Here they are. FIVE questions. Study FOUR. At the exam next Monday I will give you THREE of these. You will answer TWO, one essay per answer. Please listen the video, I gave you the link. Everything is in the video.
1. Based on what you have read and what you have heard in lecture, which of the speeches about love in The Symposium seems to best describe the love between Penelope and Odysseus in The Odyssey ? To demonstrate that you have thought hard about this question, discuss at least two speeches from The Symposium in your answer.
2. You have heard in lecture how Socrates' speech seems to be composed of ideas borrowed in part from the other speakers in The Symposium. Which speaker prior to Socrates (Phaedrus, Pausanias, Aristophanes or Agathon) gives a speech that seems to have the most in common with Socrates' speech? Which of these four speakers' ideas have the least in common with Socrates' speech?
3. You have heard in lecture that a characteristic of Homer's epic poetry is that it tends to hold a mirror up to its culture to show the contradictions in that culture's values. Describe in detail two such sets of contradictory values the poem discusses. Which contradiction seems to be a more significant problem for this culture and why?
4. A key value in Greek culture is a sense of aidos (shame). Having such a sense means that you are aware of your actions and try not to do things that will cause you cultural embarrassment or that will lower your reputation in the world. Nevertheless, characters in the poem often fail to demonstrate aidos at key moments. Describe two separate instances of a lack of aidos in the Odyssey.
Which of these two instances is more worthy of blame? In other words, is there some potential excuse or explanation in one instance for why a character might demonstrate a lack of aidos (or what other characters call a lack of aidos) in that particular case?
5. "Socrates' speech is a lovely piece of talk-but no one could really live that way." Do you agree with this statement? If so, explain which other speaker in The Symposium discusses matters of love in a way that seems a better example of how one could actually live.
If you disagree with the statement (that is, you think Socrates' speech does describe a valid way to live) explain how Socrates gives good guidance for people today. Which speaker seems the worst example for how to live?