CVSP 201 Final, Fall 2002

MERICAN UNIVERSIT LIBRARY OF BEIRUT Civilization Sequence 201 Final Exam, 27 January 2003 Dr. Gregg Osborne This exam has four main parts. Read the directions for each part carefully. You have two hours (until 10:00 a.m.), This should be enough, but please budget your time wisely. Do not copy any of the questions into your exam book; just write the question numbers and your answers. I. Short answers on Lucretius and Virgil (4 points each, 24 points total) Answer all of the following questions. None of your answers on this part of the test should be more than two or three sentences in length; some can be even shorter. Do not spend more than 15 or 20 minutes on this part of the test. 1. Why does Lucretius think that knowing the truth about the nature of the universe will make our lives better? 2. What does Lucretius think wiil happen to the human soul, spirit, or psyche after death? And why does he think this? 3. Why is Lucretius so sure that the gods are not concerned about us? 4, What would the author of the Aeneid (namely Virgil) think of the following claim by Lucretius? Far better to live a quiet life in subjection than to long for sovereign authority and lordship over kingdoms. 5. What was the attitude of Virgil towards the Roman Empire? Did he think it was a good thing or a bad thing? Why did he think it had come into existence? 6. Who was Dido? Where was she born and what finally happened to her? II. Basic questions on works read and discussed earlier in the semester (5 points each, 25 points total) Answer five of the following questions. None of your answers on this part of the test should be more than two or three sentences long; some of the questions could be answered in one sentence or less. Do not spend more than 15 or 20 minutes on this part of the test. 1. What would you describe as the fundamental message or moral of the Epic of Gilgamesh? 2. What (in your opinion) is the most important difference between Odysseus and Gilgamesh? And what {again in your opinion) is the most important difference between Odysseus and Aeneas? 3. What is the attitude towards (a) human happiness, and (b) death, expressed by the chorus in Oedipus the King? 4. How do the Athenians tend to justify the acquisition of their empire and their treatment of the subject peoples in the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides? And how does their justification differ from that offered by Virgil on behalf of the Romans? 5. What is (or might be) the positive purpose the Socrates of the Apology hopes to accomplish by showing people that they don’t have any knowledge of goodness, justice, virtue, piety, courage, etc? (Hint: The correct answer to this question is not — or not merely — that he hopes to prove the oracle correct or show that no one is wiser than he is.) LIBRARY OF SEIRDT 6. Why — very briefly ~ does the Socrates of the Republic think that the just person will be happier and better off than the unjust person (a) in this life, and (b) no matter what? 7. Why would Aristotle consider it really dumb and self-defeating to skip the readings in CS or cheat ona test? II. Longer answers (17 points each, 34 points total) Answer two of the following questions. Your answers to these questions should be no more than two or three paragraphs long and should not take more than 20 minutes or so to write. 1. Like Plato and Aristotle, Lucretius wants to show the way to true happiness. Explain his views on the way we can attain it and compare them briefly to those of Plato and Aristotle. In what ways might these thinkers be regarded as similar? In what ways are they different? 2. In the course of this semester, all of the authors we have studied and almost all of the major characters or figures in their works have been male. We have run across a fair number of female characters, however. Among them are Ishtar, Kalypso, Penelope, Athene, Jocasta, Creusa, and Dido. Choose a couple of these characters and discuss them. What do you think of these characters and the way in which the author presents them? 3. In the course of this semester we have met at least five different figures who might be considered heroic; Gilgamesh, Odysseus, Oedipus, the Socrates of the Apology, and Aeneas. Which of these characters seems most admirable and inspiring to you? Why? Which seems least admirable and inspiring to you? Why? Explain your views and consider possible objections to them. 1V. Final question (17 points) 1. Take one theme, text, or idea discussed in the course of the semester and explain why it struck you as interesting and/or important. [Please note: This can be a whole work, such as Gilgamesh, Oedipus the King, or the Apology; it can also be some theme or idea put forth in one or more of the works. It can even be a question or debate to which one or more the works gives rise. What I want here, you should note, is some evidence that you have thought seriously about the text, theme, or idea in question. This is not to say that you must agree with the relevant author or authors; it may be that you disagree strongly or have a hostile reaction. What I want in that case is some account of the reasons for your disagreement or hostile reaction. ] You can spend as much time and space as you want on this question but there is no need for your answer to be more than a few paragraphs long.