Department standards require that your initial post be at least 250 words long each week. You must respond to at least three of your classmates’ initial posts (threads under your own post are not eligible for credit). Each of your peer responses must be at least 125 words long. Short posts will not be eligible for full credit. Your initial posts are due by 11:55 pm ET on Thursday night. Your peer responses are due by 11:55 pm ET on Sunday night. Late work will be graded in accordance with department policy, as follows:

• Work posted or submitted after the assignment due date will be reduced by 10% of the potential total score possible for each day late up to a total of five days, including forum posts/replies, quizzes, and assignments. Beginning on the sixth day late through the end of the course, late work, including forum posts/replies, quizzes, and assignments, will be accepted with a grade reduction of 50% of the potential total score earned.

Please choose one of the following questions to answer in your initial post. When responding to your classmates, you must respond to at least one person who chose a different question than you did. If all of your posts address the same question, you will not receive credit for one of your peer responses.

1. A popular theme in writings from ancient Greece was punishment for hubris, or overbearing pride and excessive self-confidence. Choose one of the historical figures from this week’s textbook readings and explain how they qualify as hubristic. Be sure to explain both their arrogance and how it caused their “downfall.” Likewise, be sure that the person you address is historical and not literary/mythological.

2. What do you think was the single greatest accomplishment of Alexander and why? Does he deserve the appellation of “Great?” Why or why not?

3. Ancient Greece existed as a conglomeration of city-states, each with its own form of government. The regimes included democracies, aristocracies, and oligarchies. Consider these governments in the context of ancient Greece (and not from a modern point of view). Which form was the strongest? Why?