A Collège de France - CNED coproduction
Abstract
By pitting the universal weapons of history, philology and anthropology - in short, the entire arsenal of science and reason - against sectarian discourse, the history of religions of the past enables us to deflate modern myths - those of others, but also our own. It enables us to identify the projection of nationalist, religious or racist fantasies into the imaginary past of " origins ", and to disarm the outrageous interpretations that can be made of sacred texts. Within nations inherited from the 19th century, ancient history can help to deconstruct the representation that nation-states sometimes make of their past, by showing that despite their apparent proximity, their " ancestors " are as far removed from today's society as the inhabitants of the antipodes. It allows us to challenge the " Greek miracle ", the "Roman genius ", the "Germanic superiority ", or the Hegelian dialectic according to which religions and history tend towards Christian monotheism.
