CLT 3370: CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY

Portfolio Assignment 1
Written Communication:
By the end of this course students will demonstrate college-level writing competency as required by
the State of Florida. The student must earn a C (2.0) or higher in the course, and earn at least a C
average on the required writing assignments. If the student does not earn a C average or better on the
required writing assignments, the student will not earn an overall grade of C or better in the course,
no matter how well the student performs in the remaining portion of the course.
Late Assignments:
Written assignments (essays) submitted late owing to documented illness or other excused absences
determined by University policy will not be penalized. Assignments received late and without valid
excuse will be penalized. Assignments submitted up to a week after the due date will be marked down
by 10 points; assignments received more than one week late will be marked down by 20 points.
Submission format:
For each essay, you will hand in a paper copy in class, and you will also submit an electronic copy to
SafeAssign (on Blackboard) for plagiarism checking. Students guilty of plagiarizing a paper can
expect to fail the assignment and the course.
Grading:
Please refer to the grading rubric (found on Blackboard under Course Library) for what constitutes a
good (or not good) essay, and the components upon which essays are scored.
ESSAY 4
Due Date: Friday, November 14, 2014 in class
Points Possible: 20 points
Length: 3-5 pages
In this essay, you will consider heroic behavior in the Oresteia and the Odyssey. What are the
behavioral codes to which men are supposed to adhere? What are the codes for women? Using
plentiful examples, present positive and negative examples for both genders. Do you think these codes
have anything in common with morality as you understand it? Why or why not? Finally, discuss the
behavior of a hero from a modern myth (film, television, novels, etc.), and consider how the modern
heros values compare to the ancient ones. NOTE: positive does not necessarily denote all behavior
of a hero or heroine, just as negative does not necessarily apply only to villains! Remember to use
plentiful examples and to explain your reasoning. You should address heroic behavior from both the
Orestia and the Odyssey in your paper.

Important resources:
Mycenaean Saga lectures
Aeschylus Agamemnon (and The Libation Bearers and/or The Eumenides if you want)
Morford and Lenardon text
Homers Odyssey