Notebook † Richard Flynn

Sunday 10 June 2007 #

Was there an early 'Christianity', or where there early 'Christianities'? What other Gospel traditions existed early on beside the Synoptic Gospels? What distinguished these Gospels from the 'Synoptic' ones?
How different was 'early Christianity' from contemporary Judaism? Would it be right to call 'early Christianity' an offshoot or a dialect of Judaism?
How was Christianity organized? What were the consequencs of Christianization on existing family and social structures in the eastern Mediterranean? Did Christians stand out in the period of the Acts, or were they inconspicuous?

Friday 25 May 2007 #

Outline briefly the main Romano-Jewish relations under the empire. How did Romans and Jews view each other?
How valid is a distinction between 'Romans' and 'Jews'?
How far were Jews integrated into the Roman empire? What were the sticking points? Were they social, political, or religious?
How successful were Jewish apologists in this period?

Friday 18 May 2007 #

What were the origins of Mithraism? Explain its tenets. Why were Mithraea located where they were? Can we explain the iconography of the cult?
What did Mithraism offer worshippers? How quickly did it become popular; were there problems?
Should we classify Mithraism as an oriental or a military cult? Or neither?

Wednesday 2 May 2007 #

What are the salient features of the cult of Isis? And of Sarapis?Why were they associated?
Why was Isis popular in Rome and Italy? Were there any problems of integration?
Why do the Metamorphoses of Apuleius turn into a work of Isaian devotion? How genuine is it? What can we learn from the work about Isis?
Did the worship of Isis introduce a new dimension to Roman religion?
Why did some people in the Roman world decide to dedicate themselves to the worship of Isis? Was this 'elective' worship exclusive of other forms of cult?

Wednesday 25 April 2007 #

To what extent was it a government-organized affair? Consider issues like the regular use of formulae of refusal, offically sponsored calendars, prohibition on the cult of governors, etc.
Is it hopeless for us to try to understand the feelings involved?
What difference did it make that the emperor was also pontifex maximus?

Friday 20 April 2007 #

Can we—should we—try to write a special history of women's religion? Is it true to say that there were more rituals of transition (rites de passage) for women than for men? How might religion have framed sexual politics in the Roman Empire?
What sorts of deities did women worship, how, and why? Distinguish between the public and private spheres. What aspects of religion or cult life were largely or exclusively female?
What was the attraction of the cult of Isis (and other initiatory cults) for women?
What rôles did women play in Christianity, and in Christianization? Was their Christian rôle to do with more than renunciation of the pleasures of the flesh?

Wednesday 7 March 2007 #

What did the Greeks and Romans think they were doing when they told stories about the gods, and put them into hierarchies?
If there is a function to these myths, why are they all so different?
Where do myths come from? Who starts them? Who tells them? Does it matter?
Did myths evolve? Or were they static over time?

Monday 5 March 2007 #

“To what extent can we describe medieval French courtly narratives as realistic?”

Tuesday 27 February 2007 #

Trace briefly the origin and development of the Roman Calendar up to the Augustan period.
How do Ovid’s Fasti, especially that for April, compare with the ‘religious’ calendar? How can the differences be explained?
Do Ovid's Fasti tell us more about Augustan poetics or about Augustan religious ideology? Why do you think the Fasti were written?
Can we argue that the Fasti deserve respect as a serious source for Augustan religion?