Directions:
    Option 1: write three 600-900 word essays on the topics given below
    Option 2: write two 900-1200 word essays on two of the topics given below

Topics:

1. Politics: Pericles, in part of his funeral oration (Thuc. 2.37-41), implicitly and explicitly praises Athens and critiques Sparta. In your essay examine the points of comparison he makes between the two and argue whether he justly or unjustly praises and critiques. You may use class notes, Pomeroy's text, and the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides as sources of information. The following quotes may be helpful to point out areas to look at:

• If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences (37)
• There (our ordinary life), far from exercising a jealous surveillance over each other, we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbour for doing what he likes (37)
• If we turn to our military policy .... We ... (trust) less in system and policy than to the native spirit of our citizens (39)
• In education, where our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger. (39)


2. Religion: We have seen that Herodotus followed the system of koros-hubris-ate. Examine two of the following with this in mind: 1. Creon in the Antigone,  2. one or more of the male characters (e.g. the magistrate, the male chorus, or Cinesias) in the Lysistrata, and 3. the Athenians in Thucydides' Melian Dialogue coupled with the outcome of the war.

3. Women: Pericles, in his funeral oration, states "if I must say anything on the subject of female excellence to those of you who will now be in widowhood, it will be all comprised in this brief exhortation. Great will be your glory in not falling short of your natural character; and greatest will be hers who is least talked of among the men, whether for good or for bad" (Thuc. 2.45). Do the women in the selections from Herodotus that we read for class, Antigone (in Sophocles' play), and Lysistrata (in Aristophanes' play) live within the boundaries set by Pericles? Discuss. In your conclusion, speculate on what implications, if any, one can derive from the women in these three authors.