Readings for Final Summaries

The Passion of Perpetua: Young Christians preparing for confirmation were arrested (later persecuted). Two of those who were arrested were an impregnated slave Felicitas and Perpetua, a newlywed that had a newborn. Throughout the letters, Perpetua experiences visions and dreams that lead her to believe she will successfully defeat the devil. They also tell her to accept martyrdom (die in the arena). Felicitas similarly also has the acceptance of martyrdom but since she was pregnant, she wouldn’t be able to fight in the arena, however she ended up giving birth a month earlier allowing her to complete her destiny. 

The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 10: In the Epic of Gilgamesh there are originally 12 Tablets written in Akkadian. However, throughout Tablet 10, Gilgamesh grieves for his friend Enkidu, he comes to the conclusion that he does not want to suffer the same fate as Enkidu and wants to seek immortality. In his attempt to seek immortality, he is taught the importance of mortality and that there is a reason God created man to suffer the fate of death. It is believed that in a way these tablets could have been made with the intent to humanize the Gods and make man feel valued. 

The Odyssey, Book 5: The Odyssey captures the story of Odysseus. Odysseus was a man who was captured on an island by a nymph longing to go back to his country with his wife. Although the nymph (Kalypso) was able to give him everything he wanted he longed for his wife back at home. Once the nymph allowed him to leave, he faced many challenges faced upon him by the gods (i.e. Poseidon). One of the lessons taught in this book was the importance of mortality. When Odysseus was being challenged by Poseidon. Leukothea (daughter of Kodmos) offers to help him by giving him a veil that allows him to be immortal. Instead of leaving it on forever allowing him to make it back home with no issue he discarded the veil and faced his hardships.

Queen Hatsheput Obelisk: Queen Hatsheput erected four obelisks in the temple of Amun at Kamak, two of the obelisks have disappeared. The column that still stands is the northern obelisk. The obelisks talk about Hatsheput’s devotion to her divine father Amun and earthly father Thutmose I.

Aristotle Constitution: Peisistratus ran the state moderately and constitutionally and not as a tyrant. He was forgiving of those who did wrong and even helped those with less. His reign was described as a “golden age,” opposite of his son’s ruling. He had two sons, the eldest was Hipparchus and was known to be a natural born leader and was eventually murdered, leaving his youngest son to rule. Hippias wanted to avenge his brother, so he killed/exiled many people, leading to a more tyrant rule. 

Augustus Res Gestae: An overall list of achievements by Augustus, it tends to sound more braggy. However, Augustus was strategic in downplaying his achievements because he didn’t want sole power and be seen as a dictator (a role solely used in emergencies). Instead, he framed himself as an imperator (a general with imperial power).

Cyrus Cylinder: Cyrus Cylinder is inscribed on a barrel-shaped clay cylinder it was written after Cyrus II of Persia captured Babylon in the 6th century BCE. It talks about the transition from Neo-Babylonian to Achaemenid Rule. Although Cyrus II did capture Babylon, he was not considered a conqueror. He was instead seen as a liberator because he was respectful to the traditions and gods of Babylon. 

The Pliny Letters: Pliny sent out a letter to Emperor Trajan regarding the persecutions of Christians. In the letters, he talks about the investigations he conducted on the alleged Christians and also questions the extent of punishment. The only reason he knows of these people, is because of an anonymous document that was released with a list of names that were supposedly Christian. He figures out that their tradition is to meet on a fixed day before dawn, sing to Christ, bind one another by oath, and then have a meal together. Trajan responded by saying that he was doing a good job, however he does not want Pliny to seek out the Christians and to not accept any anonymous accusations.