Mon Sep 18

 

Lualdi 2:2: Tyrtaeus of Sparta and Solon of Athens

 

Write a paper on any one of the following questions:

1.      How does Tyrtaeus’ speech illustrate the priorities of the Spartan polis in its formative period?

2.      What were the problems facing Athens during Solon’s time?  How does he view the health of a society, and the need for remedies for disorders?

3.      Working with the Hunt text as well as these sources, how would you evaluate the comparative advantages and disadvantages of these poleis?  Where would you rather live?

 

Lim 3:2-3: Thucydides and Herodotus

 

Write a paper on any one of the following questions:

1.      Compare the approaches of Thucydides and Herodotus to the question of the early development of Greek identity. What does the comparison suggest about their respective beliefs about the goals and practices of writing history?

2.      What do these two writings reveal about the attitudes of Greeks to non-Greeks?

3.      What role does religion play in the founding of a polis in each of these accounts?