Mythology
Paper guidelines

Due date for the paper: April 24

Due date for topic summary and preliminary bibliography: March 25.

Format:

• 7-9 pages
• Typed or word processed in black ink without any weird or oversized typefaces
• You may use any standard form of referencing.  See Citing Sources (below).

Topic summary and preliminary bibliography:
Your preliminary ideas for your paper, and some sources you have found that will help you anwer your questions.  This consists of:

• One or two paragraphs summarizing your general topic and youir projected research path.  The paragraphs should include (1) a topic stated in a few sentences, and (2) some questions you have now about this topic that you hope to answer in your research.
• A preliminary bibliography: A few sources you have consulted in originating your topic, and a few sources you intend to consult to help you on your path.  You should also include some primary sources you intend to use (see below).
• You get a simple grade of A, B, C, D, or F, which counts as part of your class participation grade.

Paper Topics:
Anything to do with mythology.  Some suggestions:

• Focus on a particular god or goddess, research the myths and religious practices surrounding that deity, and discuss what significance s/he had for his/her society.  You must go beyond narrative -- i.e. don't just tell me "Zeus did this and that."  I want to see signs that you are really exploring the deity's importance, role in society, significance of myths, nature of that deity relative to others, etc.
• Focus on a figure or set of figures from the mythology of a culture we don't study in this course, but which appeals to you.  Use the ideas and methods we've used here to give depth to your research.
• Research the occurrences of a mythological theme (e.g. creation myths, heroic journeys, the end of the world) or figure (e.g. snakes, wise old women, tricksters) in literature, religion, movies, etc.
• Write about the use of mythological themes in a modern author (poet, artist, filmmaker).
• Research different versions of a myth in primary sources and examine what they mean (e.g. different versions of the Orestes story, artistic vs. literary depictions of a god or hero, etc.).
• NOTE: In writing the paper, assume that your reader has the level of knowledge about the material that your classmates have gained over the semester.

Research:

• The paper should show a knowledge of your subject which is either wide-ranging or detailed (preferably both), and should also show some personal thought. 
• For most topics, a minimum of five sources will be required, of which at least two should be print (as opposed to Internet) resources. 
• Be careful with your Internet resources as there are plenty of crackpots out there.  There are also a lot of excellent, university-maintained resources; try to stick with them.  If in doubt, ask me (via email with URL attached is probably most efficient); I will give you my opinion of a site you're not sure about: deagona@uncw.edu.)
• For most papers, it will possible and desirable to include primary sources.  It is also important for you to be aware of what primary sources are available for your topic – do not assume that secondary sources are telling the whole story!  If you use primary sources quoted in another book, cite both the source and the book you found it in (e.g. Hesiod, Works and Days 453-59, quoted in Powell 2001: 85). 
• If you find the text of a primary source on the Internet, it is still a primary source!  Quote it by the ancient author, with whatever specifics the resource provides (to give me "page" or line number or other reference) and give the Internet reference in the works cited section.
• If you are not sure what a primary source in your field would be, ask me about it.

Citing Sources:

• There is a standard way of citing Classical primary sources, which you must follow when you use them in your paper.  This method is detailed at UNC-Chapel Hill's IAM site.

• For a general guide on citing other kinds of sources, see Haverford College's Guide to Citing Sources in Classics.

Assessment:
Here's what I'll ask myself as I read your paper:

• Research: Have you done enough research?  Did you just Google one or two terms or check the indexes of a couple of books, or did you really make an effort to find out all you could that was relevant about your topic? 
• Source Materials: Have you used primary sources?  Primary sources are original texts, the ancient sources for Greek, Mesopotamian and Norse myths, the collected narratives of more modern cultures; also the art and architecture of these cultures.  Secondary sources -- modern authors discussing these texts -- are important too, but primary sources are essential. 
• Individual Focus: Have you used your own creativity to focus your topic?  Are you guided from your own interests and ideas, or by what’s easily accessible in other people’s work?
• Creative Pursuit: Are you asking yourself questions that lead to the next step in your research, leading you to a satisfying complete picture?    Or have you repeated ideas or comments in your work that you really don’t understand, and haven’t researched enough to figure out?  Are you leaving things unexplained when they’re not yet clear, well-developed, interesting?
• Underlying Expertise: Are you applying the principles of this class in your treatments of myths, or are you just repeating what you read in a book without really thinking how the whole thing works?
• Critical Awareness & Argument: In your writing, are you able to explain your ideas and argue your positions?  Do you recognize controversies or differences of opinion among scholars, and resolve them as best you can?  Are you speaking from a knowledge of the critical issues in your topic?  
• Clarity: Is your writing clear enough?  Are you using your source materials to argue points convincingly?  Could one of your classmates read your paper and understand your points, and be convinced by your evidence and discussion?
• Technical Format: Do you meet the technical criteria of length and format?

Academic honesty:

The paper must obviously be your own work.  Do not cut and paste from Internet (or other) sources.  This is plagiarism.  I randomly Google word strings, as well as use other academic resources, to check.  Papers containing plagiarised materials are given a grade of 0, which usually means you fail the course.  (If you put a small amount of material written by others into quotations and give me a reference for it, it's acceptable academic practice, of course.)  If you are in doubt about what constitutes plagiarism, ask me about it.  On a personal note, I really, really hate dealing with plagiarism and possibly damaging someone's academic record, but I am strict about it because I feel that the university's integrity needs to be upheld.  So please, please don't do it.

Arguing a point:

When you use myths, you should tell them in a way that highlights the ideas you are offering about your subject.  In other words, use parts of the myth to illustrate the theme.  The examples that follow discuss Hermes as a trickster figure with evidence based on the Homeric Hymn to Hermes.

AVOID THIS: 

Hermes was a trickster figure.  Soon after he was born, he stole the cattle of his brother Apollo.  He drove the herd of fifty cattle backwards and brought them to a cave where he hid them.  An old man saw him but Hermes asked him not to tell what he had seen.  Then Hermes made fire and sacrificed two of the cattle, and sneaked back home and went to bed.  When Apollo found out that his cattle had been stolen, he confronted Hermes, but Hermes pretended he was only a little baby and couldn’t have pulled off the theft.  Apollo was going to punish him, and dragged him before Zeus.  But finally Hermes gave Apollo the lyre he had made, which satisfied Apollo, and he gave the cattle back.

Problems with this:  The author has really made only one general point: That Hermes is a trickster.  But what exactly does that mean?  And what specific ideas does the Homeric Hymn bring up that relate to his role as trickster?  The author may realize that there are some subtleties there, but mentioning them in his/her retelling of the myth doesn’t really highlight them for me to see his/her thought.  What I see is a fairly obvious statement (Hermes is a trickster) followed by a retelling of a myth I know you know.

MORE LIKE IT:

Hermes is a trickster figure.  The Homeric Hymn to Hermes reveals how important this is to his nature by highlighting different aspects of his trickster status.

First, it shows Hermes as a culture hero.  When Hermes is newly born, the first thing he does is invent the lyre.  Lyres were an important element of Greek culture because poetry preserved key ideas of the culture, and also because young boys learned to sing Homer and other poetry as a major part of their education.  Many other trickster figures from different cultures also create tools and give wisdom that benefits humans.  For example, Prometheus gave humans fire and ship-building technology (Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, 90-91).

Second, it shows another aspect of the trickster: his mischief.  Hermes steals the cattle of his brother Apollo, taking on someone far more powerful than himself, as tricksters tend to do.  Hermes uses his wiles to confuse anyone tracking him, by making the cattle walk backwards and hiding his own footprints.  He also uses charm, another trickster tool, when he tries to convince a witness not to tell.

Hermes also has no problem with lying.  When his mother asks him what he’s been up to, he claims to be “a helpless little child who knows in his heart very little of evil.”  But he ends up by admitting that he is after honor – by stealing it.  “I shall go to Pytho and break right into his great house and I shall seize from within plenty of very beautiful tripods and bowls and gold …”  (Homeric Hymn  260).

Prometheus was punished for his deceptions, but Hermes was not.  Even when Apollo hauls him before Zeus, Hermes knows he has nothing to fear.  He is finally honest about his theft, and quickly offers Apollo the lyre to make amends.  Since Hermes is a god, it seems that he does not have to fear the kind of punishment Prometheus does.  Also, Hermes’ trickery, unlike Prometheus’, did not result in changes in the world order.  It was a simple plot – an act of mischeif.  Hermes’ trickery was all in fun.

ANALYSIS

The second author has been careful to link every element of the myth s/he tells with the points s/he is making.  S/he has also made a lot more points, and articulated them effectively: 1) that the HH shows how important the trickster role is to Hermes’ basic identity; 2) that it emphasizes his creative ability, 3) that he is mischeivous, and 4) specifically he takes on those more powerful, 5) that he lies easily as well as steals; 6) that he is interested in honor and glory.  S/he also 7) contrasts Hermes’ ability to get away with it with Prometheus’ punishment and 8) offers a possible explanation – a point I hope s/he will pursue further.  S/he also uses well-chosen quotes to get across her message and gives appropriate citations.

The first author might have thought of many of these points, but s/he left the myth narration to tell it on its own.  But s/he really needed to bring out the key points – I don’t read minds, so I don't know what s/he’s thinking , or where s/he gets his/her ideas from, unless s/he spells them out.  Think of it as proving a case – the evidence rarely speaks for itself; you have to present it.

From the second example, you can also see the range of ideas you can find in a single passage, if you are familiar with the surrounding ideas (in this case, the importance of honor and glory in the Greek world, the various kinds of trickster figure and their typical characteristics, the structure of the divine world of the Greeks).  This is the level of crtitical thinking you want to aspire to.