Humanities 251 Exam
The Greeks
Fall 2009
Dr. Robert Kibler’s class
• Part I Directions
• Identify the date, the event, the form (1
point), and note why important (1 point).
• 10 items
• Why do Ethiopian gods have dark skin and
thick lips, and Thracian ones blond hair
and green eyes? Why important?
• Death of Socrates and why important?
• Persian Wars and why important
• Antigone written this century and why
important
• Thought fire the essential ingredient of the
universe and why important?
• Define Hamartia and why important
• Peloponnesian War and why important
• Thucydide’s “Melian dialogue written and
why important.
• Contrapposto and why important
• Who was born on the island of Chios, and
why important?
• Part II Directions
• Identify the period (1 point), and three
specific details which support your
identification (4 points)
• 5 images
• Part III Directions
• Respond to the following passages,
identifying the work or author (1 pt); the
speaker (1 pt); the context (1 pt), and the
greater value (2 points). Please remember
to do all jobs.
• 5 passages
• Quite a little speech you’ve let slip through
your teeth, Daughter. How could I forget
godlike Odysseus? No other mortal has a
mind like his, or offers sacrifice like him to
the deathless gods in heaven.
• But hope is by nature an expensive
commodity, and those who are risking their
all on one cast [of the dice] find out what it
means only when they are ruined.
• Far longer is there need I satisdy those
nether Powers, than powers on earth; for
there forever must I lie. You, if you will,
hold up to scorn what is approved of
Heaven!
• It was built of polished stone and
surrounded by mountain lions and wolves,
…drugged and bewitched….
• Myself, I drew my sharp sword and sat,
keeping the feeble death-heads from the
blood until I had questioned Tiresias.
30 Points
• Part IV Essay (20 minutes) Directions
• Respond in organized, specific, and
thoughtfull prose to the following question,
remembering to offer an introduction, a
main body, and a conclusion:
• The Ancient Greeks often considered that a
person was flawed if they suffered from hubris,
or from hamartia. Using the Odyssey, Antigone,
and either the Melian Dialogue or the general
works of Sappho, consider the difference
between hubris and hamartia as it is in evidence
through the final outcomes of one character or
group from each work. What do those outcomes
say about what the Greeks admire? How do we
consider such traits today, in our own world? Be
specific, organized, and thoughtful. Good luck.
• Extra Credit 3 points each
• Identify #2, #7, and #9