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image of illuminated manuscript of Augustine's City of God
manuscript of the De Civitate Dei
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Week 6. Augustinus: De civitate dei

Readings | Weekly Activities


Augustine's monumental De civitate dei is a compendium of knowledge assembled at the close of the Roman Empire, and it can be said to mark the very beginnings of what would become the learned tradition of the European Middle Ages.

Augustine's intellectual interests were wide-ranging and - in many cases - quite bizarre, at least to our modern ways of thinking. The readings here present Augustine's view of pagan religion and magic; his speculations on popular legends of monstrous peoples; and his belief about the resurrection of the body, in particular, the resurrection of the female body.

In addition, our readings this week will give you a first introduction to what will become one of the dominant modes of thought in the Middle Ages: allegory. Allegory is a symbolic way of thinking, very alien to the modern world, but central to the Middle Ages.

 

 


Modern Languages 4970 / MRS 4903: Medieval Latin. Spring 2003 Online Course at the University of Oklahoma. Visit http://www.ou.edu/online/ for more info.
Laura Gibbs, University of Oklahoma - Information Technology © 2003.  laura-gibbs@ou.edu. Last updated: December 29, 2002 7:12 PM