Greek DBQ

1. To only go through the motions of life would be, in a word, pointless.
In other
words, in order to derive meaning from ones life, one must always be
present, and aware of ones actions. Rather, to live a valuable and enriching
life, one must take everything as it comes--experiences, mistakes, etc.-- and
apply them to ones future. Only then is life truly worth living. As has been
said before, each day is a gift. Thats why its called the present. I
completely agree with this assertion. What sets humans apart from animals,
other than opposable thumbs, is the ability for extreme independent thought
and learning. If this gift is just thrown to the wayside, and one lives life just
letting things wash over them stoically, they are, in my frank opinion, wasting
their time. The purpose of life on earth is to be enlightened and educated
about the wonders of the world. Without embracing that, you may as well live
on the moon.
2. To start, there are the big 3 Gods. Zeus, Posiden, and Hades were the
original 3 sons of Kronos, and these 3 rule over effectively everything in
creation. Zeus over the Skies, Posiden over the Waters, and Hades over the
dead. In this work, Zeus is depicted as a man in the center of the frame,
possessing rippling pectorals and sitting on a great throne. This asserts him
as the ruler, which he was. Posiden, from what is visible in the photocopy,
appears to be in the down right corner of the picture, almost bowing to Zeus.
All the rest of the Gods, if not wrapped up in their own lives such as the
woman being wooed by a cherub appear to be either bowing to Zeus or
Cowering away, asserting him as ruler further.
3. The myth of arachne centers on jealousy. Or, in the words of the 7 deadly
sins, envy. [Arachne] brashly proclaimed that Athena herself could not do
better than her. Athena takes a petty bit of jealousy, and drives a woman to
suicide. However, at the end of the myth, Athena shows pity and mercy, and
lets Arachne weave for the rest of her life. This myth is meant to show
humanity that while jealousy may be overwhelming at times, never do
anything youll regret. Athena did regret that her actions went too far,
however she felt that she taught Arachne a valuable lesson. The myth also
talks some about pride. While Athena was rash in her actions towards
Arachne, if Arachne had been humble in the first place and not boasted her
talents to be greater than those of the goddess, the whole situation would
have been avoided. Both parties are in the wrong at some point in the myth,
however by the end all is resolved.
4. What this tells us about the gods is that, in addition to being proud beings,
they were also scared. By saying they had grown accustomed to striking
down those that are too high, it shows their fear of being removed from
power. If anything gets too close, they destroy it. They will do just about
anything to keep their power, even destroying the very things they created.
5. I think it would be inadvisable to visit the oracle. The oracle purposely gives
you information you need to determine based on yourself. The gods know
that humans arent always the brightest of creatures, and so they present
6.
7.
8.
9.
these prophecies in a context which can be misconstrued easily. On the wall it

specifically says know yourself. The most intellectual of people could
obviously take their oracles and put them to good use, but the common man
will almost certainly misconstrue them.
In this statement, the pope is saying that little learning on a subject is
dangerous. Either become an expert or dont know anything at all. You are
more apt to make a fool of yourself arguing if you fool yourself into knowing
about the subject. For instance in politics. If one is to argue one end of the
political spectrum or the other, it would be foolish to only research one side.
Expertise on both sides of all issues must be achieved if one is to get
anywhere in academia.
According to this view, humans have no control over themselves. Rather, the
fates and the gods determined everything about life. This would certainly
alter the Greeks view on life. They would view every small action as a work
of the gods. Therefore, when anything negative were to happen to them, they
would assume that the gods were punishing them for something. This view
caused the Greek people, Im sure, to be very cautious in going about their
every day activities. If they were to simply have some bad luck, they would
automatically equate it to something they did wrong. It could lead to either
type of behavior, however I believe the more cautious siode of things was
more plausible. One could argue though that people would be so sure they
were destined to live, that they go forth taking risks, believeing the gods will
save them.
It supports the assertions in document 7 by saying that the fates are the
supreme decision makers when it comes to humans. Regardless of what may
happen to them at the hands of others, the fates will ensure that destiny is
realized. He who is destined to become a carpenter, will become one even if
his hands have been cut off. This supports the arugment towards more risky
behavior. If one knows ones destiny, one could argue that they could do
anything, because the fates ideas for them will always prevail. This is how the
Greeks lived their lives. They knew the fates had everything in line for them,
so they didnt worry too much about the consequences of their actions,
because they knew the fates would make sure everything happened as it was
supposed to happen.
Miasma is a negative curse, levied upon a house when something wrong is
done. Rather than having a specific effect though, miasma was contagious.
Regardless of what you personally did, if someone near you was given
miasma, you would likely develop it as well. Miasma for the Greeks was kind
of like Karma, but worse. If you did bad things, bad things would happen not
only to you, but also to those around you. According to the Greeks, miasma
could infect an entire village if let go long enough. With this knowledge, one
could assume that the horrible plague being suffered in the beginning of
Oedipus Rex was the result of miasma from someone in the village.
10.The story of Pandora is meant to account for why so many bad things
happened on earth when the gods were such caring beings. It also tells
humans how with all good things bad must come. Unto every life death must
fall. Unto every selfless person, a greedy one is hiding. The good and bad
counterparts in this world are what make it human. However, using the
concept of miasma, the story takes on a slightly different meaning. Originally,
the gods intended for the world to be a place full of pure, kind, ageless
human beings. However, because Prometheus was so sneaky, Zeus decided
that the humans could not live this way, even though Prometheus was a titan
and not a human. His miasma for tricking Zeus led to the bad things in the
world.
11.a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to
yourselves, our nation, and the world. This statement alone is in stark
contract with Greek beliefs. The Greeks believed that the fates had
everything lined up for them. If the fates decided that someone would be a
civil servant, than so it was. However, the fates would not decide that for
everyone. Some people were destined to be mean and heartless and selfish.
Obama calling upon every single person in the nation to perform these duties
went against that. There are however, parts of his speech that go along with
the Greek ideals. He says that if every American does these things, we will be
well off. This goes along with the concept of miasma a little bit. If you do
good things, it will prevent bad things from happening to those around you.
Despite this, Obama is largely speaking in contrast to Greek beliefs.

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1. To only go through the motions of life would be, in a word, pointless.

these prophecies in a context which can be misconstrued easily. On the wall it

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