Classical Studies 2902B

Information about in-class Practical Exercise on Sources and Studies

This will all happen on Thursday, 18^th March, 2010: the in-class Exercise will be written during the regular class hour in Talbot College 309 and Talbot College 304: those who wrote the mid-term test in 309, please go to 309 again; those who wrote in the other room, please go to 304. (Notices will be posted on the doors of both classrooms.)

In-class Exercise: the idea here is that students will research a number of topics for an exam-type session and that the Instructor will, on the day in question, chose one of these topics for the students to write on.

There are two topics to be prepared:

1. The Death of Alexander: Accident or Design?
2. The Barsine-Herakles “Problem”.

What is wanted is a “report” on what you think about the topic to be chosen on 18^th March: it can take any form or have any lay-out that you deem appropriate. For example, it could be in tabular form with a “For” the proposition column and an “Against” the proposition column, with a series of sub-headings and even sub-sub headings in each column. OR it could be a series of numbered paragraphs, each with a clearly-marked topic. (And no doubt other formats will occur to you as you work on the material: this is entirely up to you.)

Students should not expect to produce more than three to four sides of “normal” sized handwriting during the in-class session: quality is much better than mere quantity! However, responses regarding the two topics should have been carefully researched and thought through beforehand.

One small file card (3 X 5 inches) of notes, hand-written, on one side only (and no special magnifying glasses will be allowed for reading them!) will be allowed for each of the two topics, and both cards, if used, must be submitted inside the exam booklet when your report is turned in at the end of the 50-minute session. (This file-card aspect is, of course, completely optional: if you don’t want to bother with it, then don’t do it.)

Researching the topics: what is listed below is a minimum number of sources for each of the topics. You are urged to explore further, probably most efficiently on-line on the Internet, though you should be aware that the quality or reliability of material on the Internet is not guaranteed! However, there are reference works (such as The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3^rd edition, 1996, available in the reference section of the Weldon Library; and if anyone reads German, there is the very valuable work called Der Neue Pauly) and other printed materials, which can be found through careful use of the Weldon Library Catalogue. You should also use our course textbooks, including particularly Romm, for basic information.

For specific topics:

1. Death of Alexander. There are two useful papers available online (JStor, via the Weldon Library): a) A.B. Bosworth, “The Death of Alexander the Great: Rumour and Propaganda”, Classical Quarterly 21 (1971) 112-136; b) D. Engels, “A Note on Alexander’s Death”, Classical Philology 73 (1978) 224-228. Beyond this, there is quote a widespread belief today (as there was in antiquity) that A. was murdered. Theories about the person or persons responsible vary greatly; Googling “Was Alexander the Great murdered?” will give a large numbers of (way-out) theories, including Ptolemy as a current favourite. R.D. Milns in his book on Alexander talks about A.’s extreme lassitude in his last illness, which is supposed to suggest “slow poisoning by strychnine”. Examination of the main accounts would suggest that A. took ill at a booze-up where he drained a huge cup of wine and then let out a fearful yell (this is supposed to be when he ingested the poison). Is there any known poison which will kill someone after about 10 days of illness after an initial single dose? What did ancient Greeks mean by “strychnos”? Did they know of what we today call “strychnine”? Is there really such a thing as “slow poisoning by strychnine”? You might consult information about poisons (this is Clinical Toxicology!)

2. The Barsine-Heracles “Problem”. In 1921, W.W. Tarn, about whom we have spoken in class, published a paper in the Journal of Hellenic Studies 41 (1921) 18-28, in which he demolished thoroughly any idea that A. had a mistress called Barsine and especially the notion that she bore him a son called Heracles. This paper is available online (JStor, via the Weldon Library) and is well worth reading as an example of just how impressive Tarn could be. In addition, P. A. Brunt published a paper “Alexander, Barsine and Heracles” in Rivista di filologia e di istruzione classica 103 (1975) 22-34, which refutes Tarn and argues strongly for the historical existence of both Barsine and Heracles (also available electronically via the Weldon Library). For other views, Google “Barsine, mistress of Alexander the Great” and look at the first five or six items: there is a fairly widespread tendency today to believe thoroughly in Barsine, daughter of Artabazus (and possibly youthful friend of Alexander at the Macedonian court). Among the Google items, there is an excerpt from a book on Alexander’s Lovers by Andrew Chugg. (This is well-written and sources are cited in English translation; however, I should point out that not one of this author’s books is in the Weldon Library.) On this topic, you can all look at the evidence and arrive at your own conclusions.

Please try to digest this material—and raise in class any questions you may have.

CLM 27^th February, 2010