Greek v.

Roman Culture
The old gods have the beauty and goodness of the sun, the sea, the wind,
the mountains, great wild animals; splendid, powerful, and dangerous realities that
do not come within the sphere of human morality, and are in no way concerned
about the human race (A.H. Armstrong). As the world has seen many, many ancient
civilizations, Greece and Rome were two of the most famous. Greek and Roman
mythology and culture while containing many similarities, are vastly different. The
Roman culture is one based around violence, while Greek culture valued intelligence
and logic. Even with these differences they both used art and literature to worship
gods and represent their values.

The ancient society of Rome was quite violent. Romulus and Remus, the
founding myth of Rome, gives a good example of how violent Romans were.
Romulus and Remus were said to be the sons of the Roman god of war, Mars. The
myth also states that both brothers were raised by a female wolf. Wolves are known
for having a violent nature and a pack hierarchy. The myth ends with Romulus killing
off Remus, becoming the first king of Rome. This myth resembles the warlike and
violent society of Rome by showing that the Romans will do anything for power even
going as far as killing kinsmen. Another factor that contributed to the violent nature
of Rome was the Colosseum. Of course it was just entertainment to the Romans.
The Colosseum not only entertained the citizens, but it emphasized punishments for
criminals, war prisoners, and traitors. Watching a lion eat somebody to pieces or a
gladiator kill someone for fun is a pretty good incentive not to steal or go against the
Emperor. The Colosseum was also home to Roman gladiators. Gladiators fought in
the fights to the death to entertain the citizens of Rome. Executions were performed

in the Colosseum as well, which were very violent and due to the public spectators.
Emperors were very powerful in Rome. They were so powerful and influential, that if
he wanted a senator dead, he could easily slip that senator a note to kill themselves
and the senator would without question. These show how violent ancient Rome
really was, but ancient Greece was very different.

While Rome was a violent culture, Greece had a culture that valued
intelligence and logic. The Greek myths are very famous, but compared to Roman
mythology, the heroes are profoundly more logical and intelligent than their Roman
counterparts. A good example that shows how logical and intelligent Greek heroes
are in their respective myths is Hercules and his 12 labours. In his second labour,
Hercules was sent to kill the many headed Hydra. After trying to defeat it, he only
ended up with a hydra with more heads. Hercules retreated from the marsh he was
fighting in and rejoining with his nephew, who stood at the edge waiting with a torch,
and devised a plan. His nephew was to stand by with the torch while Hercules cut
off the hydras heads and once a head was cut off, his nephew was to cauterize the
stump with the torch, preventing two more heads from forming. The show of
Hercules using the torch was a logical strategy to get what he needed, a very good
representation of his intelligence. Greece was also very famous for its philosophers,
such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Aristotle, as a philosopher was very
interested in the knowledge that is gained through the five senses and all the
endeavours of humans - politics, botany, medicine, ethical philosophy, etc. While
Aristotle was interested in what knowledge people gained, Socrates concerned
himself with why people did what they did and Plato followed Socrates and founded
one of the most famous philosophy schools in the world called the Academy.

Philosophers, especially in this day and age, are seen as very wise men with
unlimited amounts of intelligence. Greece had a very long list of different rulers and
different governments, but eventually they ended up being very close to a
democratic government. The democratic government allowed the people to choose
their government and help run it too. Moving to a democratic government was a
choice of logic made by Greece to help their society grow intelligently. Ancient
Greece was very into logic and intelligence and it was very prevalent in their society.

Rome and Greece do have many differences, but they do have a fair amount
similarities, especially in their way of showing their religion and values through art
and literature. There are many famous pieces of written work that come from
Greece and Rome, some of the most famous were poems. Homer is the most
famous Greek poet when thinking of Greek writing. His most famous poems are the
Iliad and the Odyssey, both very long poems telling stories based around Greek
myths and the Grecian culture. What is considered the national epic of Rome, The
Aeneid was actually a piece based on Homers Odyssey and Iliad written by the
poet Virgil. Virgil is seen as one of Romes greatest poets, and even today in
Western literature is influenced by his work. Rome and Greece were very influential
with their different types of arts, which includes architecture and plays. Rome wasnt
the most original when it came to architecture, but they used what they had to their
advantage and made their buildings beautiful and influential. Concrete was called
the miracle of Roman building, they used it as a foundation for arches and walls,
making the building process of tall buildings faster. When it came to Grecian art,
sculptures are the most famous. The main materials that the Greek sculptors used
were marble and bronze, two very hard materials to work with. Art and literature was

the main similarities in both civilizations.

Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece have many similarities, their writing, art
and worship, but also still have very big differences. Through seeing the different
philosophers, their democratic government, and how Hercules used logical and
strategic thinking to defeat the Hydra, it shows how much Ancient Greece valued
intelligence and logic in their culture. While seeing all the logic and intelligence from
Greece, Rome shows through its founding myth, the emperors power over his
subjects, and its very different entertainment, its a very violent culture. Both Rome
and Greece are two of the most famous ancient societies. As Tacitus once said,
Great empires are not maintained by timidity.

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