Example of a Passage Analysis

This section of the final exam will your ability to analyze a primary source and discuss its historical significance and its significance for understanding the author (point of view, attitudes, biases, etc.). The goal is to use the contents of the specific passage to construct your analysis; answers that address the source or the historical context generally, without drawing explicitly on the contents of the passage itself, will earn no more than a "C." The passages will come from the readings in the course packet, and you may also supplement your answer with reference to material covered in lecture or Nagle (but not as a substitute for talking about the passage).

There are two approaches to analyzing a source for the exam.

1) Locate the context of the passage: what does it concern? Who are the people or events mentioned in it? What is the historical period to which it applies? So: think of as many of the who, what, when, where, as are relevant.

2) This is the "why" part: What is the significance of the passage, both from the standpoint of its historical value and its value for understanding the author?

Note: in both 1 and 2 you want to keep focused specifically on the passage itself. Here's an example.

Herodotus 1.92: Croesus sends messengers to Delphi.

"It is said that when the Lydian messengers reached Delphi and asked the questions they had been told to ask, the Priestess replied that not God himself could escape destiny. As for Croesus, he had expiated in the fifth generation the crime of his ancestor, who was a soldier in the bodyguard of the Heraclids, and, tempted by a woman's treachery, had murdered his master and stolen his office, to which he had no claim. The God of Prophecy was eager that the fall of Sardis might occur in the time of Croesus' sons rather than in his own, but he had been unable to divert the course of destiny. Nevertheless what little the Fates allowed, he had obtained for Croesus' advantage: he had postponed the capture of Sardis for three years, so Croesus must realize that he had enjoyed three years of freedom more than was appointed for him. Secondly, the god had saved him when he was on the pyre. As to the oracle, Croesus had no right to find fault with it: the gods had declared that if he attacked the Persians he would bring down a mighty empire. After an answer like that, the wise thing would have been to send again to inquire which empire was meant, Cyrus' or his own. But as he misinterpreted what was said and made no second inquiry, he must admit the fault to have been his own."

1. In constructing my analysis of this passage, first I want to identify the historical context, including names and events referred to in it.

This passage concerns Croesus, king of Lydia in the mid-6th century, after he has been captured by Cyrus, the Persian king who had been building an empire in the first half of the 6th century. Delphi is the site of the oracle of Apollo, who is the "God" referred to, as well as the "God of Prophecy." The "priestess" is the Pythia, the mouthpiece of Apollo. The "questions they had been told to ask" concern the reasons why Apollo was so ungrateful" in response to Croesus' gifts. The references to the "crime of his ancestor" and what follows are to the story of Candaules and Gyges, told earlier by Herodotus in his account of the transfer of power from the Heraclid to the Mermnad dynasty. Briefly, the "crime" was that Gyges, a bodyguard of Candaules, had been ordered to look at Candaules' wife, the queen, naked. The queen discovered what was going on, and ordered Gyges to kill Candaules and become ruler of Lydia, or face death. Gyges chose the former and became king. But he was told by the Delphic Oracle that payment for his crime of murder would fall in the fifth generation, i.e. Croesus'.The reference to Croesus' destroying a mighty empire is to his question posed to the Delphic oracle before deciding to attack Cyrus, and the oracle's response, which Croesus misinterpreted to mean that he would succeed in conquering the Persian Empire.

Note: I have not dealt with absolutely every aspect of this passage, but have selected what I regarded as especially significant, taking into account the time constraints of an exam.

Note also that I have not used the occasion to expand on the history of the Persian empire, or on Croesus' subjugation of Greeks, or on his conversation with Solon. These aspects, while important in other contexts, are not essential for analyzing this specific passage.

2. Next I want to discuss its significance for understanding both the history of the period and the author.

Broadly, this passage is historically significant because it concerns the incorporation of Lydia into the Persian Empire by Cyrus. More specifically, this passage illustrates the importance of the Delphic oracle in "international" politics. Croesus, a non-Greek, made use of a famous Greek oracle of Apollo to determine whether to attack Cyrus. His consultation of the oracle illustrates the kind of occasion in which people found it necessary to consult the oracle, that is, before embarking on any significant venture like war. That a non-Greek did so attests to the fame and authority of the oracle, and to interaction between different cultures in the Mediterranean.

The passage is especially signficant for understanding Herodotus' interest in causation. First it reveals a belief in fate (e.g. Apollo had been "unable to divert the course of destiny," "not God himself could escape destiny"). It is interesting that,as the preceding quotes show, fate is presented as something more powerful than the gods. The comment, "What little the Fates allowed, he had obtained for Croesus' advantage: he had postponed the capture of Sardis for three years," shows, however, the flexibility of the belief: Fate is not rigidly fixed in time, but during the fifth generation. That passage also reveals the god's favor toward Croesus. This favor stemmed, as is made clear earlier, from Croesus' lavish gifts to Apollo, which led to an expectation of reciprocity, namely, that Apollo should subsequently help Croesus. It also shows a belief that the gods are responsible for human affairs (Apollo "had postponed the capture of Sardis for three years" and had saved Croesus on the pyre). But the passage also reveals Herodotus' interest in showing human responsibility for what happens to them: Croesus had to admit that he had misinterpreted the oracle that said that he would destroy a mighty empire; moreover the comment that he could have asked again for clarification heightens his accountability for his fate. Thus the passage reveals that events can be caused by a variety of causal factors, both divine and human. Finally the passage perhaps gives some insight into Greek attitudes toward women, since the queen's behavior in the episode with Gyges and Candaules is described as a "woman's treachery."

IMPORTANT: note how I have used the actual words and phrases in the passage to help bring out its significance (i.e. this is the "analysis" part).

PRACTICE WITH THE FOLLOWING TWO EXAMPLES. You will be asked to turn in B. Aim for about 1 8" x 11" page, double-spaced.

A. Thucydides. From Pericles' "Funeral Oration." "Athens alone of existing cities surpasses its reputation when put to the test, and only Athens brings neither chagrin to an attacking enemy as to the sort of men by whom he has been worsted, nor reproach to our subjects that they are ruled by unworthy men....we have compelled every sea and land to become open to our daring and populated every region with lasting monuments of our acts of harm and good."

B. Plutarch, Alexander. "When Alexander had crossed the desert and arrived at the shrine, the high priest of Ammon welcomed him on the god's behalf as a father greeting his son. Alexander's first question was to ask whether any of his father's murderers had escaped punishment. Of this the high priest commanded him to speak more guardedly, since his father was not a mortal. Alexander therefore changed the form of his question and asked whether Philip's murderers had been punished, and he also asked whether he was destined to rule over all mankind. This, the god replied, would be granted to him...

This is the account which most writers have given of the oracles pronounced by the god, but Alexander himself in a letter to his mother says that he received certain secret prophecies which he would confide to her after his return. Others say that the priest, who wished as a mark of courtesy to address him with the Greek phrase, O, my son, spoke the words because of his barbarian origin as 'O, pai Dios' (O, son of Zeus) and that Alexander was delighted at this slip of pronounciation and hence the legend grew up that the god had addressed him [thus]."