Etruscans Losing Their Edge Analysis

In the article “Etruscans, Losing Their Edge,” Annie Dillard digs into the Etruscan culture. Inspired by the photographic work of Carol Munder, Dillard asks the question of what were these people like, in order to gain an understanding of their culture through their remnants, statues of bronze. Dillard proceeds to explain the history of the Etruscans and how little is known about them. The Etruscans were hated during their short and cruel reign. The Romans swiftly conquered the Etruscans, banishing them into the cold, dark pages of history books. Dillard concludes by asking why we do not immortalize ourselves in bronze like the Etruscans (59-62). People should not waste their time making useless statues of themselves; people should spend their lives creating a legacy. Throughout history, many cultures have died out and vanished. When cultures fail, lack of infrastructure is often to blame. “In five centuries, it had all collapsed and vanished. By the eighth century B.C. the Etruscans had a single culture apparently based on their religion, whatever that was” (Dillard 62). The Etruscans ceased to exist because the Romans had a better infrastructure than they did. The Etruscans were undermined by the people that they had recently engulfed. The question still remains; should these dying

The theory of its action was first fully expounded by Charles Darwin and is now believed to be the main process that brings about evolution” (Natural). This is the reason that some cultures die out. Many of the cultures today only exist because of natural selection. Cultures should be allowed to die out because they provide useful information for future cultures on what should not happen. Past cultures lay the framework for our current cultures, as well as cultures that will be formed in the future. All that remains from past peoples is their