Honors

Honors students will complete all academic requirements that other students will complete. The main difference between honors sections and non-honors sections will be in the writing of the term papers, as explained in the "Final Exam and Term Paper" page, copied below.

*Papers by Students in Honors Sections: Those who have enrolled for CLST 4003H and CLST 3993H will follow the above term paper guidelines, with the addition of an analytical section on sources, as follows.

"Source Evaluation" This section of the paper will be a discussion of the primary (original) and secondary (scholarly) sources upon which we rely for understanding your topic. It is a sort of 'Annotated Bibliography' section.

First, include a few paragraphs which outline what our sources are, with their dates (archaeological, literary, epigraphic, art historical, philosophical, historical, comparative, etc.).

Then, include a few paragraphs of analysis of the sources which you describe. That is, how reliable are these sources? How accurate are they? What is the chance that there is some bias in the sources? What are the limits of knowledge on the subject? What is the chance that there is an error? How much of our source is based on conjecture, and how much on 'hard fact'? On what information do our sources rely? The main point here is to show that you have thought about the reliability of our sources, and that you can judge their usefulness. Rank the sources from 'most reliable' to 'less reliable' if you can.

An example: Our main source for the events surrounding the capture of Spartans at Sphacteria is book 4 of Thucydides' History. There has also been archaeological exploration of the area. When did Thucydides write this history? How much would he have known of the events and the people involved? Knowing what we know about this author, what bias might he have in recounting these events? How reliable is the archaeological evidence in corroborating the account of Thucydides? How has the changing geology of the area complicated our understanding of the original events?

Another example: Our main source for the Bronze Age palace of Nestor at Pylos is archaeological, but there are also references to Mycenaean palaces in Homer. How and when was the palace excavated? How did the archaeologists interpret their finds? Did they rely on the Homeric poems in their interpretation of their finds? If so, was this a good idea? How reliable are the Linear B tablets found in the palace in giving us an idea of the fall of the palace, or its function before its destruction?

Another example: Western writers of history and culture often tend to have a 'romantic' view of Greek history -- from the Mycenaean period to the Classical, Byzantine, and Modern. What kinds of modern biases do you encounter when reading your sources. For instance, the Philhellenes of American and Europe saw the Greek War of Independence through the prism of the Persian Wars, and portrayed the Greeks of the 19th century CE as Athenians of the 5th century BCE. Do you see any of these distortions in the sources you consulted?

Another example: The Temple of Apollo at Delphi and its Oracle is mentioned in numerous sources. Which of these sources could have been eyewitnesses? How many of these have been corroborated by archaeology? By geology? What are the limits of our knowledge of what the interior (abaton) of the temple was really like?

Please email or call with any questions you may have.

HAVE FUN!

Daniel Levine

George Paulson