As humans, we sometimes experience a tension between our desire for mercy and forgiveness (on the one hand) and our natural longing for justice (on the other). Choose two of the following texts, one from each group, and consider these questions: how does each work handle the potential conflict between mercy and justice? Is one of these valued over the other or does the text strike some kind of balance? How does each text reflect its culture’s perspective on justice and mercy?
Group I:
The Iliad (particularly involving the slaying and burial of Hector)
The Odyssey (particularly the fate of the suitors and those associated with them)
Plato’s Apology and/or Crito (is the sentence against Socrates just? How does Socrates respond to the sentence and to those who condemned him?)
Group II:
The Joseph story (Genesis 37-45)
The David story (especially 2 Samuel 11:1-12:25 and 2 Samuel 15-19—how does God show justice and/or mercy to David?)
The Exodus story (particularly the episode of the golden calf and the formation of the covenant in Exodus 32:1-34:35)
Do not use outside sources. Use the ideas developed in the texts themselves, as well as those introduced in our lectures and seminars.
Sample Solution