Reed College
Reed College

Humanities 110

Introduction to the Humanities

Paper Topics | Spring 2003 | Paper 2

Due Date: Saturday, 29 March 2003, 5 pm in Faculty mailboxes
Length: 1500 words/6 pages

  1. "The only indulgence I would ask the reader for the inglorious victims is that he should forbear to censure them. For the fault was not theirs. The cause was rather heaven's anger with Rome--and not an isolated burst of anger such as could be passed over with a single mention, as when armies are defeated or cities captured." (Tacitus, Annals 16:388)

    Examine how Tacitus and one or more of the following authors: Seneca, Lucetius, Josephus, use the relationship between gods and human beings to understand the problem of evil in human history.

  2. In Genesis 18:22-23 Abraham bargains with God over the destruction of Sodom & Gommorah. Why does God bargain with Abraham over the fate of Sodom? Is this consistent with God's relationship to Abraham in the rest of Genesis?

  3. What sort of comment does Tacitus make in his Annals on the relations between the center of the empire (Rome) and its peripheries (Germany, Gaul, Britain, etc.) by moving back and forth between them as repeatedly as he does?

  4. It is possible to link Tacitus's Germania and the Biblical books of Genesis and Exodus by seeing both texts as constructing an identity for their respective audiences (Romans, non-Hebrews, and non-Jews). Consider, through specific examples, whether this linkage is a convincing one.

  5. Discuss Seneca's sue of historical examples (Socrates, Cato and others) in his essay "On Providence." What role do these historical examples play in his argument, and how would the argument be different without them.

  6. Consider Lucretius's The Way Things Are as an epic poem. What advantages and disadvantages are offered by this literary form as opposed to prose for discussion of philosophy in general and/or the treatment of Epicurean ideas in particular?

  7. In his letter on suicide, Seneca suggests that in controlling our deaths, we control our lives. To what extent does Tacitus agree with Seneca? What function does suicide serve in the Annals? Choose several descriptions of suicide (for example, the suicides of Epicharis at Annals 15:373, Seneca at 15:375-377, or Petronius at 16:390) and explicate their importance for the development of Tacitus's critique of imperial Rome.

  8. With the approval of your instructor, write on a topic of your own devising.