Battlestar Galactica and ReligionRELI 2850

Religious Themes in Battlestar Galactica

• Number “Twelve”• Exodus of Hebrews from Egypt• Galactica as Noah’s Ark/Cathedral• Number “Forty”• Betrayal

Gaius Baltar and Caprica Six

Gaius and Caprica Six

• Baltar as Militant Atheist/Caprica Six as Fundamentalist

• Quandary: Problem of Evil• Baltar’s conversion • Pairing of Baltar and Caprica Six

Sharon and Caprica Six

Cylon Models Sharon and Six

• Sharon linked to Goddess Athena, Helen of Troy, and the Trojan Horse

• Six linked to Serpent and Mary Magdalene• Both characters resonate with Eve from

Genesis and Lilith from Zohar

Eve

• Boomer-Sharon closer to Eve in Genesis• Boomer’s eyes opened afterward• Boomer struggles with her choice• Caprica Six knew what she was doing• Caprica Six sacrifices herself to save Baltar• Caprica Six is both dominant and submissive

Eve

• Act of Redemption: Both Caprica Six and Boomer-Sharon models try and find middle ground between the humans and Cylons trying to focus on new beginnings

Lilith

• Caprica Six clearly portrayed as Lilith in market• Caprica Six’s physical appearance similar• Caprica Six honestly loves Gaius• Sharon seduces Helo and then betrays him• Sharon is sexual dominant • Sharon and Six possess immortality

Boomer’s Struggle

• Internal struggle between good will vs. wicked passions

• Parallels with Manichaeans• Cylon detector creates dichotomy

Intertextuality

• Text connects author – reader/text – text• Every text and every reading depends on prior

codes• Texts cannot be reduced to authorial intent• Relationships between meaning inside and

outside texts