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.