Post-Trial Reflection Essay

The Trial of Socrates raises a number of important issues worth further reflection. Today, during class, please write a response to one of the following prompts. Be sure to include at least two specific examples from the trial and one personal anecdote that is relevant to the topic. This is due at the end of the class period.

Time is limited, so I don't care about formatting. Just make sure your name is on it and the organization is clear.

1) Socrates was accused of circulating ideas that were dangerous to the very well-being of Athens. When is an idea so dangerous that it must be suppressed? What limits, if any, should there be on freedom of speech? Should freedoms be sacrificed to ensure safety?

2) Socrates was blamed for the misdeeds of two of his students, Alcibiades and Critias. Should a teacher be blamed for the actions of his/her students? In what circumstances? What kinds of teaching is acceptable, what kinds are unacceptable?

3) Many of you believed that the laws Socrates was accused of violating - particularly impiety and hubris - were unjust. If the law is unjust, is upholding that law an act of justice or injustice? What is the proper way of responding to an unjust law?

4) Why were the Athenians so worried about impiety and hubris anyway? Are these things we no longer concern ourselves with today? Or, can you still see people punished for impiety and hubris in the US?

Freshman Trip Assignment: Tour Guides

Note: What follows is the assignment sheet from 2010.  Specifics may change for 2011, but it is left here as a preview of what is to come:

Ancient sites can be tremendously powerful. They connect us to our human heritage, linking us to those who preceded us hundreds or thousands of years ago and whose influence lives on today. In those ruins, we can see the successful manifestation of the human desire to create something bigger than ourselves, something that can defy our own mortality, something permanent. By visiting and preserving those sites, we reinforce that timeless human mission.

However meaningful ancient sites may be on an existential level, though, they can lack meaning on a practical one. They are skeletons, providing the barest of outlines of what once existed, and only the informed and the creative can begin to restore meat to those bones.

Your job as tour guides is to make one ancient site reveal its secrets to us. Be story tellers - describe what life was like in this place during its height. Who visited this place? What did they do here? Were there any famous events that occurred here? Be informative - identify important buildings and structures for us. Provide critical background details to us. Be selective - decide what we need to know to appreciate what we see without getting bogged down in unnecessary details. Think about how hard it can be to absorb new names, dates, and facts, and focus on only the critical ones.

You will work in pairs or trios. The expectation is that all group members will participate equally in all stages of the assignment. In other words, one person can't do all of the prep while the other does all of the speaking at the historical site. That said, you should consider the strengths of each person and take advantage of those in your work.

Tour Guide Project, Part I - Research

The first part of the project requires you to learn about your assigned site in great detail. As a starting point, I will provide you with some background materials, pulled primarily from the Blue Guide to your specific site, the Archaeological Guide to Rome, and the Companion Guide to Rome. In some cases, these materials are quite extensive; in others, they're a little more sparse. Regardless, let me stress that they are intended as a starting point and the expectation is that you will pull material from a number of sources. In addition to print materials, look for DVDs or videos on the subject (I've acquired a handful of these that are available to you); it will help you a great deal to have a visual sense of the place. Specific expectations for your Research portion of the project are:

• Organize notes by source (in other words, list all of the useful details you have found from the Blue Guide, followed by notes from the next source, then the next one, etc.)
• Use a minimum of five sources - each of which provides a number of useful facts
• Notes in your own words or brief direct quotes
• Cover all important parts of your site as well as historical background
• Include maps/pictures as needed
• Highlight / mark the details that strike you as necessary for your presentation
• Turn in one document (combine all group members' work)

Tour Guide Project, Part II - Handout

In support of your presentation, you are required to prepare a handout (minimum one page) for the group. While you may tailor this to fit your presentation plans, all handouts are required to cover three areas:

• Historical Overview: A one-paragraph summary of the site's origins and peak
• Description of Key Buildings/Features: What are the 4-6 things at the historical site that all visitors must see and understand to fully appreciate the site? List and briefly describe them here
• Map: Include a map of the site and, if possible, the planned route we will follow through it

The handout should be easy to read, carefully edited, and properly formatted. It can be a single sheet of paper, a tri-fold brochure, or whatever other style that makes sense for your site. Most importantly, it needs to mirror your presentation, providing the group with a handy overview of what you've planned for us and an even more useful reminder of it afterward. As such, you will find that the design of this handout requires you to begin planning your presentation. The handout should serve, essentially, as an outline of your tour guide plans.

Tour Guide Project, Part III - Presentation

Over the month of March, your presentation plans should gradually come into focus. In the final week before departure, you will be required to submit detailed plans. These plans should include the following:

• Itinerary for the visit (what will we see, in what order)
• Speeches for each major site and historical overview
• Plans for self-guided parts of the visit
• All necessary supporting materials

In addition to submitting print copies of all of these plans, you will be required to make a "practice run" of your presentation for at least two of the trip leaders. Obviously, we can't actually visit the site in advance of our trip, but we will simulate conditions to the greatest extent possible.

As you begin planning, consider just what kind of tour you want to run. Does it make the most sense to keep the whole group of 21 people together, guiding it from one important spot to the next, with one or both of you speaking in each place? Does it make more sense to split into small groups? Could you and your partner prepare interpretive skits that recreate what would have happened at your site? Are there activities you could create that would help the audience to better connect with the site (for example, a "Scavenger Hunt" that requires them to find different buildings or images)? Start your planning from these question: What kind of tour do you wish you could be on? What do you think is the best way to connect with a historical site?

Also consider what your site allows for. A place like the Colosseum is more restricted - you don't have a ton of space to work with, the tourists will be packed in there, and there will be a lot of background noise. A place like Hadrian's Villa is more open, with acres and acres of space to maneuver. It's also important to be prepared for sub-optimal conditions. For example, what will you do if it rains? We're not canceling the tour; you have to be ready.

Have fun with this. Your work as a tour guide will shape the experiences that your peers have at these sites, the most important ones we visit on our trip. A great tour leader can produce life-long memories.

Trial Prep

RADICAL DEMOCRATS / SOCRATICS

Heading into the Trial of Socrates, the Radical Democrats and Socratics need to be thinking about four primary issues:

1) What are the charges against Socrates? What specific events are the basis for these charges? You should have examples in mind for all of these.

2) What is the potential defense for Socrates? Again, cite specific events or details ("Socrates was, like, a great philosopher" doesn't suffice). Even the Radical Democrats should anticipate this and prepare their arguments accordingly.

3) What motivates the indeterminates? You need to win them over to your side. How can you defend or attack Socrates in a way that speaks directly to their interests? I have biographies of all of the indeterminates available for the other groups, upon request.

4) What motivates your opposition? If you can expose their biases, you might be able to undermine their argument.

As a group, you should work through those four issues before ever beginning to work on speeches. Ideally, you would finish sorting through these matters today (Wednesday) and then coordinate and begin writing speeches in class on Thursday.

SPEECH REQUIREMENTS (For Radical Democrats and Socratics)

• Absolute minimum of 3 minutes in length, ideally closer to 5 minutes
• Note cards are allowed, but this should be spoken, not read
• Speak with passion, purpose - emotion and rhetorical flourishes are encouraged
• Each member must contribute something different to the team's case
• Be convincing; the winning side gets a bonus

AS FOR THE INDETERMINATES...

You're in a different position, obviously. First and foremost, the key point for you to keep in mind - you are not approaching this trial as enlightened, unbiased citizens of 21st century America. You are totally biased citizens of 4th century BC Athens. Your personal interests influence your decision. Sure, you should listen carefully to the evidence and weigh it, but your challenge is to get into your character's shoes and behave accordingly.

This week, while the other groups are preparing speeches, I would like you to still spend time talking through the issues. What is the nature of the charges facing Socrates? Which ones seem most serious to you? Imagine that the materials you have read so far represent the opening stage of the trial. Get a sense of where each of you sees things right now. Where does Socrates look to be in trouble, and what are the best arguments in his defense, as you see it.

Then, as a group, try to talk through each of your individual identities. For example, if you are the farmer, describe your background, your identity. Try to determine, as best you can, which issues are most important to you in this trial. Get feedback from the other indeterminates on whether your intuition is on the mark, or if you should see things a little differently.

Finally, review the backgrounds of the Socratics and Radical Democrats. What motivates them? Think about how they might try to manipulate you or misrepresent the evidence to fulfill their agenda.

INDETERMINATES IN WRITING LAB / CLASS

Please write up a description of your position as you enter this trial. Based on your background, which issues are of greatest interest or importance to you? Which charges against Socrates, or what evidence in support of those charges, seem most serious to you? What do you know about Socrates and what do you need to know in order to make your decision?

This is due at the end of the class period.

Reading for Tuesday

Please read the document assigned to you below:

1) The Trial of Socrates: An Account - Arron, Nathan, Makhayla, Alessio

2) Socrates Study Guide - Sarah, Hunter, Victoria, Jordan, Jacob

3) Socrates (Apologies for the giant font) - Robert, David, Emilie, Taylor, Wasnaa

In class tomorrow you will report back to other members of your group (Radical Democrats, Socratics, and Indeterminates) on your assigned reading. Consider this the opening stage of plotting your case. Collectively, you should begin to identify here the problems with Socrates (if you're a Radical Democrat), the blessings of Socrates (if you're a Socratic), or some balance of the two (if you're an Indeterminate). Take notes on the assigned reading accordingly.

Also, while the individual indeterminates each received a description of their specific role, the other groups did not. I hope this will help - click on the following links for details on the Radical Democrats and the Socratics.

Notes on Salt

I'm currently reading Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky, not due to any particular interest in salt but more because I enjoyed another book by Kurlansky. But, salt has played a critical role in world history and was especially important in Ancient Rome. Here are a few interesting nuggets from the book...

• Soldiers were often paid in salt (there is some disagreement on this; some historians say they were paid in order to buy their salt) and it is from this we get a number of words and expressions that survive today. First and foremost, "salary" comes from the linking of labor with the ability to possess or purchase salt. This also ties into the common saying that someone is "worth his salt." Finally, the French word "solde" (which also derives from salt) means pay and was the base of the word soldier.
• Romans salted their vegetables before eating, hence the word "salad," which simply means "salted."
• Salsamenta referred to salted products. The most common products centered around fish, both dried fish and fish sauces made from the discarded components of the fish drying process. Of most relevance to us, it's easy to see the origins of the word salsa, or sauce.

Also worth noting - in class last week, Alessio asked how long it would have taken someone to walk from Greece to China. Kurlansky writes briefly about Marco Polo's journey from Italy to China. According to Polo, the journey from Venice to "Xanadu" took four years. It's important to emphasize, though, that their trip was not a forced march, but rather one of frequent and extensive stops. In other words, they could have made it to China at a much faster pace. It looks like Venice to Beijing is roughly 5,000 miles as the crow flies, so you have to assume that on foot it would span at least 6,000 miles.

Finally, while I'm on the subject - I've always heard that Polo introduced pasta to Italy. Kurlansky finds this claim suspect. More likely, he writes, pasta entered Italy via Sicily, first brought to the island in the 9th century by Muslim conquerors.

Daily Life Essay Expectations

Your primary goal in the Daily Life in Athens essay assignment is to provide an accurate overview of your specific topic, building off of evidence available in the Greenwood Daily Life database. This is not an argumentative essay, but rather a report. Your job is to distill the available information into a concise synopsis.

The specific expectations for the essay are:

• Minimum one page, double-spaced
• Minimum two direct quotes from the Daily Life database (unless other sources are approved by DW)
• Consistent use of specific details throughout
• Clear organization (even though this is not an argumentative essay, a short introduction is still handy to provide an overview of your topic; body paragraphs should still be organized around central themes or issues)
• MLA formatting (heading, parenthetical citation)
• Hard copy to Dave; also post to blog
• Due beginning of class on Monday
  

Discovering Ancient Europe

As I mentioned in class, when it comes to ancient history, historians are really making their best guess at what took place. While we may have more confidence about some matters, our sources are limited and a high level of creative interpretation is required. To make things even more complicated and exciting, despite the great distance in time from these events, new evidence is always emerging.

While we have always focused on China, India, and Mesopotamia as the early centers of civilization, new discoveries suggest that Europe - and specifically the lower Danube Valley - also had an advanced civilization of its own. This is a development of some significance with regards to how we think of Europe and the ancient world. Check out the article for more.