CL200: THE CLASSICAL WORLD
NOTE: CHOOSE ONE OF THE BULLETED TOPICS
FOR YOUR FOCUS
-
Paper due on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH, IN CLASS ONLY.
-
Be sure to provide the URL of your paper in the chatroom before class
on Friday.
-
Please staple your paper.
-
You must have the approval of the instructor to write on a topic not
on this list.
-
Paper must be 5-7 pages long. See the “Writing
Essays and Research Papers” section of the Classics webpages for guidelines.
-
Support your ideas and assertions at all times with direct quotations
from the texts, both primary sources and Kebric. Use proper means of citation
(book and line numbers for Homer, line numbers for drama, book and section
numbers for the Greek historians-NOT PAGE NUMBERS!)
ODYSSEY
-
Define “community” as it is portrayed in the Odyssey. Support your definition
with specific quotations from the text. How important is the idea of “community”
to Odysseus, to the other Greeks, to Penelope?
-
How are women characterized in the Odyssey? How do these characterizations
compare with those of men? How important are women to the movement of the
narrative?
-
What kind of hero is Odysseus?
HISTORY
-
How does the funeral oration of Pericles exemplify the Athenian ideal?
Is this a realistic portrayal of Athens’ destiny?
-
Why did the Greeks, especially the Athenians, look back to the Persian
Wars rather than the Trojan War as examples of their own heroic achievements?
-
What constituted a Greek community historically and politically in the
Archaic and Classical ages of Greece? Be sure to provide different examples
of community from those periods.
DRAMA
-
Analyze the tragic stage of 5th century Athens in terms of social purpose,
language, plot and characterization.
-
Explore the role of hubris in a play or comparison of plays.
-
Examine the character of the gods in a particular play or in a comparison
of plays.
ART
-
What is the relationship between art, politics, and literature in the
Archaic period in Greece?
-
What did the Parthenon represent for 5th century Athenians? Is this
building a piece of propaganda? How does that manifest itself?