Part 1
In 1-2 well-developed paragraphs discuss one of the topics listed below. After you have posted your discussion, respond to the Discussion Topic posts of at least one other classmate. Feel free to engage in dialog with more students if you wish.
Gilgamesh is largely concerned with ideas of knowledge and self-understanding. Enkidu gains wisdom from the temple prostitute, but he loses something in the process. What? In what other ways does the epic explore the concepts of wisdom and knowledge?
What is a hero? Do you think that the Babylonian or Indian heroic ideals differ from the modern American concept? If not, why not? If so, how?
Confucius often answers direct questions with analogies. How does this teaching method both reflect his theory of education and facilitate learning.
Part 2
In 1-2 well-developed paragraphs discuss one of the topics listed below. After you have posted your discussion, respond to the Discussion Topic posts of at least one other classmate. Feel free to engage in dialogue with more students if you wish.
Discuss the Shield of Achilles (Iliad Book XVIII): what sort of world does it depict? How do the "two noble cities" differ and how do they fit into the epic? What other scenes does Vulcan forge and to what effect?
Compare and contrast human and divine families. What parallels do you find between the scene at the end of Book I (involving Zeus and Hera) and the scene between Hector and Andromache in Book VI?
Pretending you are Medea's defense attorney at her murder trial, make the case for justifiable homicide or not guilty by reason of insanity.
Looking at "The Apology" as Socrates' last chance to teach the Athenians something, what do you think he tried to teach them?
Part 3
In 1-2 well-developed paragraphs discuss one of the topics listed below. After you have posted your discussion, respond to the Discussion Topic posts of at least one other classmate. Feel free to engage in dialogue with more students if you wish.
How do Hunahpu and Xbalanque, the heroes of Mayan myth, compare and contrast with other epic heroes that we have encountered in our studies?
Which of the two interpretations of The Tempest do you find more convincing or illuminating, the Renaissance humanist one or the Postcolonial one? Explain your choice.
Consider Montaigne's assertion concerning a New World tribe that practices cannibalism: "We may then call these people barbarous, in respect to the rules of reason: but not in respect to ourselves, who in all sorts of barbarity exceed them."
Does Montaigne's argument that "civilized" societies exceed simple societies in terms of violence and barbarity still ring true today?