SAMPLE ANSWERS: TEST no. 2 (Fall 2006)

These are samples of strong answers from sections 3 and 4 of Test no. 2.  I offer them to you as examples of the range of the best answers I received from students in both classes. I have made only minor editing changes:

Part 3: Longer identifications

MELIAN DIALOGUE: The Melian Dialogue was written by Thucydides in the History of the Peloponnesian War. The dialogue is between representatives of Athens and an island, Melos, which refuses to surrender. The reason this dialogue is studied is because it illustrates how the Greeks were exploring the origins and basis of laws, now that the Gods’ law did not seem to hold. The Athenians first propose to the Melians that the right of the powerful is to rule the weak. Therefore the weak must submit. Conversely, the Melians argue that the tide of fortune rises and falls. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the strong to respect the weak because the strong will not be strong forever.

MELIAN DIALOGUE: The Melian Dialogue took place when troops of the Athenians went to the island of Melos asking the people to surrender and join the Athenians. This is described by Thucydides in the The History of the Peloponnesian War. Melos was a neutral territory and Athens did not like the example Melos set as an unsubdued territory. Athens argued the laws of justice are made by the people who have power; it is their right to get whatever they can. The important aspect that Melos presents is the idea that the laws of humanity are vital because the powerful will not always be in power and eventually they will need laws to protect them.

“OLD” CHARGES AGAINST SOCRATES: The old charges against Socrates are that 1) he studied natural sciences, 2) he used rhetoric, and 3) he was a sophist.  These were serious because he believed they were what really was going to get him convicted - not the formal charges of corrupting youth and worshiping “different” gods than the city’s. This had to do with looking for a scapegoat for Athens' problems with the plague and defeat in the war. First, the study of natural sciences was seen as offensive to the gods, bringing plague and defeat. Second, he was said to be a sophist whose philosophies were responsible for creating legislation that got them into battle in the first place.

ODE ON MAN: This was a section in the Antigone that was performed by the chorus. It illustrates how man has tamed nature, overcome obstacles, and become resourceful in creating a civilized society. It depicts man’s progress from savage life to the civilization of the city-state. However, it warns that if man is unable to find harmony between divine law and human law, then man will suffer. The problem is that man’s law is based on domination which usually conflicts with divine law. As a result, it raises the issue of whether divine law and human law can actually be harmonized.

Part 4: Quotations

Identify the source and context of the following quotation.  How does it contribute to an understanding of important issues discussed in unit two?
“Such is the punishment Zeus gives, he does not, like a mortal,
fall in a rage over each particular thing, and yet
it never escapes him all the way when a man has a sinful
spirit; and always, in the end, his judgment is plain.
One man has to pay at once, one later, while others
altogether escape overtaking by the gods doom;
but then it always comes in aftertime, and the innocent
pay, the sons of the sinners or those born long afterward.”

     “This quote is from Solon when he is trying to convince the Athenians to follow human laws. This particular quotation refers to hereditary guilt. It describes how, if someone commits a crime, they may not suffer the consequences, but individuals in future generations may suffer the consequences of their past ancestors. Solon writes this as a way to communicate that human laws are sanctioned by the gods. He is trying to create a way to unite divine law with human law, so that people will feel that they have to obey laws or else they or their future generations will be punished.
     This relates to the bigger idea of trying to harmonize divine law and human law. Obviously, as is seen in Antigone, trying to follow only human law is not successful.  The outcome of ignoring the gods results in negative factors. The “Ode on Man” warns on this; only when divine law and human law are mixed can man be successful. Solon is attempting to create this balance.”

Identify the source and context of the following quotation.  How does it contribute to an understanding of important issues discussed in unit two?
“Are horses in the same way, do you think? All the men in the world are making them better, and only one corrupting them? Isn’t the truth quite the opposite of this: There is one, perhaps, able to make them better, or very few - the horse-trainers, but most people, if they have to do with horses and use them, spoil and corrupt them?  Isn’t that the case, Meletos, both with horses and with all other animals?”

     “Socrates is comparing the raising of youth to the rearing of horses in his defense to Meletus.
     First of all, he is using the elenchus method of question and answer to find inconsistencies in Meletus’ statement, and to discredit him as a prosecutor. Socrates is trying to show that not just anyone can train horses, only a professional. Therefore, not just anyone can train the youth - only educated professionals.
     There are two reasons why this is offensive to Athenians. He undermines the role of parents in childrearing - just because you can make them doesn’t mean you can teach them properly. This undermines the basic unit of Athenian society - the importance of the family. Secondly, he undermines the Athenian value of democracy. Not just anyone can be educated enough to wield power; he suggests that everyone is not equal in this; as it is supposed in a democracy. The power shouldn’t be in the hands of the common man! Very offensive indeed, and similar to the ideas in the parody, the “ship of state”.
     This relates to the speech Pericles makes when Athens was being defeated in battle and things were going badly. In contrast to his Funeral Oration where he praised Athenian democracy, Pericles now suggests that they all listen to one person who knows best and is most educated - him, the “first citizen”.  This also relates to the need for laws that stand up to the crises and have a firmer footing. In times of calamity, the system breaks down and “the strong do what they can”, as in the Melian Dialogue, and tyrants take hold. How can this be avoided? By giving citizens reason to believe that it really is in their own best interest to follow laws and not to do so just out of fear.”

Identify the source and context of the following quotation.  How does it contribute to an understanding of the work from which it is taken?
“Believe me, the stiffest stubborn wills
fall the hardest; the toughest iron,
tempered strong in the white-hot fire,
you’ll see it crack and shatter first of all.
And I’ve known spirited horses you can break
with a light bit - proud, rebellious horses.
There’s no room for pride, not in a slave,
not with the lord and master standing by...
...I am not the man, not now: she is the man
if this victory goes to her and she goes free.”

     “This quotation comes from Sophocles’ Antigone and is said by Creon to Antigone. It contributes to the understanding of the work in three ways: the Gods will punish anyone who rises too high, Antigone is considered to be like an animal and a man, and it shows the pride and selfishness of Creon in this story.
     Creon has just found out Antigone has buried Polynices. He threatens her in a way by saying the most stubborn people fall. This seems ironic because in his own argument he is very stubborn, and he will be brought down, using his terms, by his own son. We also talked in class about the way people will rise and then fall because it is the fate of the gods.
     Creon also compares Antigone to animals a lot during this play. He says she will be broken like a horse that is rebellious and proud. When Antigone is captured by the guards trying to bury Polynices for the second time, she screams like a bird. These analogies symbolize that she is acting on instinct to protect, care for, and honor the ones she loves. Creon is using these terms as well to take her identity away and make her seem less honorable. Creon said that if she is free she has glory like a man, and he no longer will be a man.
     The pride and selfishness Creon is showing is leading to his own downfall. If he were to bend his ideas so that he could understand the idea of family and divine law, he would avoid this. During the play, Creon acts against what he says by being stubborn himself and unwilling to listen to Antigone’s side of the people of Thebes opinion.”

Identify the source and context of the following quotation.  How does it contribute to an understanding of the work from which it is taken?
“Never, I tell you,
if I had been the mother of children
or if my husband died, exposed and rotting -
I’d never have taken this ordeal upon myself,
never defied our people’s will. What law,
you ask, do I satisfy with what I say?
A husband dead, there might have been another.
A child by another too, if I had lost the first.
But mother and father both lost in the halls of Death,
no brother could ever spring to light again.
For this law alone I held you first in honor...
...What law of the mighty gods have I transgressed?
Why look to the heavens any more, tormented as I am?
Whom to call, what comrades now? Just think,
my reverence only brands me for irreverence!
Very well: if this is the pleasure of the gods,
once I suffer I will know that I was wrong.”

     “This quote is taken from Sophocles’ Antigone. In this scene, Antigone is telling the chorus unexpectedly that if she had a child or husband, she wouldn’t have buried them, but, because her parents are dead and she can never have other siblings, Polynices is irreplaceable. This quote seems “ironic” because earlier, Antigone was arguing to Creon that death does not favor anyone. This scene shows Antigone questioning why she buried Polynices and the gods she worships. Many argue that this scene does not belong in Antigone and should have been left out because it is difficult to believe that Antigone would dismiss her first views so quickly.  Near the end of the quote, Antigone goes back to her first views of the unwritten laws of the divine before she goes to her tomb.
     Antigone symbolizes the opposite views of Creon, according to whom the gods rule through human laws and back up the city-state (polis). In the end, this quote portrays Antigone’s final thoughts before she dies. She still holds on to the same principles that conflict with Creon’s. This conflict that will not and does not harmonize is depicted through Antigone’s death and Creon’s ultimate demise: his son and wife are dead, and he is left alone.

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