J. Rasmus Brandt was Director of The Norwegian Institute in Rome 1996–2002. Trained as a classical archaeologist, his expertise embraces a wide range of topics, like Greek and Roman topography, architecture, ceramics, and iconography. Prof. Brandt has led and participated in many excavations around the Mediterranean, and is one of Norway's leading experts on the Ancient World. See more here.
About Prof. Brandt's lecture:
The only way into the world goes through a woman's womb, but there are many ways of leaving it, individually or in groups: from a natural death at old age or by mortal diseases, to accidents and natural disasters, duels, wars, and meaningless massacres. For those left behind, funerals become the meaningful framework around the disposal of dead bodies. They can be an opportunity to refrain from dealing with others, or to arrange parties, to fight or to hold sexual orgies, to cry and to laugh, in thousands of different combinations.
The Etruscans took care to secure that the soul of the deceased should reach the Underworld, where Aita (Hades) reigned, and, in good shape, be reunited with the ancestors. To arrive in there, however, the soul had to travel through a no man’s land fighting destructive demons named Grief, Disease, Fear, Famine, Want, Distress, War, Strife, and the like. To assist the soul and to prevent the demons from penetrating into the space of the living, the participants in the funerary ceremonies made use of blood, dance, erotic actions, laughter, dirty words, and sacrifices, all represented in Etruscan tomb paintings.
This event is now fully booked for presence in person. To ollow the lecture online, please enter https://uio.zoom.us/j/64118729567