1. To only go through the motions of life would be, in a word, pointless. In other words, in order to derive meaning from ones life, one must always be present, and aware of ones actions. Rather, to live a valuable and enriching life, one must take everything as it comes--experiences, mistakes, etc.-- and apply them to ones future. Only then is life truly worth living. As has been said before, each day is a gift. Thats why its called the present. I completely agree with this assertion. What sets humans apart from animals, other than opposable thumbs, is the ability for extreme independent thought and learning. If this gift is just thrown to the wayside, and one lives life just letting things wash over them stoically, they are, in my frank opinion, wasting their time. The purpose of life on earth is to be enlightened and educated about the wonders of the world. Without embracing that, you may as well live on the moon.2. To start, there are the big 3 Gods. Zeus, Posiden, and Hades were the original 3 sons of Kronos, and these 3 rule over effectively everything in creation. Zeus over the Skies, Posiden over the Waters, and Hades over the dead. In this work, Zeus is depicted as a man in the center of the frame, possessing rippling pectorals and sitting on a great throne. This asserts him as the ruler, which he was. Posiden, from what is visible in the photocopy, appears to be in the down right corner of the picture, almost bowing to Zeus. All the rest of the Gods, if not wrapped up in their own lives such as the woman being wooed by a cherub appear to be either bowing to Zeus or Cowering away, asserting him as ruler further. 3. The myth of arachne centers on jealousy. Or, in the words of the 7 deadly sins, envy. [Arachne] brashly proclaimed that Athena herself could not do better than her. Athena takes a petty bit of jealousy, and drives a woman to suicide. However, at the end of the myth, Athena shows pity and mercy, and lets Arachne weave for the rest of her life. This myth is meant to show humanity that while jealousy may be overwhelming at times, never do anything youll regret. Athena did regret that her actions went too far, however she felt that she taught Arachne a valuable lesson. The myth also talks some about pride. While Athena was rash in her actions towards Arachne, if Arachne had been humble in the first place and not boasted her talents to be greater than those of the goddess, the whole situation would have been avoided. Both parties are in the wrong at some point in the myth, however by the end all is resolved.4. What this tells us about the gods is that, in addition to being proud beings, they were also scared. By saying they had grown accustomed to striking down those that are too high, it shows their fear of being removed from power. If anything gets too close, they destroy it. They will do just about anything to keep their power, even destroying the very things they created.5. I think it would be inadvisable to visit the oracle. The oracle purposely gives you information you need to determine based on yourself. The gods know that humans arent always the brightest of creatures, and so they present these prophecies in a context which can be misconstrued easily. On the wall it specifically says know yourself. The most intellectual of people could obviously take their oracles and put them to good use, but the common man will almost certainly misconstrue them.6. In this statement, the pope is saying that little learning on a subject is dangerous. Either become an expert or dont know anything at all. You are more apt to make a fool of yourself arguing if you fool yourself into knowing about the subject. For instance in politics. If one is to argue one end of the political spectrum or the other, it would be foolish to only research one side. Expertise on both sides of all issues must be achieved if one is to get anywhere in academia.7. According to this view, humans have no control over themselves. Rather, the fates and the gods determined everything about life. This would certainly alter the Greeks view on life. They would view every small action as a work of the gods. Therefore, when anything negative were to happen to them, they would assume that the gods were punishing them for something. This view caused the Greek people, Im sure, to be very cautious in going about their every day activities. If they were to simply have some bad luck, they would automatically equate it to something they did wrong. It could lead to either type of behavior, however I believe the more cautious siode of things was more plausible. One could argue though that people would be so sure they were destined to live, that they go forth taking risks, believeing the gods will save them.8. It supports the assertions in document 7 by saying that the fates are the supreme decision makers when it comes to humans. Regardless of what may happen to them at the hands of others, the fates will ensure that destiny is realized. He who is destined to become a carpenter, will become one even if his hands have been cut off. This supports the arugment towards more risky behavior. If one knows ones destiny, one could argue that they could do anything, because the fates ideas for them will always prevail. This is how the Greeks lived their lives. They knew the fates had everything in line for them, so they didnt worry too much about the consequences of their actions, because they knew the fates would make sure everything happened as it was supposed to happen.9. Miasma is a negative curse, levied upon a house when something wrong is done. Rather than having a specific effect though, miasma was contagious. Regardless of what you personally did, if someone near you was given miasma, you would likely develop it as well. Miasma for the Greeks was kind of like Karma, but worse. If you did bad things, bad things would happen not only to you, but also to those around you. According to the Greeks, miasma could infect an entire village if let go long enough. With this knowledge, one could assume that the horrible plague being suffered in the beginning of Oedipus Rex was the result of miasma from someone in the village.10. The story of Pandora is meant to account for why so many bad things happened on earth when the gods were such caring beings. It also tells humans how with all good things bad must come. Unto every life death must fall. Unto every selfless person, a greedy one is hiding. The good and bad counterparts in this world are what make it human. However, using the concept of miasma, the story takes on a slightly different meaning. Originally, the gods intended for the world to be a place full of pure, kind, ageless human beings. However, because Prometheus was so sneaky, Zeus decided that the humans could not live this way, even though Prometheus was a titan and not a human. His miasma for tricking Zeus led to the bad things in the world. 11. a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to yourselves, our nation, and the world. This statement alone is in stark contract with Greek beliefs. The Greeks believed that the fates had everything lined up for them. If the fates decided that someone would be a civil servant, than so it was. However, the fates would not decide that for everyone. Some people were destined to be mean and heartless and selfish. Obama calling upon every single person in the nation to perform these duties went against that. There are however, parts of his speech that go along with the Greek ideals. He says that if every American does these things, we will be well off. This goes along with the concept of miasma a little bit. If you do good things, it will prevent bad things from happening to those around you. Despite this, Obama is largely speaking in contrast to Greek beliefs.