Notes on reading:

1. On Chapter One (eros)
   1. What is the basic argument of the chapter? Why is sex dangerous? why would self-restraint be valued?
   2. How did the Greeks use sexuality to promote the public interest?
   3. Much of this chapter involves the issue of self-control. But why is self control important?
   4. How do we set institutional standards for self control?
2. On Chapter Two (women / family)
   1. How does Thornton explain the status of women? in Greece? What does he argue?
   2. Note the relationship (often stated) between reason and passion, between order and chaos.
   3. How does the family structure insure the "good life"?
   4. How is the ideal "wife" represented today? the ideal woman? the ideal family? How have they changed.
   5. How can it be that the Greek model, as Thorton argues, forms the basis of "liberation" in the contemporay world?
3. In class exercise:
   1. Reconstitute the argument that Thornton presents in Chapter 1 (eros) and in chapter 2 (women).
   2. Note that to do so you will need to connect the stages of the argument.