Ever since their rediscovery and translation in the Renaissance, the so-called hermetic tractates have intrigued the western world with their ostensibly Egyptian pedigree offering a distinctly idiosyncratic philosophical perspective of the world and human destiny, expressed in a language that appears to be equally indebted to the Greek philosophers and the Septuagint. This seminar will introduce students to some of the central texts of the Corpus Hermeticum. Close readings of the texts, especially of the first tractate, will lead us to a revision of recent scholarly speculations about the nature and provenance of the hermetic communities.

Sample reading list:
A.J. Festugière (ed.), Corpus Hermeticum
B. P. Copenhaver, Hermetica
G. Fowden, Egyptian Hermes
F. Ebeling, The Secret History of Hermes Trismegistus
J.M. Robinson (ed.), The Nag Hammadi Library