, (Oxford, 1994).
• Coon, Lynda, Sacred Fictions: Holy Women and Hagiography in Late Antiquity, (Philadelphia, 1997).
• Dietz, Maribel, Wandering Monks, Virgins, and Pilgrims, (University Park, 2005).
• Grubbs, Judith Evan, Women and the Law in the Roman Empire, A Sourcebook, (Routledge, 2002).
• Kraemer, Ross, Her Share of the Blessings: Women's Religions among Pagans, Jews and Christians in the Greco-Roman World, (Oxford, 1992).
• Kraemer, Ross & Mary Rose D'Angelo, Women and Christian Origins (Oxford, 1999).
• Wilfong, T.G., Women of Jeme. Lives in a Coptic Town in Late Antique Egypt (Ann Arbor, 2005). USD18 Articles that are compulsory weekly readings will be made available online [in PDF format].

Assessment