ClSt/ComL 200, "Classical Mythology"
Preview of Mid-term Examination
Part 1: Identification. Identify and comment briefly but fully on the importance
of five of the following items (20 minutes total).
You will have a choice of about fifteen terms, some of them naming specific
characters, places, ideas, works of literature, and other elements of mythology
that we have encountered this semester. Your task will be to tell what
you know about these elements as completely, but also as briefly as possible.
Mere identification (e.g. Zeus: king of the gods) will not be considered
adequate. Instead, you should draw on the knowledge that you have gained
from your reading and from lectures and discussions to include what you
judge to be the most important information that you can give about each
item in the time available (about four minutes per item).
Part 2: Essays. Choose one from Section A and one from Section B (20 minutes
each).
In this section you will be asked to write two essays in which you (1)
state a thesis, and (2) defend it through reasoned argument making use
of evidence drawn from reading assignments, lectures, and discussions.
In contrast to part 1, your task here is not simply to state what you know
about a specific element of Greek mythology, but to to articulate your
understanding of a larger idea that can be approached from a variety of
perspectives. You will be asked to develop your own approach, and to back
it up by citing primary and secondary material that supports it.
Section A
In this section you will have a choice of two questions dealing with general
issues in Greek mythology. Topics that may be covered include: the relationship
between Greek and other mythologies (similarities and differences, borrowings,
etc.); important themes in Greek mythology (genealogy, misogyny, trickery,
etc.); the relationship between Greek mythology and history; the relationship
between Panhellenic and epichoric religion; the relationship between mythology
and cult.
Section B
In this section you will have a choice of two questions dealing with the
way in which Greek myth functions in different contexts. The myths may
be specific (e.g. they may focus on a specific character or story that
appears in different contexts) or general (e.g. rather than focussing on
an individual figure they may focus on a typical figure or action, such
as "ritual antagonism," "the heroic journey," "the culture hero," "rites
of passage," to name a few possibilities). These contexts might be literary
genres, historical settings, interpretive models, cult practices, etc.
Syllabus