(Antigone

Please respond to one of the topics below in an analytical essay. Take time to consider your
approach, develop a clear thesis, organize the information you plan to introduce in order of
effectiveness or importance, and support your statements with evidence from the source(s)
at hand.
Essay Topic A: Heroic Conduct and Civic Obligations at Odds in the Iliad
Aristotle once said that “the man who is incapable of working in common, or who in his
self-sufficiency has no need of others, is no part of the community, like a beast or a god.
Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is
so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god”
(Politics, 1253a). The conduct of Achilles and Agamemnon in the Iliad validates Aristotle’s
fears: both men have strikingly different conceptions of the moral obligations appropriate
to themselves and remain steadfast in their convictions.
In your essay consider the extent to which Agamemnon and Achilles’ moral
obligations are truly in conflict. How people who hold such opposing views on
morality (and life in general) avoid the kind of tragic conflict portrayed in the epic?
Essay Topic B: Moral and Religious Obligations at Odds: Antigone
Antigone and Creon have strikingly different conceptions of the moral and religious
obligations appropriate to the citizens of Thebes. Are these two conceptions necessarily in
conflict (if not in the situation described in the play, then in other plausible human
situations)? If not, why not? If so, how can people who hold such different views avoid the
kind of tragedy portrayed in Antigone?
ESSAY TOPIC A: Human Conduct and Self-Discipline in the Analects and Beyond
Living up to the expectations of the Master in Confucius’ Analects demands extraordinary
self-discipline. Compare and contrast the recommendations for human conduct offered in
the Analects to the code of conduct that Krishna explains to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita or
to the code of conduct articulated in the Jataka stories.
Evaluation Criteria:
The following criteria will be taken into consideration in evaluating your paper:
a. The clarity of your argument in the introduction and throughout the paper
b. The analysis and discussion of your thesis and the ideas you introduce as supporting
evidence
c. Your facility with language, especially the analysis and relation of your ideas to the
topic
d. Your facility with grammar and the conventions of critical writing
e. The effectiveness and depth of your argument overall—its introduction,
development, analysis, argumentation, and conclusio