Fall '07 GkCiv-Take-Home Final

Option 1: write two 600-1000 word essays on two of the topics given below
Option 2: write one 1200-1600 word essay on one of the topics given below
Dont' forget:

always give sources for both quotes and information:
for these essays use a sufficient number of good representative examples from the texts and movie--you don't need to discuss all the examples, but "choice" ones (also, don't simply ignore examples that run counter to your conclusions, but consider why they may be less important that the examples you use to support your conclusions).
Movie: simply indicate that whatever evidence you use was in the movie; quotes are acceptable as well (if you want, there are several scripts available on the web)
give a word count

1. Social Relations: As a movie critic, evaluate how accurately the movie portrays 2-3 of the following the male/female relationships (Menelaus & Helen, Paris & Helen, Hector & Andromache, Achilles & Briseis). Use as your benchmark the male/female relationships in Kebric's chapter 7. (you may also use evidence from the Iliad and the Odyssey; but not instead of Kebric's chapter 7)

2. "Survivor: Ancient Greece I" on the "History" channel. Determine, based on the evidence and the criterion below, who would win and who not and why.

Three Contestants: Socrates, Alexander the Great, and Achilles or Hector or Agamemnon or Odysseus (from the movie)
Admissible Evidence: Plato's Apology for Socrates, Pomeroy for Alexander, the movie for Achilles, ...
Sole Criterion: the character of these individuals

3. "Survivor: Ancient Greece II" on the "History" channel. Determine, based on the evidence and the criterion below, who would win and who not and why.

Three Contestants: Socrates or Alexander the Great, and two of the following from the movie: Achilles, Hector, Agamemnon, Odysseus
Admissible Evidence: Plato's Apology for Socrates, Pomeroy for Alexander, the movie for Achilles, ...
Sole Criterion: the Homeric definition of kleos (start your paper with a brief definition of Homeric kleos and how one achieved it)

4. Religion: At one point in the movie, Achilles says, "I chose nothing. I was born and this is who I am." One issue we have looked at throughout the semester is the issue of "fate (or the gods) vs free will." As a movie critic, evaluate the movie's stance on this issue versus Homer's stance (based solely on the selections from Homer we read at the beginning of the semester) or Sophocles' stance (based solely on the Antigone)