ThoughtfulThoughts

Here is a chart that has some suggestions for possible approaches.  Below I list some examples that might be helpful.

I know you will find good thoughtful thoughts to express!

TIPS ON “THOUGHTFUL THOUGHTS” FOR CLST 1003 (D.B. LEVINE, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS)

Here are some Good Thoughtful Thoughts from 2016 that got full credit.  Note that they do not just say that something is “interesting” ,”fascinating”, or “incredible,” nor do they just state something that they have learned, but that they engage with the material in an active and  thoughtful way.

1.  Boars were seen as prey, so for Mycenaeans, it might have been a competition.  You seem to be more mighty for the number of boars you took down. And you can tell how many boars someone took down by looking at their helmet.  I wonder why boar tusks were used instead of anything else, and I also wonder if the boar tusks ere just displays or if they provided some added protection.                         
2.  While the Minoans clearly favored a mother goddess deity, the Mycenaeans show the signs of the familiar pantheon of gods and goddesses.  However, even Homer shows most direct human-god interaction, apart from sexual things, as between goddesses and men/women. I find it interesting to see the transition rom the mother-deity to the patriarchal pantheon.  This could have been a more political move on the part of the Mycenaean rulers, who seemed to favor a more patriarchal system than the Minoans ever did. 

 

3.  One of the most intriguing parts of this reading to me was the different kinds of tombs that the Mycenaeans used to bury their dead.  When I was in Greece this summer, I saw the tholos tomb that was mentioned in the book.  The tomb is large and elaborate.  I wonder why the Greeks put so much effort into building tombs when they could just bury them.  It is probably because they value afterlife and want their dead to have a nice resting place.  It could also just be a tradition that was started very early and never stopped.  Either way, it is clear that the Greeks wanted nice tombs for their dead.

 

4. Why did the terra cotta idols serve as an important evidence of continuity between the Bronze Age and the Dark Ages?  We know that the great lack of artifacts from the Dark Ages is the reason for such little continuity, but why do these idols stand as evidence?  These idols could have had extremely important religious or cult uses and were much more protected.  It could also be that the people of the Dark Ages found few remains of the Bronze Age people and the terra cotta idols were one of them, thus standing as a significant demonstration of continuity.

 

5.  The first thing that came to my mind about the female figurines was that they may have a tie to fertility.  Biers described some of the figurines as having their breasts uncovered with bands or necklaces around their throats.  In my art history class we learned that female figures with breasts showing were often used as fertility idols to pray for pregnancies.  I know that there is not enough evidence to determine what the clay figures were actually used for during the Mycenaean period, but in my mind, I connected it to a possible fertility symbol!

 

6.  In the transition from the Mycenaeans to the Dark Ages sections in the book, I was reminded of previous, recent conversations I had had with my world regional geography professor and family. People and cultures often give value to objects and materials, like money (cash) and gold and silver that do not have intrinsic value. Almost all cultures (that I know of at least) do this.  This seems to happen as a step in advancement of a culture until said culture collapses, or something happens that forces people to focus on more survivalistic needs.  It seems to me to be cycle that will continue indefinitely, and a product of human nature.

 

7.  If the civilization was taken over by an uprising from peasants, wouldn’t this explain the illiteracy?  Since the tablets that were burnt in the palace were saved, shouldn’t someone have been able to read them?  If this leftover population were peasants then they more than likely couldn’t, right?

 

8.  The placement of the hearth in the Mycenaean megatons really intrigues me.  In modern houses, at least in America, you see fireplaces (in comparison to hearths) off to a side rather than in the center of the room as seen in a megaron. My guess is that the hearths had some kind of cultist use that everyone could gather around witness hence the central location. The proximity of a throne to the hearth also leads me to believe there was some kind of a king, or preacher overseeing these processions.

 

9.  The transmission of Mycenaean history and customs through oral poetry is tremendously interesting to me.  With such specifics as the ivory tusk helmet in the Iliad, the decorated shields — is it too hard to believe here may be some truth to the account of the Trojan War as well?  Such an event clearly made an enormous impact on the Greek cultural memory, coming as it is traditionally dated at the tail end of Mycenaean civilization, and its reverberations throughout classical and modern culture.  Perhaps another possibility is that the Trojan was is a sort of composite war, representing several devastating conflicts with Asia, and its cast is a ‘greatest hits’ of sorts, representing a multitude of leaders and fighter from a multitude of conflict.

 

10.  Something interesting to me was the notion of a Dorian Greek invasion.  Though there is no evidence for them, in the narrative accepted by ancient Greeks depicted these Dorians as more warlike and they war reflected in the Mycenaean art (warrior vase) and the architecture (citadels with defensive walls).  Though there were no Dorians, the invaders were obviously more warlike than the Minoans.  Why? Perhaps being from the mainland means that they were exposed to more non-Greek civilizations more regularly. This more ‘vigorous’ cultural contact made these Greeks more accustomed to warfare.  Though Crete is well defended as it is an island perhaps — the logic was ‘Well, we don’t want to trust tin the sea defense alone, like the Minotaur did.” So they built their Cyclopean walls.

 

11.  The death mask of Agamemnon was of particular interest to me in this chapter, because I was able to see the mask in person in Athens this summer. Although it is not known whether Agamemnon was a real person or not, it can be confirmed by the intricate design and detail of the golden mask that the wearer was a man of high importance. The time and effort it must have taken to make this mask leads me to believe that it was not just for show. Perhaps the death mask was put over the dead body, whether Agamemnon or another man of importance, in order for the wearer to take it with him to the afterlife.  In the afterlife, the mask could have served as armor against other souls, or as an indication of status in his mortal years.

 

12.  It is interesting to me how much information about a culture is lost over time. While we have tablets and evidence of the Mycenaeans, the Dark Ages were mostly devoid of art and writings.  Even the classical Greeks, who lived much closer to the Mycenaean Age, had inaccurate information, such as the myths they treated as history.  Now, we have the Internet to immortalize what we write, but even this this modern tool, there are countless inaccuracies and inconsistencies.

 

13.  The story of how Heinrich Schliemann uncovered both Troy and Mycenae stresses the importance of distancing yourself from myths and popular texts when conducting archaeology.  Expecting to find something when excavating can corrupt the interpretation of the site and artifacts found. While it can be fun to compare the two, the myths and writings of the ancient world have their own bias that must be taken into account.

 

14.  It is interesting to study the ruins left from such ancient civilizations from an architectural point of view.  In the field of architecture the plan drawing is the most basic primary tool used to convey a space.  But to the common lay person a plan does not always mean much: it is a diagram taken from a god view, that is, from above, which is not how human beings experience the world. But viewing the chopped off remains of structures such as the megarons forces the viewer to construct the rest of what the building might have been base on the plan essentially.

Here are some other made-up examples — both good ones and bad ones–, with professor comments.

One good example:

“I found it fascinating that Hesiod tells Perses that ‘when you work, you are a lot dearer to the gods, and to people too. Everybody hates a layabout (W&D 353)’ and ‘Better for you, too, Perses, if you’d only get your mind off of other folks’ property and work at earning a living, as I keep telling you” (W &D 361). I had not known that a Greek valued physical labor so much, and that they despised a lazy man. The fact that labor is tied to the gods’ favor gives Hesiod some authority over his brother: It is like saying that the gods are on my side, which is the message he seems to give throughout the poem.”

Or,

“This kind of preachy message reminds me a lot of a sermon someone might give based on Ephesians 4:28 “The one who steals must steal no longer; rather he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with the one who has need.” The value of labor, and its godliness, represent a value shared in both Christian and pre-Christian thought. In Hesiod’s case, the injunction to work is to keep a man from becoming destitute; in the New Testament passage, the motive is eleemosynary.”

Grade: 95-100.

Another good example:

“Zeus’ speech to the gods (Odyssey 1.38-48) summarizes an important question in myth: Who is responsible for human sufferings — men or gods? The Olympian Father blames mortals for their own miseries, giving as an example the death of Aegisthus, whom Orestes killed for his crime against Agamemnon — in spite of the fact that the gods had warned him by sending Hermes to tell him not to kill the king or woo his wife. This concept seems to contradict the story in Hesiod about Pandora, the first woman, who was created to bring misery to men ­ to punish Prometheus’ disobedience of Zeus. In Hesiod, human suffering results from the gods sending Pandora, not by any fault of mortals themselves. ‘Zeus made life hard for humans’ (W &D 67).” Maybe the difference is that Pandora brought the need to work (making life hard), and not exactly a specific ‘punishment’ in addition to having to make a living.”

Grade: 95-100.

Another good example:

“In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, I learned that Hades abducted Persephone with the collusion of Zeus: ‘Far-seeing, thundering Zeus had sanctioned it’ and ‘by Zeus’ tactics.’ (Hymn to Demeter 3, 9). So, the rape of Demeter’s daughter was part of the divine will of Zeus, the king of the gods, who is renowned for justice, as Hesiod said (W&D 52, 380). This shows that the justice of the gods is idiosyncratic: what is right is what they decide at a given time. It also shows that a father may do what he likes with his daughter; he may give her to the husband he chooses, in this case, his brother Aidoneus. It is a little confusing that both Hades and Zeus are called the sons of Cronus. You have to read carefully here to understand which one is meant. In line 21, the ‘son of Cronos’ is Zeus, and in line 31 the ‘son of Cronus’ is Hades.

Grade: 95-100.

Another good example:

“I find it interesting that the ages of man in Hesiod are mostly named after metals (gold, silver, bronze, heroes, and iron: W&D 129ff). I wondered if the expression ‘to test one’s mettle’ or ‘to show one’s mettle’ was related to metal, so I looked up ‘mettle’ and found that it does come from the word ‘metal,’ so we use the metaphor of men as metals, just as Hesiod did.”

Grade: 95-100.

A not-so-good example:

“In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, a mortal dude had a one-night stand with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. That’s really hot, except that then she tells him not to tell anybody that he had slept with her and knocked her up. Bummer. But at least he became the father of somebody famous. A question: How can I get into bed with a goddess?”

Grade: 75%

[Professor’s comments: This reaction does refer to two passages in the Hymn, but only vaguely. It is too informal. It does not deal with the bigger picture of the relations between the gods and mortals, which this story stresses. It does not ask who the famous son will be, or his importance. It does show some thought, and expresses a reaction, but not in a serious way. (which is still better than not doing the assignment at all).]

Another not-so-good example:

“I found the following passage interesting/fascinating/educational/awesome:

“When birth-pain Eileithyia came to Delos,

Then only did birth’s urgency seize Leto.

She grasped a palm tree in her arms, knees driven

Into the soft grass. Earth beneath her smiled.

The god leaped lightward; every goddess shouted.

Then Phoebus of the holy shriek, they washed you”

(Homeric Hymn to Apollo 115-120)

This describes Apollo’s birth on the island of Delos.  Leto was his mother, and Eileithyia is the goddess of childbirth.  I had not known this before, and am glad to have learned it. It’s really cool.”

Grade: 65%

[Professor’s comments:  This reaction simply states the facts of the passage’s contents.  It does not show thought or analysis.  It does not really say anything.  Someone who thinks about this passage might instead write something about Eileithyia, and how she is portrayed in the Hymn, and find out something about this childbirth goddess and add that to the assignment, or speak of the role of childbirth goddesses, or speak of the promise of a ‘salary’ for this job (104), or mention her in the Odyssey, or the Iliad, or stories of the Birth of Athena. It would be good in this regard to discuss Theogony 927 (Lombardo): the birth of Eileithyia from Hera and Zeus.  Or students could even talk about the importance of midwives today, and the dangers of childbirth, infant mortality, and such issues.

Students are not to use this assignment to simply quote a passage and then summarize it as something they have learned.]