Gods and Monsters: Understanding our Hopes and Fears
When we think about the most powerful beings in our symbolic worlds, we come immediately to gods and monsters. While each is charged differently (positively and negatively), a closer look reveals that they actually exist on the same continuum.
Optional Reading: Freud on the Id, Ego, and Superego
Optional Reading: Why We Still Need Monsters
Discussion Two
04
Giving Birth to Gods and Monsters
Show Content
Giving Birth to Gods and Monsters: Chaos and Creation
Check for Understanding: Giving Birth to Gods and Monsters
Optional Reading: Hesiod, Theogony
Optional Reading: Enuma Elish
Discussion Three
05
The Divine and Monstrous Feminine
Show Content
The Divine and Monstrous Feminine: From Goddess to Monster
Check for Understanding: The Divine and Monstrous Feminine
Optional Reading: Ovid on Medusa
Optional Reading: The Jewish Background of the Gnostic Sophia Myth
Optional Reading: Sophia, Mother of Wisdom
Optional Reading: Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth
Optional Reading: Ishtar in the Epic of Gilgamesh
Discussion Four
06
Leviathans in the Sea and State
Show Content
Leviathans: Gods and Monsters in the Sea and State
Check for Understanding: Leviathans
Optional Reading: Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
Optional Reading: Thinking the Political with Thomas Hobbes
The School of Life: Thomas Hobbes
Discussion Five
07
Gods and Monsters Today
Show Content
Gods and Monsters Today
Zombies
Optional Reading: Mathias Clasen, The Anatomy of the Zombie: A Bio-Psychological Look at the Undead Other
Check for Understanding: Gods and Monsters Today
Discussion Six
End of Course Survey
08
Test the Community Feature
Show Content
A community discussion instead of the built-in forums
“Education at any age is a lifelong dedication to the improvement of character, and the enlargement of understanding. There is no reason why PRS should not be remembered like Plato’s Academy, but if it is to continue, the society must make use of the most advanced technology available. I now envision a university of the mind, and think that through proper organization we can bring this message of enlightened living to a much greater audience throughout the world.” — Manly Palmer Hall