Classical Studies

doctor evil

Does any body know what type of questions are likely to come up for Alexander the Great?

Any other hints for other sections?

Scarinae

What sections you doing? Ummm I think there will definitely be a pitched battle on the paper, since it hasn't come up for a while - probably Gaugamela or Hydaspes. There were two questions on sieges last year, so I'd say it's a prety safe bet that you don't need to know the sieges in detail, but they could be useful for the more general questions. Apart from that, the role of Philip could well come up, and maybe whether or not Plutarch and Arrian are biased in their portrayal of Alexander. Hope that helps a bit! Just don't blame me if none of that comes up

doctor evil

Other sections are: The Odyssey & The Aeneid
Medea, Oedipus the King & Prometheus Bound
Roman Art and Architecture

Cheers for the help, don`t worry I wont blame you!. I`ll just curse you

Cannibal Ox

Get all the battles in to your head for sure, one of them's bound to come up.
There not that hard, Alex's on the right with his companion cavalry, Parmenio's on the left with the Thessilians and the center is made up of infantry. Darius is always in the center.
The Mutiny's are a good idea to cover in a bit of depth, like...what are the differences between the two and how did they come about.

The Odyssey
Telemachus, his growth throughout the poem.

Aeneid
Anchises
Role of Fathers
Ascanius
The Underworld (possible comparison question)

That's all I can remember atm. I have a notepad hanging around with everything I'm studying in depth, I'll post it up later.

Finch*

for sculpture question, a bronze statue hasnt come up in a while, so make sure u know the techniques involved in their construction, if your doing poetry Propertius is very likely to come up, and they can only really ask u about his love/treatmment of women in his poetry.

also i think the battle of guagamela and hydaspes are likely to come up for Alexander. any1 have any ideas for the greek plays? i think prometheus bound woould be nice but what kind of questions?

griffdaddy

Fishie wrote:

and maybe whether or not Plutarch and Arrian are biased in their portrayal of Alexander. Hope that helps a bit! Just don't blame me if none of that comes up

a few years ago the classical studies teachers association of ireland made a kinda unwritten deal with the department that they wouldnt refer to either historian or expect a comparison of the 2 that would hinder the candidate in anyway. if ya look at the last few years the questions are general and dont refer to either, allowing students to study a kind of amalgamated(sp) account of both. personally i think, a battle, a general alexander's character question or maybe one refering to the deterioration of alexander's mental health. also keep an eye on conspiracies and mutinies.
as for greek drama, pb always comes up, as do the other three. just read the fcuking things, they're tiny and easy to analyse. spend more time on pb and medea than oedipus rex, as the scope of questionning is obviously greater in oedipus. if you must do oedipus, concentrate on creon and secondary characters as messengers and catalysts to the plot.
roman a+a, learn the towns inside out, they're guaranteed, esp. a leipcis magna/palmyra comparison and the gaulish and anglo towns as well. after that just flick through paintings, mosaics etc. personnally i dont really bother with the architechure as there's a lot to learn but i'm gonna keep the bridges and aqueducts up my sleave just in case.
as for the epics, if you can't answer any questions on them and get at least 30/50 you shouldn't be doing classical studies!