Greco Roman Religion

It is no simple task to pinpoint the most important contributions of the Greco Roman ages towards the later Western Roman culture of the Renaissance. Almost every aspect was influenced or supported by another. Despite this, there is a particular concept that has continually served as a core contributor: religion. From the time of early Greece and Rome, around 2500-500 BC, humans have considered religion to be not only an explanation of how life was created, but also a guide on how to live life. Initially, religion in Greece was centered around the poetry of Homer and Hesiod. Gods were thought to be of great multiplicity and each had a distinct personality which reflected the society of man. Their essence lacked uniformity, as portrayed

Philosophy, in turn, related back not exclusively to rational thought, but also to religion. One particular ancient philosophy that was revived in the Renaissance was Plantonics. It was actually so prominent in Renaissance thought that the revived version was given a new name: Neoplatonics. Initially, many early doctors of the Church came in contact with Neoplatonism. From this exposure, elements of Christian philosophy became “inextricably mixed with Plato’s teachings.” Thus, the Greco Roman roots of Plato, which had been instigated by the movement countering the polytheistic religion of mythology, and the Greco Roman formation of Christianity both served as the main contributors to the Neoplationism of the Italian Renaissance. Furthermore, Neoplatonism itself contributed ideas that inspired many aspects of the Renaissance. Two important figures of philosophy and literature of the Renaissance era include Dante and Petrarch. In at least four of Dante’s works,Vita Nuova, Convivio, com media, and Timaeus, Neoplatonism shines through. In fact, Dante served as a well known initial predecessor of the Platonic Academy in Florence. Petrarch was inspired by Plato in even greater ways. He was the first to distinctively link Plato with the ideals of Italian humanism. Through his work, Petrarch foreshadowed the “central motive of the Florentine Neoplatonist’s: the deification of

In fact, by the 16th century Neoplatonism was so prominent that even its direct influence on art was great. Neoplatonism contributed to the arts in two main ways: by its theories of ideal beauty and of universality of men. Greco Roman religion also influenced and provided inspiration for politics during the Italian rebirth. At the beginning the Renaissance, Nicholas V. was elected as pope. During this period popes acted more as monarchs than as pontiffs. Nicholas V. initiated a New Vatican. He conceived this idea of a New Vatican from the idea of restoring the old supremacy of Rome. This concept was borrowed from the religious unity once created by Augustus in the Greco Roman ages. Nicholas V also hoped to revive the traditions Christianity held before the middle