Humanities 110

Paper Topics | Spring 2018 | Paper 2

Paper Due: Saturday, March 24, at 5:00 PM in your conference leader's Eliot Hall mailbox.  Select one of the topics below. Length 6-8 pages (1500-2000 words).

1. Consider the Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, the statue of Harpokrates, OR the Ring Seal of Ptolemy VI, and discuss how the object reinterprets “Greekness” in the Hellenistic period. You may wish to consider how politics, identity, cosmopolitanism, tyche, or scholarliness influence the representation.  Feel free to make comparisons to Greek works we have studied. 
 
2. One feature of the Idylls of Theocritus is the way that they play with genre: Idyll 1 reinterprets ekphrasis, Idyll 13 plays with the heroic epic, and Idyll 15 has much in common with ancient comedy. Choose one of these poems and discuss the ways that the poem confirms and disrupts generic expectations.  What is the effect of this generic playfulness?  Feel free to make comparisons to any work we have studied earlier this year.
 
3. Aristotle sees a clear connection between virtue and function. What is that connection?  Focusing on a specific virtue of either character or thought (as discussed in books 2 and 6), describe how that connection is supposed to work.  Do you find Aristotle’s account here plausible?
 
4. At 1170b of the Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that “the excellent person is related to his [virtue] friend in the same way as he is related to himself, since a friend is another himself.” (Trans. Irwin) What reasons does Aristotle give for this claim?  Do you find them compelling?
 
5. Following both Greek epic poetry and Athenian philosophy, throughout On the Nature of Things, Lucretius uses analogies – in particular, to explain natural phenomena to his reader. Using specific examples, make an argument about the function of Lucretius' analogies in relation to particular goals of his poem.
 
6. Lucretius proposes tranquility (or Epicurean ataraxia) as the highest good of human life. Using textual evidence from On the Nature of Things, what is tranquility?  Paying attention to the opening analogies in Book II and the Athenian plague at the end of Book VI (and incorporating other passages as you see fit), do you find tranquility to be a compelling goal?
 
7. Write your own essay topic. If you choose this option, it is necessary to have your conference leader approve your topic before you start working on it.

In addition to consulting with your conference leader, you can get help with all stages of the writing process from peer tutors at the Writing Center. You can find links to the Writing Center hours on the Drop-in Tutoring Schedule website. Extra tutoring help will be available in the week leading up to paper due dates.