A comparative analysis on Greek and Roman mythology.docx

1、A comparative analysis on Greek and Roman mythologyAbstract Greek and Roman mythology is of great academic value concerning the origin of western culture. However, it is often very hard to differ Greek mythology from Roman mythology since the modern scholars usually study them as a whole. The paper

2、will make a comparasion between the two system of myths form three aspects, including the view of world construction, the nature of gods and the values reflected from the heroic legends. Key words: Greek mythology; Roman mythology; world construction; value 摘要希腊罗马神话在探究西方文化起源方面具有重要的学术价值。然而，现代的研究通常都是不

3、加区分的将他们作为整体研究，因而人们通常都很难将两者区分开来。论文将主要从三个方面对这两个神话系统进行对比，即世界结构观，神的神性以及英雄传说中体现的价值观。关键词：希腊神话；罗马神话；世界结构；价值观A comparative analysis on Greek and Roman mythology IntroductionGreek mythology and Roman mythology together consist an important part of the western culture. They are usually mentioned undifferentia

4、tedly in academic studies so as to that people can not distinguished them. Very often, people can not tell the gods from these two myths apart since Roman mythology has introduced many gods from Greek mythology. A large number of the gods or goddess in Roman mythology has originated from Greek mytho

5、logy. It seems that Roman mythology is just a different version of Greek mythology. However, Roman mythology has its own meaning which is far from just being a duplicate of the Greek mythology. It is necessary to make a comparative study between them in order to see the differences and the uniquenes

6、s in Roman mythology. Roman mythology differs from Greek mythology in many perspectives such as the construction of the world, the nature of gods and the value hidden in the heroic legends. I. An introduction to Greek and Roman mythology A. Greek mythologyGreece and Rome are the cradle of western cu

7、lture. Greek and roman mythology, as the symbol of Greece and Rome, are therefore of great significance to the western culture. Greek mythology is a body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks. It is a collection of stories concerning many gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and

8、the origins and significance of their own cultural and ritual practices. The many stories of gods trys to explain the origins of the world, and details the lives in ancient Greece. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece and are part of religion in modern Greece. Modern studies of the myths t

9、end to throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece, its civilization, and to gain understanding of the nature of myth itself. . The Greek mythology we know today is a system which is made of stories from various sources including literary sources, archeological findings

10、. The oldest known Greek literary sources, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homers near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of

11、 human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Archaeological findings also provide a principal source for Greek mythology, with gods and heroes in the decoration of many artifacts or potteries.As a vast system, Greek mythology has an extensive influence on the arts,

12、 and the literature and the language of Western civilizations. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology. Also, Greek mythology had an influence on the culture of many commentary countries such as Rome. The Greek influence on Rome was explicitl

13、y exhibited in the Roman mythology. B. Roman mythologyLike Greek mythology, Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories of gods and heroes, concerning with ancient Romes legendary origins and religious system. as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. The Romans usually

14、treated their traditional narratives as historical, even when these have miraculous or supernatural elements. The stories are often concerned with politics and morality, and how an individuals personal integrity relates to his or her responsibility to the community or Roman state. Heroism is an impo

15、rtant theme. When the stories illuminate Roman religious practices, they are more concerned with ritual, augury, and institutions than with theology or cosmogony. Roman mythology has greatly influenced by Greek mythology with respect to the reinterpretation of Greek myths with a Roman version in Rom

16、an mythology. During Romes protohistory, Greek religion had an influenced on the whole Italian peninsula. In that time, Greek mythology had introduced into Rome. In later time, there had been a popular period artistic imitation of Greek literary models by Roman authors. These factors results in Roma

17、ns eager to identify their own gods with those of the Greeks, and reinterpretation of the stories about Greek deities under the names of their Roman counterparts. Romes early myths and legends also have a dynamic relationship with Etruscan religion, less documented than that of the Greeks. While Rom

18、an mythology may lack a body of divine narratives as extensive as that found in Greek literature, Romulus and Remus suckling the she-wolf is as famous as any image from Greek mythology except for the Trojan Horse. Because Latin literature was more widely known in Europe throughout the Middle Ages an

19、d into the Renaissance, the interpretations of Greek myths by the Romans often had the greater influence on narrative and pictorial representations of classical mythology than Greek sources. In particular, the versions of Greek myths in Ovids Metamorphoses, written during the reign of Augustus, came

20、 to be regarded as canonical.II. The differences between Greek and Roman mythologyWhen we are learning about Greek and Roman mythology, we can often find that the names of the gods are confusing since they are often two versions of gods names. It could often happen that we see same stories but diffe

21、rence names of the characters. Because of Roman mythologys introduction of many gods from Greek mythology. A large number of the gods or goddess in Roman mythology has originated from Greek mythology. We couldnt in many cases distinguish them. It seems that Roman mythology is just a different versio

22、n of Greek mythology. However, Roman mythology has its own meaning which is far from just being a duplicate of the Greek mythology. In the following part, the difference between Roman mythology and Greek mythology in the perspectives of the construction of the world, the nature of gods and the value

23、 hidden in the heroic legends are discussed.A. The construction of the world in the mythsThere is an obvious different interpretation of the construction of the world in the Greek mythology and Roman mythology. In Greek mythology, the world is in an oval universe. There are five part in the world wh

24、ich are humans land, the unknown ocean, the chaos at the end of the ocean, heaven on the Mount Olympus where gods and goddess live, and the underground where giants lives. The heaven, ocean and the chaos are governed respectively by three main gods, Zeus, Poseidon and Hardis. The land where human li

25、ves is co-governed by these three gods. But the underground is left aside with the giants keeping in the underground world. Greek mythology has recorded the origin of the world in a romantic way. It is said that the oldest god in the beginning of the universe is Chaos. He marks the beginning of the

26、world and the myth. Then, Gaea and Tartarus were born. After that, Gaea gave birth to twelve Ouranos meaning the sky and Oceanus meaning the ocean. Also, at the bottom of the earth, Erevus, meaning darkness and Night gave birth to Light and Day. After that, twelve Titans were born. These twelve tita

27、ns later became the forefathers of gods Greek mythology. The main gods in the mythology were all descents of the twelve titans. We can see that in the perspective of Greek mythology, there is a formation process of the world from the chaos and the appearance of light give brightness to the world. Th

28、e personification of the nature explain the formation process of the wold. This is a romantic imagination of the world origin and the construction of the world.However, in Roman mythology, we see no such romantic explanation of the world construction as found in Greek mythology. In fact, there are n

29、o record of the origin of the world in Roman myths. The old Rome did have its own tales about the early world before the many gods. But they were mostly related to the history of Rome. Only after the establishment of the Roman Republic, roman poets started to model the Greek mythology to write their

30、 own myths. Thus, the well-recorded part of the Roman mythology lacks the description of the world formation. It mostly concern with its own country rather than the world. Seen from the perception of the origin of the world, Greek mythology are more of an attempt to understand the existence of the w

31、orld and are more aware of the outside world. But Roman mythology are more concerned about itself, mainly dealing with what is related to themselves. B. The nature of godsThe gods paly a dominant role in the myths. The rise and fall of the gods and the hierarchy in the gods determines the creativene

32、ss of the myths. We can in further step explore the nature of the gods from the internal relationship between the gods. In Greek mythology, there are mainly two groups of gods which is the Titan protoss and Olympus protoss. These two group of gods govern the world in an interchange manner. The main

33、gods in Greek mythology is the father of gods, Zeus who is an almighty. He has an dominant power on other gods. He is an absolute authority who can not bear any question. Having an absolute superior, the giants and the Titan protoss can not have threat on its dominant position. Although, the Olympus protoss have