Università Roma Tre

Course title 2021-2022
Early Christian sexual ethics
Semester: I, 6 CFU


During the first centuries, Christians elaborated their own sexual ethics, which can be understood only if framed within a broader scenario that includes Greco-Roman philosophical and literary reflection and the Jewish heritage.
The course, through the reading of primary sources and the survey of some significant scholarly approaches to the topic, seeks to explore the main ideas of eros, sexuality and sensuality current in the ancient Christian world and their reflections in the social, cultural and political spheres. In particular, debates about the best form of life - between virginity and marriage -, encratite conceptions, the emergence of a Christian marriage ethic, the condemnation of adultery, and the issue of homosexuality will be considered.

Attending students
Bibliographic material will be indicated and provided during the course.

Non-attending students
P. Brown, The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity, Columbia University Press, 2008
J. Le Goff, Une Histoire du corps au Moyen-Age, Liana Lévi, Paris 2003.