Western Civilatization Discussion Questions
Lesson 2 Discussion Board Question: Chapter 3
Please respond to the following items:
- What do the selections from Xenophon, Aristotle, and Plutarch reveal about the role of women in the Athenian household?
- In Sparta?
- How do they differ?
- How are they similar?
- Why?
- How did the Greeks conceive the “natural” attributes of men and women and how did the Greek view of the world shape Greek conceptions of gender and gender roles?
Lesson 2 Discussion Board Question: Chapter 4
Please respond to the following items:
- What are Demosthenes’ criticisms of Philip II?
- What appeal does Isocrates make to Philip?
- What do these documents tell you about the persistent factionalism and communal tensions within the Greek world?
- In light of subsequent events, who— Demosthenes or Isocrates— made the stronger argument? Why?
Lesson 3 Discussion Board Question: Chapter 5
“The End of the Republic: Three Views”
Please respond to the following items:
- To what does the historian Sallust attribute the decline of the Roman Republic?
- Why did Caesar believe he was justified in moving his troops into Italy?
- How did Cicero feel about Caesar’s actions?
- Do you think this could have been avoided to save the Roman Republic or was it simply a power grab on Caesar’s part?
Lesson 3 Discussion Board Question: Chapter 7
Please respond to the following items:
- What motives may have prompted Ammianus Marcellinus to describe the Huns so harshly?
- How does the account of Priscus differ, and what strategies of the Huns do you detect here to impress and overawe foreigners?
- How reliable do you think these descriptions of the Huns are? Why?
