History 4210: Olympian
Roulette Directions
Due Date: Midnight,
Tuesday, March 12.
- Pull an ostrakon out of the container. This is your deity/group of
deities.
- Look up background on your deity.
- Check out http://www.theoi.com
- You may also use print encyclopedias in the reference areas.
- Check out Bullfinch's Age
of Fable (http://www.bartleby.com/181/)
- Determine (and read) the primary sources for your deity (or group of
deities)
- Start with Hesiod's Theogony: https://www.msu.edu/~tyrrell/theogon.pdf
- Look at the bottom of the Theoi.com entry on your deity or group of
deities.
There should be a list of translations of primary sources.
- Using the primary sources and secondary sources such as Theoi.com,
develop a profile of your deity (or group of deities)
- The profile should contain:
- Names
- Epithets (a word or phrase used to characterize people or things.
For example: rosy-fingered Dawn, Zeus the thunderer, etc.)
- What they look like
- Birth (where & how)
- Family - include marriage, romantic/sexual relationships
- Friends
- Children and your deity/group's relationship with them
- Roles & responsibilities - include occupation (that is: they're the
god of what?)
- Personality traits, including strengths & weaknesses
- Education - include how your deity/group was raised and learned to
do the things they did
- What they do for fun
- Any pets and/or sacred animals & why those animals
- Do they have any special skills that separate them from other
deities?
- Do they have a weapon and/or armor? What do they look like and what
roll do these play?
- Do they have any other special item that they use.
- What is their relationship with humans?
- What do they do for fun?
- How are they worshipped? Is there anything that is the same with
other deities? Different?
- Anything else you want to add to the profile? Is there something
you can't answer for your deity?
- Once you've developed the profile, write a 1-2 page summary of what you
believe are the most important characteristics of your deity/group of
deities.
NOTE: You will not be able to find out all this information about every
deity. Do the best you can.
DIRECTIONS:
Use a word processor. You may use Word (.doc, .docx) and Word Perfect (.wpd).
If you use a different word processor, you must save the file as a .rtf (rich
text format.) If it is not in one of these formats, I won't grade it.
The document should include:
- Your name
- The name of your deity/group of deities
- Your profile
- Your 1-2 page summary
- Your name.
Email the everything to me at: KLPayne@weber.edu
Use your mail.weber.edu address - this is required by the university when
turning in assignments, sending grades, etc.
Giving Credit: you must cite all sources
you use. You may use MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian author/date or endnotes.
NO footnotes.
Use http://www.theoi.com as an example
for citing primary sources.
Due Date: Midnight, Tuesday, March 12.