The Writer in Greek & Roman Society Exam Papers
Contents:
November 1995
Time: Three hours
(In addition, candidates are allowed ten minutes, before the examination begins, to read the paper).
Candidates should answer FOUR of the five questions.
1. Either
a) In this course you have read poems by a number of Greek lyric poets. Show how these poems differ in form and content and how different contexts and motivations gave rise to such variety. Use the work of four or five poets to illustrate your answer.
or
b) 'The balance between philosophy and literary art varies from one of Plato's dialogues to another. Symposium favours artistry'. (Waterfield) In your opinion, does the Symposium achieve a successful balance?
or
c) Does Apollonius Rhodius convince us that Medea is both an naive and loving young woman and a cruel and ruthless schemer? If so, explain how. If not, explain how he stumbles between the two.
2. Either
a) 'We were human beings together.' (Cicero, to Atticus, about his dinner with Caesar).
Politics apart, do Cicero's letters show him to be a man successful in his personal relationships?
or
b) What features of his own political career does Cicero attempt to justify in the Second Philippic? Does he seem to make good his case?
3. Either
a) 'I hate and love. Perhaps you're asking why I do that? I don't know, but I feel it happening, and am tormented.' Catullus, Poem 85
Many commentators have taken this epigram of Catullus as referring to his attitude to his mistress. How does this epigram apply to Catullus' love affair with Lesbia? Does Catullus make any attempt to reconcile these two extreme states of mind?
or
b) To what extent is there a male/female role reversal in Latin love poetry? How much is it part of the convention and how much a true reflection of society at that time?
4. Either
a) 'We are given certain clear expectations of Aeneas as the work progresses. They are quite different from our expectations of a traditional epic hero'. Discuss.
or
b) Many people prefer the first six books of the Aeneid to the last six. Why do you think the second half of the Aeneid is considered less successful than the first?
5. Either
a) 'The prime quality of (Juvenal's) Satires is their ability to project the splendour, squalor, and complexity of the Roman scene.' (P. Green)
Do you agree that Juvenal presents a complex scene? Or could it be argued that he oversimplifies?
or
b) Does Apuleius prepare the reader in any way for the apparently serious religious tone of the last part of The Golden Ass?
Supplementary examination January 1996
Time: Three hours
(In addition, candidates are allowed ten minutes, before the examination begins, to read the paper).
Candidates should answer FOUR of the five questions.
1. Either
a) 'The function of poetry in ancient Greek society is one which changed radically from the time of Archilochus to Pindar'.
Do you agree with this statement? Illustrate your discussion with the cases of these two and any other two Greek lyric poets.
or
b) How useful is the Symposium in evaluating Greek attitudes to sexual relationships?
or
c) 'A genteel sense of middle class propriety has been at work on gods and myth alike ....'.
Is this true of the Voyage of the Argo?
2. Either
a) Discuss the relationships (personal and political) between Cicero/Pompey and Cicero/Caesar, using the letters as evidence.
or
b) How good a case does Cicero seem to make against Antony in the Second Philippic?
3. Either
a) 'Catullus was the first serious love poet of the ancient world.' Discuss.
or
b) How important is the figure of the mistress to each of the love poets you have studied? Which mistresses emerge as real people?
4. Either
a) Discuss the role that the gods play in the Aeneid. Are they presented as the benefactors of mortals or their destroyers?
or
b) 'Remember, Roman, to rule the nations with your sway - to crown Peace with Law, to spare the humbled and to tame in war the proud!' (Aeneid Book VI).
Is this the view of Rome and its mission presented consistently throughout the Aeneid?
5. Either a) From reading Juvenal, do you get any sense of what is fundamentally wrong with Roman society? Or do you simply get a list of vices?
or b) 'Apuleius' aim was to expose the hollow frauds and immoral tendencies of the popular superstition of his day' (R. Ogilvie).
To what extent do you think this statement explains the purpose of The Golden Ass?
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