Hum 110 | Reed Classics | Reed Library | Reed | Perseus

Humanities 110
Paper Topic # 2
Spring 2006
Length 1500 words

Due Saturday, March 25th, 5 P.M. in your conference leader's Eliot Hall mailbox.

  1. Compare Virgil’s representation of Dido with Tacitus’s representation of one of the female members of the imperial house in the Annals. How does each author define the ideal and limits of royal female behavior?
  1. Robert Pinsky argues that the poet has two responsibilities: to “continue the art,” and “to change the terms of the art as given” ("Responsibilities of the Poet," Politics and Poetic Value, ed. Robert von Hallberg: 19). Choose one scene from the Aeneid that echoes a passage from the Iliad or Odyssey. Explain how Virgil continues the “art” of Homer’s epic poetry and how he changes the terms of the poetry as given. Artistic elements you may wish to consider include figurative language, themes, symbols, and genre.
  1. Discuss the significance of the loss of human voice in at least three specific episodes that represent such loss in Ovid's Metamorphoses.
  1. Scholars have often argued that Virgil’s Aeneas is an almost robotic figure who simply does the gods’ bidding and does not consider his own desires and interests. Do you agree or disagree with this statement, and how would you describe his character? To what extent does the character of Aeneas develop and change in the Aeneid? What does the change (or lack there of) reflect about Virgil’s views of the development of the Roman Empire?
  1. Drawing upon both The Annals of Imperial Rome and The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca, discuss the ways in which Tacitus' historical portrait of Seneca elevates, or detracts from, Seneca's status as an exemplar of Stoic philosophy. In addressing this question be sure to identify those elements of Stoic philosophy that Seneca either does or does not embody in Tacitus’ portrayal.
  1. Analyze the theme of marriage in The Aeneid by examining the meaning of marriage for the development of the poem. How do Aeneas' three marriages compare in both form and significance?
  1. In consultation with your instructor, devise a topic of your own.

 

Free tutoring! Reed College Writing Center, ETC 112. Hours: Sunday-Thursday 7-9 pm. Extended Hours: Thursday & Friday 7-10 pm before Hum 110 Papers are due.

Also see the Doyle O.W.L. online at http://academic.reed.edu/writing

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