Humanities 110

Introduction to the Humanities

Paper Topics | Fall 2014 | Paper 3

Due Saturday, November 15th, 5 p.m., in your conference leader's Eliot Hall mailbox.
Maximum length: 1,500 words

Choose one of the following questions:

  1. Compare the relationship between Perses and Zeus in Hesiod's Works and Days (especially in the Justice section, pages 30-35) to the relationship between Job and God in the Book of Job.

  2. In Works and Days, Hesiod describes two kinds of strife, one that is blameworthy and one that is beneficial. To what extent does the Iliad distinguish between two kinds of strife? When in the Iliad is strife a benefit and when is it a curse? OR Which kind of strife is war in the Iliad?

  3. What perspectives do the laments of Andromache, Hekabe, and Helen over the corpse of Hector at the end of the Iliad (24. 723-775) add to our understanding of the poem? In what ways, if any, do their laments bring the poem to a fitting close?

  4. In the Theogony Hesiod describes the generation of the gods and three successive divine rulers: Ouranos, Kronos, and Zeus. What reasons does Hesiod give for the overthrow of Ouranos and Kronos? In what ways, if any, is Zeus different enough from his predecessors to ensure that he will not be overthrown? What does this say about the way divine power and authority are portrayed in the Theogony?

  5. Heraclitus is reported to have said, "Most men's teacher is Hesiod. They are sure he knew most things—a man who could not recognize day and night; for they are one" (Heraclitus fragment 5, Curd p. 41). What sort of criticism is Heraclitus making of Hesiod, and what reasons does he have for thinking that Hesiod is an inadequate teacher? In what important ways does Heraclitus' view of the nature of the world differ from Hesiod's?

  6. Freeman argues that, "while the Homeric hero would have fought for his own glory or that of his family, the hoplite was expected to give his loyalty to his polis" (Egypt, Greece, and Rome, p. 164). Assess this claim with respect to one of the Greek lyric poets. To what extent does the poet you are analyzing embrace or reconfigure the values of the Homeric hero? (Note that a rejection of Homeric heroism might not necessarily entail an embrace of the polis ideal.)

  7. Doing a reading that pays close attention to composition, shape, line, color, and figure, explain how the Amasis painter's lekythos represents women's social roles or women's relationship to order. Compare the representation of women in the vase with that in Hesiod's Works and Days OR Theogony. [Vase: Link 1 or Link 2]

  8. Write your own essay topic. If you choose this option, it is necessary to have your conference leader approve your topic before you start working on it.