PP TUTORIAL 1 Speeches 2009

AH 2a – Past and Present Tutorial 1: SP E E C H E S This tutorial is divided into three parts. In the first two parts, you are asked to read, think and comment on a famous speech/speeches (given below). In the last part, you are asked to compare how the two authors use speeches in their writing. So here goes: PART 1: ‘THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEBATE’ Read Herodotus’ Histories Book 3. 80-84. (Don’t worry, it’s not too long and pretty interesting…) Think about the following questions. 1. What is the context for the Debate (ie, what has happened just before)? 2. Did this Debate ever take place? Why does Herodotus use the form of speeches? 3. What do you think that the Constitutional Debate tells us? 4. In the Debate, what does Herodotus tell us about non-Greeks? 5. What does he tell us about the Greeks? 6. What does he tell us about his attitudes to non-Greeks? 7. Is he trying to write history in any sense that we would understand? 8. If not, does that undermine his usefulness to us as historians? 9. Are there any ways of discovering whether Herodotus’ attitudes, as seen in book 3, were typical? 10. Do you agree that Herodotus did have particularly set views about tyrants and kings? 11. Why did Herodotus write this material? What do you think was his audience, and what was he trying to achieve? Read at least ONE of the following (though TWO would be ideal) Brannan, P.T. (1963), ‘Herodotus and History: the Constitutional Debate’. Traditio ...