ESSAY INFORMATION The essay will be due at 11:59 pm on Wednesday, December 6th. Late essays will be penalized at the rate of 5% per day (a weekend…

/in /by

ESSAY INFORMATION The essay will be due at 11:59 pm on Wednesday, December 6th. Late essays will be penalized at the rate of 5% per day (a weekend will count as one day). Spelling, grammar and sentence structure will be taken into account in the marking of all work submitted for credit (tests included).

CLAS 1P95 MYTHS OF THE GREEK AND ROMAN GODS PAPER TOPICS: Choose one of the following topics and paper (5 pages double spaced) in which you present your analysis of the text(s) you are dealing with. Please see the “Essay and Writing Instructions” for more details. DUE DATE: Wednesday, December 6th An electronic copy must be submitted to by 11:59 pm on Wednesday Dec. 6 for the paper to be considered on time

2. Examine the figure of Dionysus in Euripides’ Bacchae. What kind of power does he represent? Do you think that Dionysus is basically a beneficial or a destructive god? Does he seem to care about his followers’ well-being or is he simply looking for obedience? Is his quest for power and recognition basically the same as the one Hermes is on in the Hymn to Hermes, or are the brothers fundamentally different?

3. Contrast the visions of Aphrodite in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite with Dionysus in the Bacchae. How do the Greeks portray gods who control powerful emotions? Do you think the Greeks see these gods as fundamentally creative or destructive? Does the answer depend on any kind of context in your opinion? Which, if any, of these two do you think the Greeks see as more well-disposed toward human beings?

4. Compare the two (half) brothers Apollo and Hermes based on their portrayals in the Hymn to Apollo and the Hymn to Hermes. How do they compare in terms of metis and power? That is, what kinds of intelligence do they display and what other types of abilities do they have? Which of them is ultimately more “god-like” in your opinion and why?

Use Quotation From Hesiod’s Theogony to prove text that is being argued and use mla format for the citied work list