“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, …show more content…
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 but only ending 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 hydra’s heads and once a head was cut off, his nephew was to cauterize the stump with the torch, preventing two more heads from forming. Greece was also very famous for it’s 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 things that humans are into - politics, botany, medicine, ethical philosophy, etc. While Aristotle was interested in what knowledge people gained, Socrates concerned himself in 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. Greece had a very long list of different rulers and different governments, but eventually they …show more content…
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 Homer’s “Odyssey” and “Iliad” written by the poet Virgil. Virgil is seen as one of Rome’s greatest poets, and even today 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 wasn’t 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