Greek and Roman Literature in Translation

Final Exam Review

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Format:

The final consists of 2 parts: A multiple choice section (40%) and an essay (60%)

Multiple Choice: 20 questions.

Essay: 

There are six essay questions below.  On the exam, I will give you a choice between two of them, and you will write an essay on ONE.

Essay Questions:

1. Epic Heroes and Hubris (or not):    One of the persistent themes in this course has been defying or rebelling against the gods – we have seen many examples of hubris and the resultant destruction for the human involved.  BUT is this a failing of epic heroes?  Consider the protagonists / central characters of the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid, and whether and where they exhibit hubris.  What form does it take (if it does)?  What are its results (or the results of its absence, if absent)?  Do the protagonists differ from one another in their propensity to hubris or in the way it affects them (if they display any)?

2. Athena as Helper (or not):    We have seen Athena as a supporter of heroes in many different works.  Compare and contrast the roles of Athena in the Iliad, Odyssey, Sophocles’ Aias, and in some of the hero stories of wrath or favor you and/or your group discussed (or others) when we addressed her wrath in class.  In what ways do the heroes/heroines of these stories inspire Athena’s support, and how is it possible to alienate her or bring her wrath upon you?  What means does Athena use to aid those she favors and harm those she doesn’t – are they somehow related?  What do the stories of her relationships with humans characterize her as a cultural and/or literary construct?

3. Magic:    Magic is clearly evident in the magical papyri we have read, used as a means through which humans can influence the world and better their own circumstances.  We have also seen magic in the Alexander Romance, and in Ovid’s stories of Medea.  What do these different manifestations of magic have in common, if anything?  What role does magic play in the narratives that include it, especially in terms of definiing human power, human/divine relationships, the character and position of those who practice it, and any other factor you care to include?  Is it at all similar to magic in the modern world?

4. Femmes Fatales:     Helen, Dido, and Cleopatra have all been portrayed and described as femmes fatales, fatal women, whose beauty and attraction is ultimately dangerous, even fatal, for men.  Each of them is treated by different sorts of primary source; Dido and Helen are in the realm of epic while Cleopatra was a historical character.  Despite these differences, are there significant similarities in how they are portrayed in terms of their attractions, dangers to men, effect on political or public business (traditionally the world of men), and morality of men?  Maintaining the awareness that even different primary sources about each may portray them differently, do you find significant differences between the overall cultural or literary view of these three females?

5. Dreams, Omens, Prophecies:       In many of the works we have read, special sources of knowledge (essentially knowing the future, or something that is otherwise unknowable about the past or the present) have played a key role in the action.  We have seen this special knowledge manifest as dreams, omens, and prophecies (either by a divine source such as Delphi or a prophet such as Tiresias) or through direct pronouncements of the gods.  Discuss 3-5 instances of special knowledge and its meaning to the action of the literary or historical work in which it appears, choosing at least 2 of the 4 categories above.  Why is the knowledge offered?  Is it fated or directed by the gods?  Is it chance, or simply how the world works?  Is there an underlying sense of destiny, or is it avoidable?  Is it straightforward or riddling?  Use these examples either to point out similarities that cut across different myths and categories of literature, or differences, or both.

6. Madness:      Like hubris, madness ahs been a consistent theme in our readings.  Choose three or four works/characters where some sort of madness appears (straight out crazy, wildly destructive, losing sight of reality, caught up in obsessions, etc.) and discuss its manifestations, reasons, and effects in the meanings of the works in which it appears.

 

Reading passages from which quotes will be taken

 

Terms, names and concepts

This section repeats a number of terms and names because I am presenting them in different contexts.  Some of  the terms are linked to explanations, for others ... I may be able to get them up Monday, but they were discussed in class so ...

Authors and Works:

Works and Characters:

Sophocles

Euripides, Hippolytus

Euripides, Bacchae

Euripides, Heracles

Euripides, Helen

Euripides, Alcestis

Thucydides

Herodotus

Plutarch:

Alexander Romance:

Virgil, Aeneid

Horace

Ovid, Metamorphoses

Terms

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