What did the afterlife meant to Roman and Norse society? Back in the days, ones afterlife was essential since it set the behavior in ones normal life. While the Romans adapted a similar culture of the Greeks, the Vikings worshiped a pantheon of gods and goddesses, each one representing a different aspect of life.
The Romans and Vikings had several levels in their afterlife; both shared similar characteristics, but also different aspects. The Romans had a level called Elysian Fields where the warriors and heroes went, basically the people who have done well for mankind. The version of the Norse society was called Valhalla, where one would join Odin and train for the final battle called Ragnarök. If one had been a good citizen, that person would continue to live a good life as a shade in the Plain of Asphodel if one resided in Rome. The Plain of Asphodel is alike Fólkvangr, were the Scandinavian would join the goddess Freyja (wife of Odin). The next two stages were the ones a person would not like to be in: Tartarus in Roman mythology and Hel in Norse mythology. One ended up in Tarta...
Document 5 is a tombstone with an engraving that’s about the afterlife, showing that the Romans believed in the afterlife. Many religions such as Christianity believe in an afterlife as well, except in Christianity its called heaven. Document 8 shows a chart showing and describing some Roman gods. The U.S. allows for the freedom of religion but none of the largest religions really can relate to the Polytheistic gods of the Romans. Nonetheless this contrast shows where our cultures start to shows a difference.
According to the Romans, people are sent to the River of Forgetfulness so they can reincarnate into another life. However, those who have acted badly in their lives do not have the option of reincarnation reincarnation, and, instead, must stay in perdition forever. The Blackfeet Indians believed in a ghost camp afterlife where all the dead went In the reading it did never say if good or bad people live there or if all dead people go there or only some; in this story there isn’t much information discussing the afterlife so I don’t really understand everything about what they thought would happen to you after death. The third myth is about what the Mantu think about the afterlife. In neither of the stories it really discusses much about it, the first myth the Man who would shoot Iruwa just talks about how the sun gods guard the underworld nothing more. In the second myth the girl who Wanted New Teeth all it talks about regarding the afterlife is that the chief, Imana brought back the woman’s children. One of the most interesting things in it was the egyptian mythology. It says once before entering the
The god they worshiped above all gods was Òõinn, who was the head of all gods and is said to be the father of many of the gods (Gunnell 357). The Vikings believe that Òõinn sits in a high chair where he can watch over the whole entire world with his huge eye. They also believe that he is who breathes the first breathe into the first humans. The Vikings say that Òõinn is very popular with the warriors, which the Vikings consider themselves being, but they also mention that they aren’t sure if Òõinn wants those warriors’ dead or alive (Gunnell 358). The reason the Vikings say this because there are stories that mention the warriors alive and dead. The alive warriors are fighting battles for Òõinn and protecting him. The dead warriors are also preparing for a battle, a battle way more intense than the alive warriors ever fought. The battle of Ragnarok, which is the last battle at the end of the world. The Vikings also connect the living and the dead with the factor of Òõinn only having one eye, they believe that he has one living eye and one dead eye (Gunnell
Afterlife to the Greeks back then was far more important and sacred than living life itself. Everything they did while they were alive was to please the many gods they worshipped. They built temples for their Gods, made statues to symbolize their Gods, and had a different God to explain things that we now say are an act of mother nature. It may seem rather foolish to us when we study their beliefs and compare them to modern day beliefs. I am sure the Greeks would have considered us to be heathens and put us to death for our ways and beliefs.
In a succession myth, the familial relationship between the gods is significant. In the three works: The Babylonian Enuma Elish, The Hittite Illuyanka Myths (version 2) and the Greek Theogony by Hesiod; it can be argued that the succession of the gods is a reflection of their power and that this power eventually leads to a redistribution of position within the gods. In the Babylonian Enuma Elish, each generation of god is proclaimed to be stronger than the last and eventually this culmination of power leads to Marduk killing his great-great grandmother. In the Illuyanka myths (version 2) there is a decrease of power in the line of succession but the power is restored to the Storm God in the form of his heart and his eyes. In the Greek poet Hesiod’s Theogony, gods and monsters (Cyclopes) also become more powerful with each succession and Zeus overthrows his father fulfilling the prophecy given by Heaven and Earth.
The Viking era existed from 800 AD to 1200 AD and during 1000 AD Christianity began to have major influence in the Viking culture (Roesdahl 27). A major religion that shaped the Viking culture is Nordic Paganism (Williams). According to Stephen Henkin who wrote an article called the Viking Fury, the Vikings admired and tried to live up to the character traits they saw their gods portraying(Henkin ). Stephen Henkin suggested that character traits the Vikings saw in the Nordic gods are virile qualities: brutality, anger, lust, and humor (Henkin). The Vikings attempted to try to shape their character from the character traits they saw their gods portraying believing that they should try to acquire these characteristics to make their gods happy. Nordic Paganism was polytheistic with the main gods being Odin, Thor and Frey (“The Pagan Library”).
The way the Etruscans perspective the afterlife and death was unique compared to the others culture at the time. For example in their tombs, where death should be focused, the Etruscans focused more on life instead on death. In the history of the Etruscans art the notion of death is rarely shown or mention. There was no depiction of actually death or scenes of a spiritual journey to the afterlife. What the Etruscans did was creating a home for the dead, focusing on connecting the life of the body with the life of the spirit.
"Norse Mythology: The Valkyries: The Chooser of the Slain." Norse Mythology. Accessed May 29, 2014. http://www.viking-mythology.com/valkyries.php.
A common question many civilizations shared and strived to answer was about death and the afterlife. In Ancient Egypt, the lives of many citizens centered around a prosperous future in death. In fact, Ancient Egyptians believed life continued on in death. For this reason, they yearned to live justly as citizens of Egypt. If not, then the gods would deem them unworthy of entering heaven, or paradise. This was Ancient Egypt, a society seemingly obsessed with the afterlife and enriched with funeral practices. Their worship of pharaohs and gods, detailed inscriptions about mummification, and elaborate tombs influenced their constant strive towards achieving everlasting peace in the afterlife.
There are multiple views on death and the afterlife and each view is different depending on the religion or belief that someone practices. Some religions believe in a heaven but not a hell, some believe in both and others do not believe in either. The religions that are practiced today were created by our ancient ancestors who had the ability to think beyond themselves. Practicing a religion and having an idea of death and an afterlife back in ancient times laid a foundation on how religion is seen and practiced today. Mesopotamians, Egyptians and Hindu’s created the concept of death and life after death through what they believed and practiced in ancient times.
Jesus Christ’s life and mission, which is now present worldwide, is the origin of the Roman Catholicism. Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became man, died and rose from the dead to redeem humanity from sin (Catholic Truth Society, 3). He passed his mission of salvation to the Catholic Church through his apostles and then their successors (Catholic Truth Society, 4).
Afterlife is what affected the people of Achen’s view of time. They were thinking about heaven and their life in eternity. In Pompeii, people were concerned with their every day life and chores.
If there is one constant in this world, it would surely be death. Dying is an unavoidable part of life. Indeed, everything that lives will at sometime die. The fear of death is held by everyone. Perhaps it is the correlation of death with pain or the unknown state of the human consciousness after death, maybe a combination of both, that creates this fear. The fear felt is undoubtedly universal, however, the ways in which it is dealt with are varied and diverse.
Leon Battista Alberti once said, “Men can do all things if they will.” The Florentine architect perfectly summarized the greatest value of the age of rebirth. The Renaissance, meaning “rebirth” was an era of European prosperity lasting from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century. Greco-Roman culture was reintroduced to the lives of dismal Europeans. As a result, the dark Middle Ages were transformed into a new period of radiance and opulence. Contrary to the practice of self denial during the Dark Ages, people began to live lives of hedonism during the Renaissance. Furthermore, intellectuals emphasized human worth. In order to live more pleasant lives and become well rounded people, they began to appreciate education, and the beauty of art. The antiquity-inspired principles of the Renaissance were preserved to this day in the numerous masterpieces of the Italian and Northern Renaissance.
Hundreds of years ago people did not have the technology to explain different forces of nature. They created gods, each with separate powers, to rule their domains. Some of the gods were merciful, some were wicked, and others were merely servants of more powerful gods. Looking at the gods, it is easy to tell what the civilization most valued. I am going to look at the Greek and the Norse gods to compare what was most important to their societies.