Visions Of The End From Armageddon To Ragnarok

Cultures around the world have always had myths about the Creation of the universe. So, inevitably, they also speculated about how the cosmos might come to an end. There were stories of catastrophic floods, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. In the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions there were accounts of the Day of Judgement and the battle of Armageddon. The Vikings imagined not only the end of the universe but of the death of the old Norse gods themselves at Ragnarok. Other religious systems such as the Hindu and the Maya could envisage repeated cycles of creation followed by destruction - a never ending series. In the same way modern cosmologists ponder both the beginning and the possible end of the universe. This course will examine cultures from the Near East, Europe, Asia and Central America as well as looking at changing ideas in Western Europe over the last 1000 years