University at Buffalo 3 credits English
Examination of the iconography and literature of the sacred tradition in art. For example: Prof. D. Christian, Heaven, Hell & Judgement The course will consider ideas and images of eternal reward and punishment & stories and pictures of heaven, hell, and judgment from ancient Sumner to modern film. We will begin with the oldest known story of the underworld, five-thousand year-old Sumerian goddess Inannas descent From the Great Above to the Great Below. We’ll look at the Egyptian weighing of the soul at death against the feather of Maat or justice, at Odysseus and Aeneas explorations of the worlds of the dead, at Plato’s and popular ideas of what’s next. We’ll also consider Biblical apocalypses, Sheol, Hades and heaven, medieval journeys to heaven and hell, Dante’s Inferno and Paradiso, and Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. We’ll look at paintings, mosaics, and sculptures of Judgment, heaven and hell, including especially some Byzantine art, Romanesque churches, Giotto, Signorelli, Michaelangelo, and Bosch. We’ll close with the 1946 classic film, A Matter of Life or Death, released in America as Stairway to Heaven. Through these verbal and visual imaginations we’ll explore ethical and religious ideas of the judgment of good and evil, punishment and reward. This course is the same as AHI 318 , RSP 375 , and CL 375 and course repeat rules will apply. Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.
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