Due Date: Wednesday August 14 at 11:59 PM. (The assignment will stay open for one more day, for late arrivals, but if nothing is submitted by the end of Thursday August 15, you won't be able to pass the course. If you can't finish the paper on time, contact me in advance so that we can arrange for an incomplete.)

Description: A 1000 word (minimum) essay about Ovid and mythology. (Double-spaced, 1 inch margins, 10-12 pt. font. Remember: when double-spacing, do not put extra space after a paragraph break. Yes, I take points off for this.)

Technical Details: Submit it to me via Canvas on or before August 14 (August 15 at the latest). Don't email me the essay.

Remember this helpful page for ITS:

https://www.bgsu.edu/its/contact.html

Necessary Elements: You need to argue some position that connects Ovid and his book to mythology and/or to Greek and Roman culture generally. You do not need to do research for this essay, and I don't encourage you to do so (as odd as that may sound). Your grade will depend on how well you understand Ovid and the myths we've studied in this course (and how well you show me that you do). You don't need a bibliography for the paper, but if you cite or quote anything except for Fairbanks or Kline, you should tell me where the words come from (specifically). If you quote Ovid, it should be from Kline's translation; if you quote a general book on classical mythology, it should be Fairbanks' text (unless you're contrasting Fairbanks with someone else; e.g: "Fairbanks (p. 22) says Walrusius has red tusks, but in Cal's Complete Compendium of Classical Myths (p. 729) it says that he had green ones").

HEY, THIS IS IMPORTANT: DON'T SKIP THIS PART>>>>>>>

Don't use outside sources for this paper without checking first with me about each one. In general I will say, "Don't use them," so you can save time by not using them. This isn't a research paper. Googling stuff isn't research, anyway. And this hasn't been the kind of course that sets up a research paper. It's a survey course of classical myth, with special reference to Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Your final project should show me (a) that you know something about classical myth, (b) that you have read Ovid in Kline's translation, and (c) that you have thought about them. Running internet searches at Google (or EBSCOHOST or anywhere else) doesn't achieve any of those aims.

<<<<<<<<<<The rest of this page is important, too, but, really, pay attention to this part.

Topics: I don't want to limit you but among the things you could discuss are: whether Ovid believes in the religion that generated his mythology; whether the book is meant to praise Augustus and his family or satirize them; whether Ovid changes Greek myths for the benefit of his Roman audience (or vice versa); whether Ovid would change his myths to appeal to a modern audience, and how; whether Ovid's version of mythology is immoral, amoral, or moral (and according to whose morality); whether the visual components of the course tell a fundamentally different version of myth than Ovid does--and, if so, why; what impact Ovid had on later tellings and retellings of mythology, especially in other media; etc. Especially etc. Pick a topic you can write a few detailed pages about. You can write more than 1000 words if you want to, but don't write less.

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