In this course, we will travel back to Homer’s Greece to explore three themes that appear in both the Hebrew Bible and Homeric Greek thought: creation, covenant, and sacrifice. We will explore selections from seminal texts—including the Book of Genesis and the Psalms, the Iliad and the Odyssey—to discover whether creation is considered “good” in these two traditions and what that means for human beings. We’ll also examine the relationship between God and man implied in the idea of a “covenantal” relationship, and reflect upon the meaning of sacrifice offered by man to God. Looking at our own lives, we shall ask: in what ways is self-sacrifice an ideal?