Journée organisée par Stefano G. Caneva (UNIPD) et Giuseppina Lenzo (UNIL) dans le cadre d’un partenariat entre l’UNIL et l’Université de Padoue
A one-day conference organised in Lausanne will be followed by an online seminar and the publication of a co-edited volume. The papers presented in Lausanne will bring together three research approaches of high relevance for the study of cultures and societies in the Ancient Mediterranean world:
interactions between political and religious ideas/practices in the (self-)representation and legitimation of personal power;
developments in the rituals and representations concerning the relationship between humans and the divine sphere, in particular with regard to the possibility that human beings are honoured as, and/or believed to become gods/heroes (during their life or posthumously);
cultural contacts and transfers in the Hellenistic Eastern Mediterranean area: the Greek world, Egypt, and the Near East.
The topics tackled by the project are under the spotlight of current scholarship about the history of the Ancient Mediterranean world. Moreover, they have a remarkable importance in the debate about contemporary societies as well. The interaction between politics and religion will be tackled with the dual focus of exploring regional characteristics on the one hand and, on the other hand, their contacts and mutual influences. This interdisciplinary approach shall encourage established and young scholars to experiment with new forms of collaborative work as the studied trends can only be fully understood beyond a still common scientific separation between different ‘civilisations’.