Myth in the Ancient World - Assignment Example

MYTH IN THE ANCIENT WORLD by Your Name Presented to Professor Name Class Name University of Name Location, December 20, 2010 Question One Livy's History of Rome furnishes a historical account of ancient Roman times which comes from oral tradition, official temple annals with regards to record keeping, and personal records kept by famous Roman families. What readers get when they encounter Livy's version of the beginnings of Rome and where Rome came from is a brief few paragraphs that make their best attempt at stating the facts. Deities from Roman mythology such as Juno and Jupiter are missing from Livy's paragraphs and so are excessive embellishments of Aeneas and his conquests. Livy's account of the founding of Rome is one which caters to the literary audience of his time, and it is an interesting one. He mentions the defeat and alliance with Latinus as well as the defeat of Turnus. He devotes a few short sentences to Aeneas and succinctly discusses what was most likely the last of his battles. The account of the founding of Rome from History of Rome is one that concentrates on relevant subjects which may have been verifiable by records available to Livy at that time in Roman history.(Livy 2004) Differences from the narrative from the sixth chapter of the Aeneid are obvious. While History of Rome by Livy is short and factual, the Aeneid is descriptive and notional. Prophesies, places like the river Styx, and characters like Sibyl make the version of Rome's founding found in the Aeneid one much different from Livy's brief and factual History of Rome. Aeneas has a fanciful journey through the underworld during the course of the Aeneid, and readers learn a significant amount about ancient Roman thoughts on the afterlife through the Aeneid, but the addition of mythic elements makes the tale a far different type of chronicle. Romulus and Remus are characters in a mythological narration that truly has unique elements. The sons of Rhea Silvia and a character who has a place amongst the Grecian-roman pantheon of deities are left to die and are rescued by a she-wolf. They grow to be natural leaders with many followers and kill Amulius, the brother of the deposed Numitor. After restoring Numitor to the throne of Alba Longa, they become the founders of a city. Roman deities and leaders are recurring themes in numerous ancient stories, but the insertion of the she-wolf as well Romulus and Remus being brothers are two components which make the tale unusual. Shaping and influences coming from Greek myth can be seen throughout the Roman foundation legend. Greek tales have more of a focus on singular heroes and myths while Roman myths center more on normal, mortal people. Romulus and Remus may have been related to a deity, but neither were demigods with special, otherworldly qualities. The Greek and Roman pantheon of divinities are almost exactly the same except for their names, and the differences in mythology are subtle. Question Two Lucretia and Verginia are two separate characters from two different era in Rome's history, and they actually have some similarities despite the fact that they are totally unrelated to each other. Both women are initially known for their virtue and chastity; both belong to families that are have a strong place within Roman society. Each ancient Roman lady is exploited by a male in her community and comes to a bad end. Sextus Tarquinius and Appius Claudius are characters who have common traits, as well. The two men are typical Roman bullies. Sextus Tarquinius, the youngest son of the final king of Rome, violates Lucretia's chastity. Appius Claudius is more cunning, clever, and manipulative and a great deal less bold with his claim that Verginia is a slave belonging to Marcus Claudius. Each of the men has a position within Roman society that allows him to use force to get what he wants, and neither of them hesitates to do so. Roman culture, in literature and history, places an importance on its military endeavors as well as its male leaders. Livy's History of Rome with its tales of Lucretia and Verginia illustrate this quite well for readers who hear about the conquests of Sextus Tarquinius and Appius Claudius and their subsequent influences on Rome. While female virginity valued, gods, goddesses, myths, and masculinity are the morally superior, more greatly valued things. Roman culture is one where male beauty, aspirations, and successes are most fundamental. Livy's History of Rome provides the reader with an account of ancient Roman history rife with the influences of Livy's time. Readers are given a historical account that is far from being an objective one supported by evidence in the way that modern readers are accustomed to. Much of the evidence supporting Livy's historical account of ancient Rome is little more than hearsay and conjecture. Lucretia and Verginia's fates are unfortunate, but how much of an effect they truly had on the turns Roman politics took in ancient times is a subject that is anyone's guess. Livy's History of Rome tells us how Romans viewed their historical past during Livy's time, but it doesn't tell us all of what actually happened during they time the stories were set in. (Livy 2004) The legends of Lucretia and Verginia differ from other Roman myths because Lucretia and Vergnia are both mortal women. Not only are they both mortal women, but the other characters introduced to readers as the tale unfolds are also mortal. Roman deities play no part in the historical plot. Livy's audience hears history that concerns regular human beings. While the stories of Lucretia and Verginia may be just as much myth as they are history, they are both myths that are quite a bit different from many myths relating to ancient Rome. Instead of someone running off to fly a chariot to impress Apollo, the events that occur are things which are actually feasible for a normal person to actually go through with doing. Question Three Aeneas has a multitude of positive qualities which come together to make him an exemplary Roman hero. For those who remember reading the Iliad, Aeneas is a character to appears more like a person who needs rescuing than one who has the qualities of a hero. The Aeneid shows readers of Roman mythology that Aeneas is a character who does indeed stand out as a Roman hero. His mission is to lead Troy's refugees to Italy, and that places him in a much more challenging role than his role in the Iliad. As readers follow his escapades during the course of the myth, he appears to be working not only to gain glory for himself, but to also win glory for his father and son. He wages war, journeys to the underworld, and even gets lost at sea for a bit. The greatness of the things he does make him the hero of the tale. Aeneas is certainly a spectacular hero, but he is definitely one who isn't perfect. Dido is a character who Aeneas more or less falls short. He doesn't lover her, but she falls in love with him. Juno wants the couple to stay together, but Jupiter does not. Jupiter and Juno interfere in order to satisfy their own personal ends, and Dido commits suicide as Aeneas leaves for Italy. While the relationship is far from being one that exists without the influence of the gods, it is one which Aeneas fails in. Jupiter's manipulative influence is something that readers of this myth may find quite impossible to deny. During Aeneas and Dido's relationship, Jupiter's desires and favor towards the Trojans win in the end. The prophesies and omens he gives during the early parts of the Aeneid demonstrate the power that he has on those around him. Other gods and goddesses seek out Jupiter in order to ask for help with their personal issues, and he clearly stands out as the King of the Gods. His favor with respect to the survivors of the destroyed city of Troy makes him an extremely coercive omnipotent character who makes himself familiar to readers throughout the course of the narrative. (Virgil & Lind, Levi Robert 1963) When Aeneas ignores the pleas of Turnus and kills him in a fit of reasonless fury, readers may have a tendency to judge his actions harshly; however, the killing of Turnus is an act that makes Aeneas into a somewhat less perfect hero, and it makes him appear more reachable and human. Turnus is the character who initiates the hostile encounter, and that makes him a bit less of a character that readers may be likely to sympathize with. The course of action that Aeneas takes is one that many other characters in his place would also choose, and it isn't surprising that Aeneas is a hero who follows the baser of his desires when denying Turnus and his pleas for mercy. He kills Turnus for reasons that seem obvious to him, and that act is not one which makes him any less of a hero. Question Four After Aeneas conquers, Ovid's Metamorphoses takes readers in a different direction with regards to a different viewpoint concerning mythology. Ovid's version of Hesiod's different races is one with many similarities. Readers are introduced to the golden age, the silver age, he bronze age, and the iron age. The first race of man is that of the race of bronze, and the first race of man is annihilated by a flood. What is different between Hesiod and Ovid is that Hesiod gives his readers five separate races of men while Ovid fixates his focus on only the four separate periods of time. Hesiod gives readers an age of heroes between the ages of bronze and iron, and Ovid does not. Throughout Ovid's mythological narrative, brief stories illustrate the relationship between gods and mortals. The theme of transformation is one that is carried through many of the stories of Ovid's Metamorphoses, and stories like that of Phaethon and Apollo, Jove and Lycason, and Apollo and Daphne provide readers with tales of transformation that depict the nature of the relationship between mortals and deities. Love is another theme Ovid's readers find amongst his tales. Ovid's narratives elevate the aspirations of mortals while concurrently mocking the loves of the gods. When Apollo pursues Daphne, what he wants is for her to return his love. Daphne desires to be like the goddess Diana, and she doesn't reciprocate his feelings. The myth ends with Daphne becoming a laurel tree, and Apollo decides that the laurel tree will be his sacred tree. The ending is not exactly what one would call a happy one, but it is certainly not a total loss. Daphne's transformation into a laurel tree provides Ovid's readers with a sense of closure and a bit of insight on Roman thoughs with regards to love. Although she is transformed, Daphne carries on as a part of the forest foliage, and Apollo has his laurel tree. Ovid's tells his audience stories of transformation, and he isn't being ironic when he communicates to his readers that Rome will last forever. From his point of view, there may have not been any reason to assume that Rome would not last eternally. The fact that Ovid's Metamorphoses outlived the ancient Roman empire may be a bit ironic, but it appears as if that wasn't Ovid original intention. Ovid's statements implying that Rome would last eternally seem to come from a sense of civic pride as well as his own attachment to Roman culture.(Ovid 2003) Ovid tells us about Julius Ceasar's greatness and implies that Ceasar's illustriousness and importance gave him an aura of divinity. Ovid's Metamorphoses relies on myth in a manner that is significantly more blatant and tremendous than Livy's History of Rome. Ovid's short story format and focus on recurring themes instead of a singular hero make his work a bit different from the Aeneid, the Iliad, and the Odyssey, but his use of Roman mythology is what sets him apart from Livy. Readers of Ovid's account are provided with a Jove who foresees Augustus, the first Roman emperor, having a prosperous reign. References Apollodorus, Robin H 1998 The Library of Greek Mythology Oxford University Press, NY Evslin, Bernard, & Evslin, Dorothy & Hoopes, Ned 1967 Heroes and Monsters of Greek Myth Scholastic, Inc, NY Homer & Eickhoff, Randy L 2004 The Odyssey New American Library, NY. Homer & Rouse, William H.D. 1966 The Iliad New American Library, NY Lefkowitz, Mary R. 2007 Women in Greek Myth Johns Hopkins University Press, MD. Livy 2004 The History of Rome Oxford University Press, NY Ovid, Metamorphoses 2003 New American Library, NY. Woodard, Roger D. 2007 The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology Cambridge University Press, NY Virgil & Lind, Levi Robert 1963 The Aeneid New American Library, NY Read More