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Comparison between ancient Greece and ancient Rome
Comparison between ancient Greece and ancient Rome
Ancient Greece and Rome Comparison
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Petronius’ Satyricon takes full advantage of satire to bring certain aspects of ancient Roman society to the forefront. Satire is used for both humor and for proving points in an over the top manner using exaggeration and overemphasis, and Satyricon is full of both. While there are examples of this throughout the book there are a few aspects that are especially relevant during “Trimalchio’s Dinner Party.” Two of the biggest areas of society that he is making fun of in the dinner scene are the interchangeability of history and mythology, and the unquestioning position given by status and privilege. Outside of the dinner scene, there are exaggerations abounding with regards to sexuality, and more specifically homosexuality. All of these combine …show more content…
Throughout the dinner scene Trimalchio does and says things that no normal person would do, and Encolpius rightly questions the reasoning behind many of his actions silently. Outwardly he simply thinks that this is simply what rich people do and I must act accordingly and cheer on these obscure behaviors in order to fit in. At one point they even compare say that he is more wise than famous astronomers after his description of the zodiac platter that he brings in. (pg. 28) But it isn’t all perfect for Trimalchio. When Trimalchio is out of ear shot, Encolpius asked another member of the party about his wife and he goes on to tell him the full story and how he is excessive and also makes of of all of the riche members at the party in general. (pg. 26-27) In other scenes throughout the book, the portrayal of wealth helps Encolpius and his friends get out of some situations and help them accomplish their goals as well. It is heavily implied that Encolpius and his companions had convinced someone that they were wealthier than they truly were in order to be allowed in and treated with such respect during the dinner party that they were able to save the life of a slave. (pgs 21) Also, upon their arrival at Croton, they are told if they are “sophisticated people,” than they should be able to manipulate the people …show more content…
Satyricon brings to life in more ways than one, a day in the life of a Roman citizen who lives in extremes. By taking the satirized aspects of Satyricon, with the interchangeability of history and mythology, the over importance of wealth and power, and the open amount of homosexuality, and comparing them to historical records of the Romans, we can much more easily see how the common Roman may have lived. Satyricon does not lack in importance for Roman historians, and the significant amount of satire that envelops the book is not excluded from its value. In fact without the satire, it would just be another historical record that may or may not be trusted as a reliable source. Thankfully, that is not the case, and we should all be grateful for
From ages past, the actions of conquerors, kings and tyrants had brought the Roman Republic to a stance that opposed any idea of a singular leader, of a single man that held total power over the entirety of the state. Their rejection of the various ruthless Etruscan rulers that had previously dictated them brought the Republic to existence in 509 BC , and as a republic their prominence throughout the provinces of the world exponentially expanded. Throughout these years, the traditions of the Romans changed to varying degrees, most noticeably as a result of the cultural influence that its subject nations had upon the republic, as well as the ever-changing nature of Roman society in relation to then-current events. However, it was not until the rise of Augustus, the first of a long line of succeeding emperors, that many core aspects of the Republic were greatly changed. These were collectively known as the “Augustan Reforms”, and consisted of largely a variety of revisions to the social, religious, political, legal and administrative aspects of the republic’s infrastructure. Through Augustus, who revelled in the old traditional ways of the past, the immoral, unrestraint society that Rome was gradually falling to being was converted to a society where infidelities and corruption was harshly looked upon and judged. The Roman historian Suetonius states, “He corrected many ill practices, which, to the detriment of the public, had either survived the licentious habits of the late civil wars, or else originated in the long peace” . Through Augustus and his reforms, the Republic was transformed into an Empire, and through this transformation, Rome experienced one of its greatest and stabl...
In contrast to the publicity spin of today’s tabloids, ‘losers attract notoriety,’ (Fear, 2008, p, 6) Roman society was no different with one’s reputation of paramount importance and continually defended. Antony and Cleopatra’s union was ammunition for Octavian and propaganda used against the couple in their pursuing battle of Actium. (Fear, 2008, p.7.)
Kurt Vonnegut said in The Vonnegut Statement (1973), in an interview with Robert Scholes, that one of his reasons for writing is "to poison minds with humanity…to encourage them to make a better world" (107). This idea works quite well in Vonnegut's book, Cat's Cradle. It is a satirical story of a man's quest to write a book about the day the world ended (refering to the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima), which he never finishes. What we get is a raw look at humans trying desperately to find a sense of purpose in their lives through different means such as religion, science, etc.
Trimalchio hosts’ a farewell dinner which is a dinner given to gladiators who were about to face wild beasts in the arena. Trimalchio is a Semitic name based on the word for “prince” and he is a high living individual. However, a well-born Roman reader would not approve of his attitudes and behavior. You get a good sense of what Trimalchio is like early on in the story when he is in the middle of talking to Menelaus and snaps his fingers for a slave to bring him a pot. When the slave brings the pot to Trimalchio he peed in it, asked for water and then used the slave’s hair to dry his hands. (19) Trimalchio had many slaves, some of their jobs were miniscule(petty) that it consisted of them standing near the dining room door and saying “right feet first!” as people enter. Not only do his slaves have (silly) jobs, they are repremended for the littlest of things. When a slave dropped a cup by mistake at dinner Trimalchio responded by saying “go kill yourself, you useless piece of trash.” (37) A well-born Roman wouldn’t appreciate how Trimalchio treats people, it is puzzling he treats them so poorly since he was once a slave himself.
Livy’s The Rise of Rome serves as the ultimate catalogue of Roman history, elaborating on the accomplishments of each king and set of consuls through the ages of its vast empire. In the first five books, Livy lays the groundwork for the history of Rome and sets forth a model for all of Rome to follow. For him, the “special and salutary benefit of the study of history is to behold evidence of every sort of behaviour set forth as on a splendid memorial; from it you may select for yourself and for your country what to emulate, from it what to avoid, whether basely begun or basely concluded.” (Livy 4). Livy, however, denies the general populace the right to make the same sort of conclusions that he made in constructing his histories. His biased representation of Romulus and Tarquin Superbus, two icons of Roman history, give the readers a definite model of what a Roman should be, instead of allowing them to come to their own conclusion.
Livy. The Rise of Rome: Books One to Five. Trans. T. J. Luce. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Livius, Titus. The Early History of Rome. Trans. Aubrey De Sélincourt. London: Penguin Group, 2002. N. pag. Print.
In my opinion this book is not the evaluation of how approximately fifty million people from two thousand years ago thought about the world that they lived in at the time, but about how a few dozen men wrote about it, in a viewpoint illustrative of only a few thousand. In order to support her view, Edith Hamilton tries to bring these people together, threading together their common thoughts and ideologies. Save for the fact that this book only represents a handful of Roman citizens and the way that they saw the world in which they lived, I do feel like I got a better understanding of the “Roman Way” and the way that life was back then. Along with the history that I learned in class on the subject it makes me be able to picture it better in my mind’s-eye.
Shuckburgh, Evelyn Shirley. A history of Rome to the battle of Actium. London: Macmillan and Co., 1917.
Marcel Le Glay, Jean-Louis Voisin, Yann Le Bohec. A History of Rome. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
Tiberius Sempronius and Gaius Sempronius Gracchus were born into one of Rome’s most politically connected families of their generation. This in turn, benefitted both of their short controversial political careers. Tiberius Gracchus, the eldest of the two, was described by Florus as “a man who easily stood out from others in birth, appearance and eloquence...” (n.d., p. 221) and Velleius identified Tiberius as being the epitome of perfection (p. 55). These sources, created nearly 100 years after the death of Tiberius Gracchi, describe Tiberius to be the ‘perfect’ human-being which could demonstrate a bias accou...
Heichelheim, Fritz, Cedric A. Yeo, and Allen M. Ward. A History Of The Roman People. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1984.
Aristophane’s Lysistrata is a flawed classic filled with the power struggle between man vs. woman. It is entirely focused and written from the male perspective, in which male-privilege dominated and disregarded the women’s outlook entirely. This “classic” is full of misogynistic perspectives, and should be disregarded as a great piece in Athenian literature.
3)Gwynn, David M. The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. Print.
Aristophanes stereotypes women as bickering, self-centered, unintelligent people in the beginning. They are sex driven and selfish. Lysistrata is upset that the women are late for the very important meeting "Here I've called a meeting to discuss a very important matter, and they're all still fast asleep" (180). Calonice sums up what women are thought to do all day, and also what they represent to their households; "The women! What could they ever do that was any use? Sitting at home putting flowers in their hair, putting on cosmetics and saffron gowns and Cimberian see-through shifts, with slippers on our feet?" (181). It is in fact these very frivolous ideas that are used to bring peace to the two cities. Throughout the play Aristophanes begins to knock down ...