Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome both left impacting contributions that have resonated through Western Civilization for over two thousand years. In the areas of religion, culture, and economics, the Ancient Rome was greatly influenced by Ancient Greece, but Rome also left their own mark. Greece left impressions on the Rome by way of commercial interaction between traders that settled in Southern Italy. Greeks influenced Rome in areas such as ethics, duties, national cults, literature, and architecture. However, Romans did not copy the Greeks, but rather took ideas from the Greek culture as well as the Etruscans and other Mediterranean peoples and changed them to suit their own ideals and incorporate them into their society. However, the same …show more content…
Both works included the Greek value of excellence, which was a strong notion of obligation and duty. The Greek word Xenia, meaning to be respected no matter the situation, complemented the Greek value of excellence. The value of excellence was displayed in the life of the Greek hero Achilles. Achilles lived and died, always to be the best. To Achilles shame and disgrace were worse than death. The guest-host relationship was also important in Greek culture. Hospitality was an important virtue, and was exhibited by Odysseus’s wife Penelope in The Odyssey. Penelope preserved the household while Odysseus was away and was fiercely loyal to her husband. Men were to strive for excellence in Greek society, as well as the women. Later during the time of Alexander the Great, he would carry a copy of The Iliad on his campaigns, and was inspired by the heroics of Achilles. Another belief reflected in early Greek stories was that of retributive justice. In The Odyssey, when Odysseus returns home from his long journey he enacts retributive justice on the suitors that have desecrated his home. The Greek’s form of justice was retributive, which distributed appropriate and proportional payback for one’s actions. The men distributed justice in early Greece by force or …show more content…
Later, during the Dark Age, the economy declined harshly, due to suffering agriculture and trade due to war and between the Greeks and barbarians. Large steps were taken with improving agricultural after the discovery of iron, which was more durable than copper and could produce better farming tools to increase agricultural production which increased population growth. During the Archaic Age trade impacted the economy significantly, especially in Corinth and Athens. In Corinth, experienced large amounts of sea and land trade due to its convenient geographical location that made it very accessible. Corinth was located on an isthmus that connected Northern Greece and Southern Greece. Corinth experienced profitable trading and obtained large amounts of revenue from its pottery trade and from harbor taxes. Corinth was also the foremost shipbuilding center in Greece at this time. Athens was also a bustling center for sea trade, and eventually became the leading exporter of pottery in
Throughout history, many forms of government have come and gone with varying levels of success. Despite the vast cultural differences between Ancient Athens and the Modern Day United States, current American political institutions have been heavily influenced by the Ancient Athenians.
From 500 AD to 500 B.C, during the classical era, Rome and Greece, developed and settled along the Mediterranean Sea. Within these 1000 years, both Rome and Greece went through multiple transitions of power and struggled to maintaining peace. America learned from Greece and Rome’s mistakes and evolved into a more successful version of the two civilizations. The two civilizations did not only teach United States, but they also influenced American culture and infrastructure. Although Greece contributed to many elements of modern day America, Rome had a larger influence on America through the use of democracy, economy, and advancement in culture.
Throughout The Odyssey, written by Homer and translated by Robert Fagles, the reader is shown many examples of ancient Greek values. As Odysseus travels home from Troy, he is faced with many challenges. Some test his physical and mental strength, while others test his moral values and how he holds up against more psychological adversaries. The Ancient Greeks have very entrenched beliefs and their actions show it. Some of the most important Greek values include Hospitality, Loyalty, and intelligence.
Virtue in the Greek world was determined mainly by how one is viewed by others. This was an important notion for the Greeks, since their society was very aggressive. The world of the Odyssey was fiercely competitive, as each hero strove to outdo the other (Finley 118). This competitive attitude stems from the Greek concept of arête, or excellence (Moran 2). This neec for excellence is what caused the Greeks to try their hardest to fulfill their function as a human and as a member of society. In order for a Greek person to be fully functioning, they had to excel in certain attributes that were key to their role in society. For the average Greek male, their function was to be brave, effective, and honorable. These three qualities are the virtues that every Greek male strived to attain, with honor being the most important. Bravery and effectiveness are both related to combat and how a man conducted himself on the battlefield. If a man is not effective in war, or other occupations, then he had no means to attain arête. The same can be said about bravery, since bravery is essential for a warrior to succeed. Honor is the most important virtue of the Greek...
The notion of personal honor is prevalent throughout the Iliad. The honor of every person in Homeric culture was important, but to the hero, his honor was paramount. He could not endure insults, and he felt that he had to protect his reputation — even unto death. The hero 's duty was to fight, and the only way he had of gaining glory and immortality was through heroic action on the battlefield; thus, he continually prepared his life for the life-and-death risks of battle. The Homeric hero believed that men had to stand together in battle; men had to respect each other; and they had to refrain from excessive cruelty. This last condition was critically important for the Homeric hero. He loathed deliberate acts of cruelty and injustice. If he were ready to kill a victim, he believed that he should do it quickly; he was not to mutilate him, as Achilles does with Hektor 's body. By following this code, a hero gained a sense of dignity and a reputation for honor that would ensure his place in the social memory of his community.
Socrates, a Greek philosopher stated, "Look death in the face with joyful hope, and consider this a lasting truth: the righteous man has nothing to fear, neither in life, nor in death, and the Gods will not forsake him” (Socrates). This explains the basis for Greek beliefs that can be carried over to values and qualities of them. As in this, Homer, the author of The Odyssey, portrays many Greek values that make up a righteous man or as, Homer’s character Odysseus, an epic hero. The Odyssey is the story of King Odysseus' return from the Trojan War to his kingdom of Ithaca. Stories, like The Odyssey, are told with the intent of delivering a message that was important to their culture. Through characters and situations, The Odyssey promotes and emphasizes many important ancient Greek values such as hospitality, pride, and fate.
Throughout the Iliad, Homer portraits the extent to which honor plays a role in the lives of Greeks and the manner in which they are willing to sacrifice in order to reach their goals. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, a particularly long and bloody war, fought not over boundary disagreements, and not over political conflicts, and not to protect the nation. Rather, it was a war fought to defend the personal honor. The possession of women was important to a man’s standing and honor. Paris’ theft of Helen struck a huge blow to the honor of Menelaus and becomes the initial cause of the Trojan War. Consequently, Menelaus, the Spartan ruler, called upon his brother Agamemnon to gather the Greek forces to launch the war against Paris demanding the return of Helen and reinstating the honor for the king. The war lasted for ten years and cost innumerable Greeks’ lives and brought incurable pain upon their families. To Greek heroes, honor is more important than their life as much as that life would be meaningless without it, and they even willingly sacrifice their lives in order...
Homer's two central heroes, Odysseus and Achilles, are in many ways differing manifestations of the same themes. While Achilles' character is almost utterly consistent in his rage, pride, and near divinity, Odysseus' character is difficult to pin down to a single moral; though perhaps more human than Achilles, he remains more difficult to understand. Nevertheless, both heroes are defined not by their appearances, nor by the impressions they leave upon the minds of those around them, nor even so much by the words they speak, but almost entirely by their actions. Action is what drives the plot of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and action is what holds the characters together. In this respect, the theme of humanity is revealed in both Odysseus and Achilles: man is a combination of his will, his actions, and his relationship to the divine. This blend allows Homer to divulge all that is human in his characters, and all that is a vehicle for the idyllic aspects of ancient Greek society. Accordingly, the apparent inconsistencies in the characterization of Odysseus can be accounted for by his spiritual distance from the god-like Achilles; Achilles is more coherent because he is the son of a god. This is not to say that Achilles is not at times petty or unimaginative, but that his standards of action are merely more continuous through time. Nevertheless, both of Homer's heroes embody important and admirable facets of ancient Greek culture, though they fracture in the ways they are represented.
The world that Homer shows in the Iliad is a violent one, where war is not only a means of gaining wealth, but also the arena in which a man demonstrates his worth. The Greek army gathered in front of the walls of Troy exhibits the weaknesses and strengths of the Homeric world. Greece is not one nation, and the army of Greeks mirrors this. It is a collection of small city-states with a common culture and a common language, capable of coming together for a great enterprise, but also capable of being driven apart by petty squabbling. The common culture is based on acceptance of characteristics seen as virtuous: xeineia, or hospitality; agathos, the successful warrior; oikos, which means from noble birth; keleos, glory; pine, honor, which is a central motif throughout the Iliad; and finally, the ultimate virtue of arête, which stands for goodness or excellence and encompasses the other virtues. For Homer, a good man must be of noble family, strong, brave in battle, and wealthy. Earthly possessions show that a man has initiative and has the esteem of others. But the most important qualification to be considered a good man is honor, because honor is gained, not born into.
Homer is a well-known author who is recognized for shaping Greek culture. While Homer wrote, he would call upon the muse which would help him spread knowledge throughout his works. These muses were known for their source of inspiration which would guide writers such as, Homer into writing great works. Two of his famous pieces are poems called The Iliad and The Odyssey that in respect are referred to as some of the greatest ancient Greek epics ever written. These literary works have influenced Greek culture greatly and have presented themes that people can relate to today. In The Odyssey, a Greek hero, Odysseus, journeys back home after the Trojan War. Throughout this long voyage, Odysseus meets many people who take him in out of their own courtesy and hospitality. Within this text, the re-occurring theme of hospitality has had much significance and has also made a presence in today’s society. Xenia was common in the Greek culture; however, changes throughout society have made this form of hospitality a smaller occurrence today.
Ancient Greece and China had similar problems. They both had to deal with civil wars. They also dealt with rivers flooding. Lastly, they both had to deal with plague that killed a lot of the population in the Ancient lands.
"When in Rome, live as the Romans do; when elsewhere, live as they live elsewhere." Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a Roman or Greek? Well, Ancient Greece and Rome have influenced American society throughout the Roman Republic, Greek architecture, and Greek Olympics. There are many interesting facts you should know about Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome! Did you know that the first Olympic Games were held in 776 B.C. at the Greek city of Olympia? Or that the Colosseum received millions of visitors every year, and is the most famous tourist attraction of Rome? You can learn many things about how American society has been influenced by the Ancient Romans and Greeks.
The word “ancient” can be a hard word to describe. It has no specific time period, but also does at the same time. When something is described as ancient, it is something that is extremely old, or was in the very distant past. Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek civilizations co-existed from 1150BC to 146BC. They had different systems, beliefs, and life styles, just like how different countries do today. There were also similarities, such as both having a single person be the ruler, not giving equal power to everyone. For Greeks, this would be a king and for Egyptians, and Pharaoh. Both Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece believed in mythology – a similarity between the two. However, much of their mythology was different. Although both Egypt
Roman vs. Greek Civilization Although both Roman and Greek civilizations shared similarities in the areas of art and literature, their differences were many and prominent. Their contrasting aspects rest mainly upon political systems and engineering progress, but there are also several small discrepancies that distinguish between these two societies. This essay will examine these differences and explain why, ultimately, Rome was the more advanced civilization of the two. Greece, originally ruled by an oligarchy ("rule of the few"), operated under the premise that those selected to rule were selected based not upon birth but instead upon wealth.
The purpose of this essay is to intricately elaborate on the culture of the Romans, along with its similarities and discrepancies, or uniqueness, in relation to Ancient Greek culture. This is achieved by providing background to both Roman and Greek culture, analyzing how Rome technically purloined Greek culture, describing how unique Roman culture is, and explaining its long lasting impact on today's society.