Exercise 1

As you have read, the poetry of Homer and Hesiod displays in nascent form some of the concerns of Greek rational humanism.  Later thinkers would pick up these ideas and develop them into systematic theories of human nature, morality, and the structure of the universe.  However, how did these early poets envision what they did as artists?  Read the brief opening sections of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and of Hesiod's Theogoney and Works and Days.  How does the poet speak in each? Who or what does he address and for what reason? What do these forms of address suggest about the relationship between the poet and his work? What do they suggest about the relationship between poetry and religion in early Greek culture?

Exercise 2

You have read about the Greek contributions to philosophy, science, literature, and art.  Now consider what the Greeks accomplished in the effort to map the physical world.  Take a look at the following site devoted to Ancient Cartography.  Read through the brief overview of ancient map-making.  When you finish, examine the following three world maps: Hecataeus' map (6th Century BC), Dicaearchus' map (300 BC), and the map of Eratosthenes of Cyrene (220 BC).  As you do so, consider these questions: How does cartography reflect the ancient Greek spirit of rational inquiry? How do the maps you examined resemble each other? How does the Greek conception of the world change from the time of Homer to that of Eratosthenes? Recall what you read about Sophism: what do you imagine the Sophists might have thought about the enterprise of cartography?