FinalandPaper2005

*Papers by Students in Honors Sections: Those who have enrolled
for CLST 4003H and CLST 3993H will follow the above 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.

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

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