The Early Medieval West: Confessions & Beowulf
Study questions for both included below.

Confessions, by St. Augustine:

Read Book 8, Chapters 10-12 , which is about searching for/finding faith. St. Augustine lived at a time when the old era was dying, and a new, Christian order was beginning in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.

Beowulf:

Read chapters 1-12 (Through Grendel's death).

Beowulf is an epic poem of early Christian Britain, originating around the 8th c. AD. While this version is Anglo-Saxon, the story is based on much older northern European folklore. Like several of the other epics we've dealt with, it was first transmitted through oral tradition. The poem evidences a turning point in western civilization, in combining Christian values and the old pagan fascination with good vs. evil, as well as the exploration of heroic fragility (remember, for example, Gilgamesh's eventual failure to ultimately triumph over death; it could be argued that the eponymous hero, Beowulf, suffers the same kind of anticlimactic fate).

Study Questions (discussed in class)

1. In Confessions, how does Augustine seem to characterize human senses and understanding? Does he think they should be trusted? Does he think that people, of their own volition, have the ability to differentiate between "good" and "bad"? Where and how does God fit into Augustine's scheme of human decisionmaking? How does he seem to feel about mankind's worldly pursuits and constructions? How does Augustine's view match up with Epicurus'?

2. Given what we've read and discussed about late Roman historical and cultural events, how do you think Augustine's religious outlook reflects the realities of life in later fourth/early fifth century A.D. Rome? Why do you think he advocates the way he does?

3. Which elements (including language) in our segments of Beowulf strike you as particularly epic and/or pagan (compare with Gilgamesh, the Odyssey, the Aeneid, &c.)? Which elements appear to be obvious Christian additions, made later? Do the elements seem to contribute toward a cohesive whole, or do they seem somewhat at odds to you?