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Meaning and function of ancient myths in Christian culture Daniela Hammer-Tugendhat Institute for Art History, Art Education and Art Mediation, Art History Lectures (VO), 2.0 semester hours, LV No. S51162 Description Myths are, like religions, systems that want to convey the world to us and make it understandable and that give rise to essential questions of our existence such as the creation of the world and of man, death, the meaning of life, ethical questions of good and evil, the order of society and the relationship between the sexes. The lecture starts with the question of how and why ancient myths have continued unbroken in Western, Christian cultures with other value systems up to the present day. We will investigate the transcriptions and semantic changes of ancient myths (for example Europa, Apollo and Daphne or Venus and Cupid), from the art of antiquity to the 20th century. How did the ancient world of gods survive the Middle Ages? Why did Renaissance artists turn to ancient mythology when it came to representing love, sexuality and other profound questions? What functions does the myth structure still fulfil in the art of the early 20th century? In addition to expanding knowledge about mythological material, particularly Ovid, and the precarious relationship between antiquity and Christianity, the lecture is intended to contribute to a deeper understanding of myth structures. The course is intended to lead to the realisation that and how the meaning of a narrative can change and what function aesthetic design itself has in this.