Write an essay of 8 double-spaced pages, set in 12-point Times New Roman, addressing one of the following topics. Your essay must contain a clearly identifiable argument that explicitly answers all parts of one of these questions and is supported by plausible interpretation of lots of duly cited evidence from the text. The most important part of your argument should be stated concisely and compellingly in the last sentence of your first paragraph.

Final Paper (2000-2500 words=8 pages)

(30% of overall grade): a longer paper in which you develop an argument, comparing and synthesizing the ideas of several thinkers from this course.

Write an essay of 8 double-spaced pages, set in 12-point Times New Roman, addressing one of the following topics. Your essay must contain a clearly identifiable argument that explicitly answers all parts of one of these questions and is supported by plausible interpretation of lots of duly cited evidence from the text. The most important part of your argument should be stated concisely and compellingly in the last sentence of your first paragraph.

Identify which topic youre addressing by retyping the question, single-spaced in 10-point font, before the first paragraph of your paper.

Essay Questions

Select one of the following questions:

Explore the problem of aret as manliness and warrior virtue, as portrayed in either Antigone or The Peloponnesian War. How far do you think an attack on aret can go toward solving the problems of political stasis? Considering one of these texts alongside Republic, closely explore the problem of aret from the point of view that Socrates develops in Republic. How does Socrates discussion of the soul speak to aret (understood both in terms of manliness and in terms of warrior virtue). Does his account of the soul offer an effective antidote to stasis, insofar as manliness and warrior virtue are a problem? How or why not?

How does speech (or speeches) give identity to a collectivity (especially the city) as a political actor? What role does theoria, in the form of tragedy, history, or philosophy have in giving, maintaining, or even risking that identity? Elaborate your argument by drawing on any two of the following: Sophocles, Thucydides, and Platos Republic. What distinctive promise for democracy and/or justice do you find in the power of rhetoric, and what problems do you see in it? What steps should a community take in order to realize the promise and attenuate the problems?

Theres a fundamental disagreement in Republic about what justice is: a transcendent Ideal (i.e. eidos, something that exists objectively, ahistorically, therefore independent of its particular manifestations) vs. something always already defined by those in power (e.g. Thrasymachus view). Is there a third possibility to be found in another of the texts we have examined, (and if so, what), or do these exhaust the possibilities, and if so, why? Put Republic into conversation with what appears to be an exemplary third way from Apology-Crito, Antigone, or Thucydides way of writing history in The Peloponnesian War (choose one of these three).

Consider possible antidotes to stasis, as this problem is presented by Thucydidesincluding democracy, leadership, and theoria. Putting The Peloponnesian War into conversation with either Antigone, Republic, or Apology-Crito, evaluate two of the three antidotes. How are the antidotes you choose to discuss complementary or in tension? Do the later texts bear out the efficacy of any of these antidotes (and how), or do they provide new ones (if so, what)?

Consider the ambiguous role played by gender in both Antigone and Platos Republic. How is it ambiguous? What does this ambiguity suggest about the power of gender (as an analytical category) or women (as political beings) in a city? Whats the relationship of this ambiguity to questions of democracy and justice? To answer this question, explore how women introduce productive tension and ambiguity into the political life (of Thebes, and of Kallipolis), how that ambiguity contributes to the political problems (e.g., of patriarchy) and promise (e.g., of democracy or justice) that Sophocles and Plato put forth for our thinking. What does your exploration of this theme lead you to conclude about gender in the politics of justice? (In answering these questions, bear in mind that, just as the power of gender in our lives often exceeds our intentions in living it, the promise or problem of gender in these texts will be in important ways independent of the authors intentions or ideas about gender.)

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