Doubt and religion in the ancient Mediterranean. A comparative insight into narratives of unbelief in Greco-Roman literature

In recent years there has been an increase in the study of atheism and unbelief, especially in what is known as non-religion studies. Post-secular societies have shown that sceptical and unbelieving positions have mixed with new spiritual expressions, making the religious field of late modern societies extremely complex. These socio-religious dynamics have generated new ways of studying and approaching religious manifestations, which have not only changed the methodology of religious studies, but also generated new theoretical proposals for studying those positions that criticise religion. Recent sociological publications focusing on the study of non-religious positions have shown the need for new approaches that allow us to understand the enormous variability of positions that question religion. Both belligerent anti-religious expressions and indifference to religion have led to a decline in religious affiliation and attendance at places of worship, which must be analysed in the context of the religious (and non-religious) plurality that characterises contemporary societies. Interestingly, this premise has not only changed the way atheism and unbelief are studied today, but has also generated new approaches to the study of the critique of religion in historical societies. Recent publications on the history of atheism demonstrate that the complexity of unbelief highlighted by empirical studies in the sociology of religion must also be taken into account in historical studies of scepticism and religious doubt. It is precisely this intersection between contemporary post-secular societies and the historical approach to atheism and unbelief that structures this project.