Careful examination of the earliest “lives of Jesus” (‘gospels’) shows that they offer very different portraits of Jesus of Nazareth. The course will compare ancient biographical accounts of famous ancient figures such as Alexander the Great, the Caesars, and wandering philosophers with early depictions of Jesus, both the gospels that eventually were included in the New Testament, and extra-canonical or “apocryphal” gospels such as the Gospels of Thomas, Peter, or Mary.