The Five Themes
1) Religion:
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How did these societies and individual authors/texts describe the divine?
What did they see as the relationship between the divine and humanity?
What functions did religion serve in society? To what extent did it explain the
physical world?
How did religious beliefs and practices affect the politics, philosophy, literature,
and art/architecture of a particular civilization?
2) Death:
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—hat were their beliefs about death?
Was there some sort of immortality? If so, what did one need to do to attain a
happy afterlife? If not, what was the purpose of life?
How did the beliefs of people in our readings on the afterlife and the purpose of
life affect their actions and decisions in life?
3) Government:
ow have societies been governed?
hat did these societies and individuals think about how society should be
governed?
hat did they think was the purpose of government?
ow did governments or individual rulers use art, architecture and literature as a
part of politics?
hat could an individual do if they believed the government or ruler was unjust?
4) Gender:
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—hat were the roles given to men and women in a society and its literature?
What qualities were associated with the ideal man and ideal woman?
How did the expectations, responsibilities and rights of men and women differ?
What explanation, if any, did they provide for the differences?
5) Sex, Love and Marriage:
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—hat were their attitudes towards sex? What was considered acceptable and what
aspects of sex were restricted by law or custom?
To what extent were issues of gender, marriage, love and sex intertwined?
To what extent were societyàideals, attitudes and assumptions about gender and
sex portrayed in art?

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