Variants Assignment



                  Choose one ancient Greek myth that was told in a number of different ways in antiquity and collect the extant variants.  You should make sure that you choose a myth with neither too many nor too few variants available, and I advise you to consult with me if you are uncertain about your choice.  You need to define the scope of the tale, that is, the beginning and the end, and explain why you have chosen to limit it in this way.  You should identify the significant components of the story as it appears in the variants.  What are the essential elements that enable you to classify a narrative as a variant of this myth?  What are the most prominent variations between different versions?  You should not summarize each variant you have found but rather analyze the variations between them.  You might find that making a chart of the elements and the variants is helpful in organizing your ideas (and it makes a good appendix!).


                  The papers are due in my office before noon, Friday, September 25, and should be around five pages long (not counting the appendix, bibliography, or any title page).  The papers should be typewritten, double-spaced, with reasonable fonts and margins (e.g., my default font and margin settings are Garamond 12 point with 1 inch margins).  Please number the pages and staple them together.  Please ensure that your name is on at least the first page, if not in a header on every page.  Also on the first page should be my name, the course title, and the date.


                  Be sure to cite the sources for your information carefully and accurately so that a reader could quickly and easily check your reference.  For ancient primary texts, you should whenever possible cite the book and chapter numbers or the poem or fragment numbers for your quotations, rather than the page numbers from the modern editions. You should, however, give the modern edition from which you drew your translation in your bibliography. For modern secondary sources, you should provide page references for the source in the notes and then give full bibliographic information in the bibliography.  You may use any of the standard bibliographic formats as long as you are consistent.


                  Please ensure that your paper is free from errors of spelling and grammar.  I find such errors terribly distracting.  The spell-checker in most word processors is useful, but you should proofread the paper yourself as well.  You might try exchanging papers with a classmate and proofreading each other's papers.  Another person can often catch the errors you have missed.


                  Not only are late papers anti-social, but they will be penalized unless you have obtained an extension from me before the day on which the paper is due.  For each day the paper is late (including weekend days!), the grade will be lowered by one step (e.g., from 3.7 to 3.3).