Class Notes 10/9/01
Agenda:
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Quiz 4
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Mary Magdalene in Western Art
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Thursday : read introduction to next unit; Hildegard-
explore this web site and have a sense of the major events of her life.
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Group Time
Questions and Answers to Quiz 4:
1. What do the canonical gospel accounts
(i.e. Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John) tell us about Mary Magdalene?
She was the first to
see Jesus after his crucifixion. She was called the "apostle to the
apostles". She was an important disciple.
(She was probably a woman with independent means.)
2. In the nearly 2000 years since she lived,
Mary Magdalene has been confused with other gospel women. Who were these
other women?
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Mary mother of James
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Mary mother of Jesus
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Unnamed prostitute who anointed
Jesus with expensive ointment. (She performed a ritual action on the savior.
She is the truly righteous and holy person, even though she may have been
seen as a sinner.)
3. Contrast the responses of two of the male disciples regarding
Mary Magdalene's recounting of her vision of Jesus in the Gospel of Mary.
Andrew and Peter condemmed her for lying. They did
not believe that Jesus would appear to her and not them. Levi believed
her. He asked who the other disciples thought they were to question the
Lord's decision to appear to Mary.
Mary Magdalene in Western Art
The iconography ( objects associated with her)
associated with Mary Magdalene:
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jar of ointment
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long hair
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bible
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scourge
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tears
We looked at images of Mary in Art chronologically. The images started
out depicting Mary as this saintly, important, figure. The last few images,
as they become more contemporary, she turns into the voluptuous whore.