Intoxication and Altered States in the Greek and Roman World

1.5 credits · Undergraduate

Examines altered states and the chemical, ritual, and visionary means used to attain them in the Greek and Roman world ca. 1500 BC–AD 500. Explores their ecological, social, cultural, and spiritual significance through literary, historical, medical, and material sources. Topics may include: wine, opium, cannabis, and other intoxicants; symposia and Bacchanalia; poetic and oracular inspiration; mystery cults and ecstatic practices; dreams and dream interpretation; gnosis and enlightenment; magic, pharmacology, and the ancient drug trade.