Study Guide for Exam II

Format

• cut-and-dried identifications: basic information in factual form (small credit per item, and a small component of the exam)
• passages from the ancient literature we’ve read: identify context, and discuss briefly what the passage shows about ancient Greek or Roman ideas of the cosmos and how these ideas were reflected in myths (each a medium-small quantum of credit, but adding up to a major component of the exam)
• essay: discuss a thematic question, drawing for support of your contentions on specific, concrete evidence from several ancient works we have read (the largest single item of credit; a major component of the exam)

Things to study

• the works we have read, and basic facts about who composed them and roughly when
• major figures in each story we’ve read (characters who have been at the focus of discussions in class and study questions: as you review your notes from doing the readings and from class, make a list)
• major adversaries of Heracles' Twelve Labors
• locations of significant events: Thebes, Mt. Cithaeron, the Peloponnese, Crete, Thrace, Mt. Oeta, Sparta, Troy, Mycene, Delphi, Athens
• technical definition of a "hero", as identified in ancient Greek religion
• major dramatic festivals of Athens, at which tragedies were performed

Note: this is a literature class, not a memorization bee. It is convenient to be able to identify major figures swiftly, by name, but it is far, far more important to be able to recognize, understand, and EXPLAIN CLEARLY how details of the stories, the actions of the characters in them, and characteristic imagery associated with those characters, reflect ideas.

Strategy: think of specific passages that illustrate important points, so that on the test you can back up your arguments with concrete evidence. Be sure you explain clearly how the passage helps demonstrate your point. What does it say? What does that mean? Why does it mean that?

Themes and overarching considerations to consider (both for passages and for the essay; see also daily Study Questions from before and after the mid-term break):

• the necessity of recognizing gods as gods
  • what obstacles impede recognition?
  • what does recognizing gods do for humans - how do the gods, as entities humans recognize, anchor concepts by which humans organize their views of the cosmos?
• connections between divinities and the natural world
• time: how divine figures relate to a human life-span; and how human beings progress through life-stages with time
• contrasts between the spontaneous world of wild nature and the orderly world of civilized society
• limitations constraining human existence (as opposed to divine existence), and how these limitations may be overcome or transcended
• limitations constraining human knowledge (as opposed to divine knowledge), and how these limitations may be overcome or transcended
• how vulnerablity relates to strength (especially in transcending limits)
• expectations and allegiances normally constraining women's behavior; how these gendered constraints may be overcome or transcended
• how relationships based in consensual, "social" agreements conflict with OR support relationships based in organic, "natural" connections
• relationships between worshipers and divinities
• relationships between husbands and wives
• relationships between parents and children
• relationships between individual and community
• concepts of justice

This file last updated 29 October 2002 by jlong1@orion.it.luc.edu.
http://www.luc.edu/depts/classics/