Good Behavior In Ancient Greece And Rome

Practice Essay

In ancient Greece and Rome, the people practiced a polytheistic religion, in which they worshipped the gods of Olympus. They believed they had a reciprocal religion, meaning if they acted kindly toward the gods and worshipped them, that the gods would help them in their affairs in return. Since the Greeks and Romans did not have a standard holy book for their religion, the people had to decide for themselves their own beliefs on concepts like morality and justice. However, through myth, one can learn how the ancient Greeks and Romans viewed justice and injustice in the way the characters interact with one another and in the way certain characters are punished or rewarded for their actions.

The myths of Ancient and Greece reflect that good behavior is sometimes rewarded and bad behavior is consistently punished. In

In addition to this myth, the heroes of Greek myths and legends are rewarded for their services to mankind. For example, after the death of Heracles, the gods reward him by making him immortal and allowing him to live with them on Mount Olympus. Good behavior is only sometimes rewarded because the gods who enforce the system of reward and punishment focus more of their attention on people whom they can punish. There are far more Greek and Roman myths describing cautionary tales to dissuade people from practicing behaviors the society deems immoral or hubristic. For example, in the myth of Prometheus, Prometheus is severely punished for stealing fire and technical wisdom from the