Reference no: EM132181883

Paper Assignment

Writing Prompt:

Begin by choosing a mythological scene, ideally from one of our textbooks. The goal of the paper is to explain to the reader what the message of the scene was to its audience. In a 3-5 page paper, answer all of the following questions. Please read the guidelines at the end of this prompt and follow them closely.

1. Identify the scene and the figures in it. What is the date and place of origin? Where was it found (if this information is available)?

2. What was the mythological source of the myth depicted, i.e. Iliad, Odyssey, one of the Homeric Hymns, or a Greek play? Google the myth: usually Wikipedia will give you a source(s) for a particular myth. Also good is R. Graves, The Greek Myth, or the Oxford Classical Dictionary. Give a short summary of the myth.

3. Who was the intended audience of the scene? Was it for a general audience, or for a specific group, i.e. young men, women, a family at a marriage or funeral, Athenians, a political party?

4. How closely did the artist follow the original source? Did s/he make any significant changes or introduce new details? (Some scenes do not.) There are two possible reasons an artist may make changes.

One, s/he may add details to make sure the viewer understands the whole story of the myth, e.g. in the Odyssey, the Cyclops gets drunk and falls asleep where upon Odysseus blinds him with a pointed stake. Vase painting, however, shows the Cyclops sitting up with a wine glass and holding the legs of the man he has eaten. Why? So the viewer understands the whole action of the story.

Two, there may be a historical reason for the way a myth is shown. E.g. the scene of the gods vs. the giants is originally depicted on level ground, but after 480 BC when the Persians invade Athens and scale the acropolis and burn it down, the scene is depicted as taking place on a hill - it refers to the Athenian acropolis.

Myths:

• Explain how the world was created and took the form it has.

• Give examples of good and bad behavior.

• Give a prototype for contemporary social practices.

• Offer consolation in times of grief.

• Give a fundamental moral about what it means to be human.

• Refer to a contemporary historical or political event, like the Amazons' invasion or the adventures of Theseus.