Directions For each of these questions, I have included key words or phrases, sometimes italicized for your convenience in looking up these phrases or ideas on the Internet, which make allusions to well-known stories or ideas you should, as a culturally aware person, recognize and understand. You should be able to answer these questions and express the meaning of the expression, event, person, or myth to which they refer. YOU WILL HAVE TO DO RESEARCH. My advice is to evaluate answers from multiple sources, not just one.
Example: When in Rome, what should you do?
Answer: When in Rome, you should do as the Romans do.
General Meaning or Implication: In a foreign country or place, you should adopt the habits or customs of that country or place.
NOTE: Answer all questions following the format above, giving the answer and the general meaning or implication of the statement for each one.
What kind of event would you refer to as an “Odyssey” and why?
Would you appreciate it if you were given rather Spartanaccommodations in a hotel?
Whose heelwas his vulnerable spot?
You describe your friend’s boyfriend as a real Adonis. Have you insulted him?
Would a woman be flattered if she were compared to Socrates’ wife Xanthippe(zan-TIP-ee)? Why?
What does it mean when someone is diagnosed as having anOedipus (ED-dip-uss) complex? (Who was Oedipus and what happened to him?)
Where doall roads lead to, and why do they lead there?
When in Rome, what should you do?
Why is a marathoncalled that?
Some people think of children as being like atabula rasa. What is that?
In the Pitbull song “Tonight,” Ne-Yo stresses the importance of acting on the moment, singing, “For all we know, we might not get tomorrow.” This idea expresses the basic carpe diem philosophy. What is that?
What is avestal virgin?
According to one reviewer, the movie The Matrix is like “a modern-day version of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.” What is that?
Would a woman be flattered if she were compared to Venus?
Can old-school gangsta rap or early punk be described as Apollonian or Dionysian? Why?
Can Las Vegas be described as Arcadian? Why?
Why did Archimedes shout “Eureka!”
Would “Argus, Inc.” be a good name for a security company? Why?
Would it be good to be as rich as Croesus(KREE-sus)?
If someone offers to pay you “at the Greek kalends,” is that a bargain you should accept?Why?
Could the Electric Daisy Festival, Woodstock, or Burning Man all be described as bacchanalia?
Why can “bread and circuses” prevent revolution?
Should you name your horse Bucephalus? Why?
What must Caesar’s wife be above, and why?
If your new boss can be compared to Caligula, should you be glad?
What is the proper abbreviation for “et cetera”?
What abbreviation should you use if you want to give an example to illustrate an idea?
What abbreviation should you use if you want to say, “that is…” and redefine or reword something?
What does the phrase “Carthage must be destroyed” refer to, and who said it?
Some students in AVID are learning about the Socratic method. Who was Socrates, and what was his method?
What famous philosopher died by drinking hemlock?
Whose most famous piece of advice was “Know thyself.”
What do the abbreviations “B.C.” and “A.D” signify?
What does the United States motto “E Pluribus Unum” mean?
If your friend describes you asJanus-faced, have you been complimented?
Which of the following tasks could best be described as alabor of Hercules: Cleaning out your horridly messy closet, studying math for twenty easy minutes, doing a light load of dishes, or washing your hair?
Under what circumstances might you look ruefully at your friend and exclaim, “Et tu, Brute?” (Note: This is pronounced “ett too brooTAY.”)
Why should you beware the ides of March?
Do you agree thatthe fault is not within our stars but in ourselves?
What does it mean to say the die is cast?
Has the die been cast if you have crossed the Rubicon?
Would you rather be described as saturnineor jovial?
Whose face launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Would you rather be a member of the hoi polloior the aristoi?
Would you rather be a patricianor aplebeian?
What is Styx(besides a rock band)?
Could Nevada be described as hotter than the hinges of Hades?
Should you drink the waters of Lethe right before the test on this material?
Which of the nine Muses would help you remember this material most effectively?
If you wereignorant of geometry, what famous Greek school could you not enter?
Who sings of arms and the man?
What famous epic begins with the word “rage”?
What well-known sorceress (and friend of Odysseus) would be likely to think that all men are beasts?
Would a pair of binoculars be a good gift for a Cyclops?
If you were someone’s wife, would you rather be compared to Penelope or to Clytemnestra?
Should you ever take Cassandra seriously when she warns you?
What did Socrates know that made him the wisest man in all the world?
Would you like to be caughtbetween Scylla and Charybdis?
Why were the words “For the Fairest” enough to start a war?
What son of Philip of Macedon was really great?
What do pieces of pottery have to do with someone (metaphorically) being “voted off the island”?
What famous Greek philosopher was in search of an honest man?
What was Rome not built in?
What Roman governmental organizationwas named after old men?
EXTRA CREDIT: If a “Helen” is a unit of beauty sufficient to launch one thousand Greek warships and incinerate the city of Troy (which, for the sake of argument, we will define as a city of one thousand buildings), then in scientific terms, what unit of beauty would be sufficient to launch only one Greek warship and burn a single city building?
EXTRA EXTRA CREDIT: What unit of beauty would be sufficient to sail a paper boat across a bathtub and heat a house to eighty degrees Fahrenheit?