Prompt 1
2-4 page essay, double-spaced, with separate title page, it’s okay if you happen to write a little more than 4 pages, however, we will stop reading at 5 pages.
The prompt is a general guide to spur your own thinking on the topic. Please do not feel you have to answer any and every question contained in the prompt; the questions are only meant to catalyze your own thinking
Please use good essay style, organization is paramount, please have a thesis, please link your paragraphs back to your thesis, please have a conclusion.
Do not summarize or quote any sources from the internet. Only use primary sources given for the class.
- Compare and Contrast the creation myths in Hesiod with those given in the Rig Veda. What problems are they trying to solve? What assumptions do they make?
- Compare and contrast the attitude of the god/gods toward mortals in Hesiod and in the Hindu myths (Vishnu) contained in the flood document on blackboard. Do the gods wish to help or harm the beings who live on the earth? Why?
- Please discuss the stories about Prometheus given in Hesiod. With what sort of myth is Prometheus associated? What do these stories tell us about human life, society, and the relationship between the mortals and immortals?
- How does Hesiod use myth in the Works and Days to solve or deal with contemporary societal problems?
- Based on what you have read so far, in any and all texts, what do Greek and/or Hindu myths tell us about gender in ancient society? By gender, I mean both the role of women in the culture, but also the role of the men, and more specifically, the relationship between the sexes?
Readings for reference below
Hesiod Theogony, p. 61-78 = verses 1-620, CB
Rig Veda, Creation Hymn, p. 25-38, BB
The birth of Ganesh, Brhaddharma 2.60.1-4, BB
(compare Shiva with Zeus/Cronos, Ouranos)
The creation of women, from the Mahabharata, BB
(this is just one page, compare with Pandora)
1.18 Hesiod Works and Days 23-38, CB
The Flood and avatars of Vishnu, BB
Homer Iliad, 1-20, CB
week 3 myth, justice, and literature
1.23 Homer, Iliad 20-82, CB
1.25 Homer, Iliad 82-153, CB
week 4: myth, justice, and literature
1.30 Homer Iliad 153-205, CB
2.1 Homer Iliad, 205-240, CB