Reed College
Reed College

Humanities 110

Introduction to the Humanities

Paper Topics | Spring 2004 | Paper 2

Due Date: Saturday, March 27th, 2004, 5 p.m. in the Faculty mailboxes in Eliot.
Length: 1500 words.

Write on one of the following questions:

  1. Tacitus writes both about the ultimate Roman insiders (the imperial family) and the ultimate outsiders (the German tribes). What is the significance of the similarities and differences in Tacitus’ depictions of these two groups?

  2. The period of Latin literature from 14-150 CE is sometimes called the "Silver Latin" age. Nigel Nicholson has argued that this literature is often characterized by (1) the audience’s confusion over the text’s moral ambiguity; (2) a relish for the grotesque and disgusting; and (3) an elegant, even overly elegant style and the consequent mismatch between this style and a disgusting content. Using two to three key scenes in Tacitus’ Annals of Imperial Rome determine whether this characterization of "Silver Latin" of Rome hold true for Tacitus’ text.

  3. In Book Ten of the Metamorphoses, Ovid warns his reader,

    …Terrible my tale will be!

    Away, daughters! Away, parents! Away!

    Or if my singing charms you, hold this tale

    In disbelief. (X. 303-06, p. 234)

    In spite of (or because of) this warning, however, most readers continue to read. Indeed Ovid himself seems to revel in telling us about forbidden and lurid subjects. To what extent is the narrator of Ovid’s Metamorphoses (like Actaeon, Phaethon, Semele, and others) guilty of curiositas (an inordinate appetite and effort to find out)? To what extent does the narrator condemn such curiosity? How do you explain these dual impulses? Support your argument with a close reading of 1-2 scenes from Ovid’s poem.

  4. Postcolonial theorist Edward Said notes, "a beginning immediately establishes relationships with works already existing, relationships of either continuity or antagonism or some mixture of both" (Beginnings 3). Compare Ovid's origin story to the creation story given by Lucretius in On the Nature of Things. Does continuity, antagonism, or some mixture of both characterize the relationship between the two poems? What is the significance of this relationship?

  5. What do the two episodes of Abraham passing Sarah off as his sister contribute to the unfolding drama in Genesis?

  6. In consultation with your conference leader, write on a topic of your own devising.