Faith and Fables: Classical and Biblical Storytelling
Hosted and co-sponsored by the Harvard Catholic Forum
Led by AAI Student Fellow Kate Whitaker HDS ‘26
Scholars of ancient religion have long noted that myths across cultures contain astounding commonalities. Comparing Biblical narratives with their Greek and Roman counterparts - from creation accounts to flood narratives, from sacrificial ritual practices to ideas about the end of life - we discover both remarkable consistency and telling variations. Does this point to an unoriginality in either tradition, a universality in the nature of religious belief, or something else entirely? What can we learn from the similarities and differences between these narratives about the cultures from which they originate and the societies they still influence today? This reading group will explore those questions using selected poetry, prose, and art from Greco-Roman and Biblical sources.
Reading materials will be provided to registered participants. Dinner provided.