**A2 Classical Civilisation**

How did people find the Greek tragedy exam? I thought it was a nice paper, though I'm really worried I didn't compare enough in the forty mark question, I only put a few 'unlike Medea/Phaedra in Hippolytus' and I'm worried I'll not get more than sixteen for that D:

What questions did everyone do?

I did the Antigone question and the 'Do they deserve their downfall?' question

Basically said:
Yes, because they fulfilled all the concepts of the tragic hero as per Aristotle, went against the will of the Gods etc
Drew parallels between Creon and Hippolytus in going against/insulting the gods will/gods personally and women in general
Contrasted it with:
Parallels between Antigone and Oedipus, they attempted to do what was right but ultimately brought about their downfall
Oedipus' parents were possibly to blame not him and the Athenian audience would have been sympathetic due to the plague at the time, etc
Medea didn't really get punished, Dionysian play akin to Nietzsche's theory, etc
Back to my argument:
Antigone was also hubristic and herself ironically seemed to go against the gods by stubbornly showing herself despite the whirlwind and insulting Creon personally as she was hell-bent on martyrdom and 'glory'
Oedipus was hubristic, and killed his Laius so was a murderer
Medea was the granddaughter of the sun god so isn't a normal mortal so can possibly be excused, and she assisted Aegeus and planned to redeem herself with offerings to the gods

Looking at this made me panic. I mentioned both ancient and contemporary audiences but put a lot about why I thought the characters deserve it and then argued with my own opinion by putting things like "it could be argued..." I'm worried now :| I chose the Hippolytus question

That was completely different to mine, i didnt compare! Just said whether or not they each deserved it and in each what the audience wouldve thought and linked it to greek society and the Pelop. war...

I did Antigone and loved the pride and stubbornness question, the 40 marker was hard, but in all my mocks I have done quite well so I hope I don't get too much lower, still want over 90 ums, what are you all looking for?

oh no I didd that as well, didn't really compare much but had a lot to say for the individual plays. you can get no more than 16 if you don't compare??

I did the second forty marker, found both contexts difficult but chose the first one. Looking back on it I split my essay into four parts (Oedipus then Antigone etc.), and I didnt particularly do any comparisons between characters. However, I solely concentrated on how the Athenian audience would have viewed the main characters and why they would have thought they deserved what had happened to them, as well as their actions and why i think they deserved their fate. Is this the right idea? I have no idea and I'm starting to worry whether or not i did the wrong thing!

thats not true i didn't use one quote for my women in Athens and Rome as and I got an A, that not true at all

I found the Art & Arch. alright! I did vases and free-standing. A bit cheeky of them to ask a question to do with a vase that's not on the syllabus. It kind of slowed me down having to analyse it first, but still doable. Free-standing was a very nice question though. Happy overall!

I did my 40 marker in the same way, little comparisons but concentrated a lot on what an Athenian audience would think and whether they would have viewed it as undeserving/deserving. Now I'm panicking too, I really need an A in this! I thought the first of the forty markers was really hard, I opened the paper and it really put me off at first! Did you do the Antigone question too?

Oh thank god, really? I feel better already!

I thought the whole format of the art and arch was really weird! So glad they picked Ajax and Achilles though. Exekias is my ultimate fave. I did not enjoy the sculpture question, referring to the 'early classical' threw me and I wasn't sure which ones come into that category! Not feeling hopeful about that but apparently it's only 70% usually to get an A so fingers crossed I didn't flop entirely


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