ASSIGNMENT

The Aeneid has provoked us to wonder about fate and choice. Does Aeneas live in a fated or a chosen world?

Wait: do we live in a fated or a chosen world?

The topic of fate and choice is not new to us in Buckeye Myth. Witness: Homer's Achilles. As citizens, though, the topic of fate is especially important. Here's why: the central task of a citizen is voting. And voting is itself a choice: we choose Candidate A or Candidate B.

If a citizen's world is fated, though, then a citizen's vote is useless.

Question: can there be citizens in a fated world?

The Aeneid provokes many other questions, but for OSU citizen-students, the challenge of fate is an important one.

In this essay, you must answer the question: what is the most important difference for citizen readers between the Iliad and the Odyssey on the one hand and the Aeneid on the other?

As part of its argument, the essay must use at least one of the following pairs of parallel passages as evidence:

• the shields: Iliad 18.500-660 and Aeneid 8.790-955
• the stags: Odyssey 10.p196 and Aeneid 1.255
• the underworld: Odyssey 11 and Aeneid 6
• the lovers: Odyssey 23 and Aeneid 4
• the empathy: Iliad 24 and Aeneid 12

To develop your argument, think about the observations, provocations, and inspirations we've discussed in class. The essay must state its thesis in a short introductory paragraph, followed by a few body paragraphs actually making the argument. As part of its evidence the essay must cite at least one of the pairs of passages above as well as at least three other specific passages from the Iliad, the Odyssey, or the Aeneid. Cite the Iliad with book number and line number (18.500), the Odyssey with book number and page number (10.196), and the Aeneid with book number and line number (8.790). Papers may only use the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid as evidence.