I have an issue with three of the questions/answers in the problems I have done so far.
Practice Passages; Passage 7; Question 6:
Passage Context:
In classical times the need of a creed higher than the Olympian was felt, and Aeschylus, Sophocles and Plato finally evolved from the pleasant but crude polytheism the idea of a single, supreme and righteous Zeus. But the decay of Olympus led to a revival of old and the invasion of new magic cults among the people, while some philosophers were looking to a vision of the uniformity of nature under divine and universal law.
6) Which of the following, if true, would most WEAKEN the author's claim that the ancient Greek idea of Zeus was an evolution away from polytheism.
A. The vast majority of Ionian philosophers never believed in Zeus.
B. The magic cults which were revived were monotheistic.
C. The idea of Zeus also caused the common people to obey the laws of ancient Greece.
D. Sophocles envisioned the persona of Zeus as a single body which enclosed a variety of personalities similar in their behaviors to the former Olympian gods.
My answer: B. If the religions that were replaced by Zeus were Monotheistic, not polytheistic, then it would weaken the argument that Zeus was a move away from polytheism.
TPRH's answer: D. This statement, if true, indicates that the idea of Zeus as "single, supreme, righteous" (line 24) could coexist with a belief in multiple gods. Now the gods express themselves through Zeus, but they may still exist as distinct and identifiable personalities.
My rebuttal: That concept, firstly, sounds more like Pantheism, not polytheism. Besides that small quibble, answer D says nothing about what the religious environment was prior to Zeus. "moving away" from a belief is a comparison between then and now. For these two reasons, answer B is a better answer.
Thoughts?
Practice Passages; Passage 7; Question 6:
Passage Context:
In classical times the need of a creed higher than the Olympian was felt, and Aeschylus, Sophocles and Plato finally evolved from the pleasant but crude polytheism the idea of a single, supreme and righteous Zeus. But the decay of Olympus led to a revival of old and the invasion of new magic cults among the people, while some philosophers were looking to a vision of the uniformity of nature under divine and universal law.
6) Which of the following, if true, would most WEAKEN the author's claim that the ancient Greek idea of Zeus was an evolution away from polytheism.
A. The vast majority of Ionian philosophers never believed in Zeus.
B. The magic cults which were revived were monotheistic.
C. The idea of Zeus also caused the common people to obey the laws of ancient Greece.
D. Sophocles envisioned the persona of Zeus as a single body which enclosed a variety of personalities similar in their behaviors to the former Olympian gods.
My answer: B. If the religions that were replaced by Zeus were Monotheistic, not polytheistic, then it would weaken the argument that Zeus was a move away from polytheism.
TPRH's answer: D. This statement, if true, indicates that the idea of Zeus as "single, supreme, righteous" (line 24) could coexist with a belief in multiple gods. Now the gods express themselves through Zeus, but they may still exist as distinct and identifiable personalities.
My rebuttal: That concept, firstly, sounds more like Pantheism, not polytheism. Besides that small quibble, answer D says nothing about what the religious environment was prior to Zeus. "moving away" from a belief is a comparison between then and now. For these two reasons, answer B is a better answer.
Thoughts?
