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Classical Mythology 45
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Lesson1.1
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Quiz1.1
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Quiz1.2
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Quiz1.3
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Lesson1.2
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Lesson1.3
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Lesson1.4
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Lesson1.5
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Lesson1.6
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Lesson1.7
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Lesson1.8
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Lesson1.9
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Lesson1.10
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Lesson1.11
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Lesson1.12
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Lesson1.13
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Lesson1.14
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Lesson1.15
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Lesson1.16
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Lesson1.17
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Lesson1.18
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Lesson1.19
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Lesson1.20
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Lesson1.21
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Lesson1.22
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Lesson1.23
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Lesson1.24
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Lesson1.25
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Lesson1.26
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Lesson1.27
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Lesson1.28
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Lesson1.29
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Lesson1.30
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Lesson1.31
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Lesson1.32
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Lesson1.33
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Lesson1.34
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Lesson1.35
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Lesson1.36
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Lesson1.37
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Lesson1.38
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Lesson1.39
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Lesson1.40
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Lesson1.41
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Lesson1.42
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Classical Literature - Course Guide 2
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Classical Drama 9
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Lesson3.1
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Lesson3.2
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Lesson3.3
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Lesson3.4
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Lesson3.5
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Lesson3.6
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Lesson3.7
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Lesson3.8
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Lesson3.9
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Classical Literature - Antigone 5
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Lesson4.1
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Lesson4.2
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Lesson4.3
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Lesson4.4
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Lesson4.5
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Classical Literature - Medea 4
A study of Euripides' tragedy, Medea. A play performed in Athens, based upon the myth of Medea, Jason and the Argonauts and the aftermath of the quest for the Golden Fleece.
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Lesson5.1
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Lesson5.2
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Lesson5.3
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Lesson5.4
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Classical Literature - Aeneid 6
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Lesson6.1
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Lesson6.2
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Lesson6.3
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Lesson6.4
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Lesson6.5
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Lesson6.6
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Life in Classical Greece - Power and Freedom 1
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Lesson7.1
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Life in the Roman World - Power and Freedom videos 1
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Lesson8.1
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Life in the Roman World - Religion & Belief - Introduction 11
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Lesson9.1
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Lesson9.2
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Lesson9.3
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Lesson9.4
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Lesson9.5
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Lesson9.6
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Lesson9.7
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Lesson9.8
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Lesson9.9
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Lesson9.10
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Lesson9.11
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Life in the Roman World - State Religion 8
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Lesson10.1
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Lesson10.2
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Lesson10.3
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Lesson10.4
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Lesson10.5
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Lesson10.6
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Lesson10.7
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Lesson10.8
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Life in the Roman World - Domestic Religion 5
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Lesson11.1
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Lesson11.2
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Lesson11.3
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Lesson11.4
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Lesson11.5
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Life in the Roman World - Mystery Religions 6
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Lesson12.1
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Lesson12.2
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Lesson12.3
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Lesson12.4
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Lesson12.5
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Lesson12.6
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Life in the Roman World - Religious tolerance in the Roman world 3
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Lesson13.1
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Lesson13.2
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Lesson13.3
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Life in the Roman World - Philosophical attitudes to religious beliefs 3
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Lesson14.1
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Lesson14.2
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Lesson14.3
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Life in Classical Greece - Religion & Belief - Introduction 21
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Lesson15.1
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Lesson15.2
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Lesson15.3
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Lesson15.4
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Lesson15.5
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Lesson15.6
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Lesson15.7
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Lesson15.8
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Lesson15.9
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Lesson15.10
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Lesson15.11
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Lesson15.12
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Lesson15.13
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Lesson15.14
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Lesson15.15
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Lesson15.16
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Lesson15.17
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Lesson15.18
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Lesson15.19
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Lesson15.20
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Lesson15.21
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Life in Classical Greece - State Religion 23
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Lesson16.1
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Lesson16.2
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Lesson16.3
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Lesson16.4
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Lesson16.5
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Lesson16.6
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Lesson16.7
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Lesson16.8
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Lesson16.9
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Lesson16.10
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Lesson16.11
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Lesson16.12
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Lesson16.13
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Lesson16.14
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Lesson16.15
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Lesson16.16
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Lesson16.17
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Lesson16.18
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Lesson16.19
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Lesson16.20
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Lesson16.21
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Lesson16.22
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Lesson16.23
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Life in Classical Greece - Mystery Religions 7
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Lesson17.1
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Lesson17.2
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Lesson17.3
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Lesson17.4
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Lesson17.5
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Lesson17.6
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Lesson17.7
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Life in Classical Greece - Domestic Religion 17
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Lesson18.1
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Lesson18.2
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Lesson18.3
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Lesson18.4
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Lesson18.5
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Lesson18.6
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Lesson18.7
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Lesson18.8
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Lesson18.9
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Lesson18.10
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Lesson18.11
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Lesson18.12
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Lesson18.13
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Lesson18.14
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Lesson18.15
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Lesson18.16
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Lesson18.17
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Life in Classical Greece - Gender Roles within Religious Worship 11
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Lesson19.1
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Lesson19.2
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Lesson19.3
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Lesson19.4
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Lesson19.5
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Lesson19.6
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Lesson19.7
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Lesson19.8
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Lesson19.9
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Lesson19.10
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Lesson19.11
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Greek and Roman Views on the After-Life section 1 8
Treatment of the dead
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Lesson20.1
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Lesson20.2
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Lesson20.3
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Lesson20.4
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Lesson20.5
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Lesson20.6
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Lesson20.7
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Lesson20.8
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Greek and Roman Views on the After-Life section 2 13
The mythological Underworld and the attitude of philosophers to the Underworld
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Lesson21.1
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Lesson21.2
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Lesson21.3
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Lesson21.4
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Lesson21.5
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Lesson21.6
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Lesson21.7
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Lesson21.8
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Lesson21.9
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Lesson21.10
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Lesson21.11
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Lesson21.12
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Lesson21.13
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Life in Classical Greece - Death and the Afterlife 11
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Lesson22.1
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Lesson22.2
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Lesson22.3
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Lesson22.4
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Lesson22.5
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Lesson22.6
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Lesson22.7
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Lesson22.8
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Lesson22.9
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Lesson22.10
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Lesson22.11
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Life in Classical Greece - Challengers of traditional beliefs 3
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Lesson23.1
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Lesson23.2
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Lesson23.3
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Evidence from burial practices
Burial customs and the cult of the dead provide some of our earliest evidence of human culture and in Greek and Roman times this evidence comes from archaeology as much as from written evidence. Burial practices and rituals in Greece and Rome are described in further detail elsewhere in the course. Our concern here is to determine what these practices and the treatment of the dead can tell us of the Greek and Roman views of life beyond the grave.
The ancients were highly superstitious and their religion polytheistic with a wide range of gods and spirits. It would therefore not be surprising if beliefs in an afterlife and in ghosts of the dead were prevalent and indeed this was certainly so, with some notable exceptions especially among philosophers and thinkers.
Death commands a feeling of awe by the very mystery which surrounds it and arouses many emotions in those affected by it. Some of its accompaniments are found in all periods and serve important functions. A public display of mourning and a ritual meal enable the heirs to the dead person to mask their feelings, be they release from a burden, grief or whatever other personal consequences and emotions follow on the death. Usually the burial rite itself serves to reinforce family identity, as does the setting up of an inscribed gravestone.