The Capitoline Wolf: Lupa Capitolina

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The Capitoline Wolf, known in Italian as Lupa Capitolina, is a sculpture of a female wolf suckling twin infants, inspired by the legend of the founding of Rome. According to Roman myths, when the abandoned twins of Romulus and Remus were cast into the Tiber River, they were rescued by a wolf who nurtured them until a herdsman found and raised them (Noble). It’s also believed that Romulus and Remus that they were the start of the Roman civilization, comparable to the niche our founding fathers fulfill for us, with the wolf representing the foundation for you. The wolf was adored by Italian leader Benito Mussolini, who cast himself as the founder of the "New Rome" during World War II (The Foreign Policies of Hitler and Mussolini). These key points …show more content…

He stated, “I never trust the children of the wolf, because they are wild animals. Cunning is the greatest talent for taking advantage of the sweat of other”. The children he was referencing were the descendants of Romulus and Remus; therefore, suggesting Rome being a location filled with wild people that cannot be trusted. However, Rome is not the only civilization who believes wolves are not wild fiends, but rather trustworthy companions. Native American traditionally considered them as a good sign, a protector, strong, courageous, mysterious (Lake-Thom). Native Americans have often held timber wolves in the highest esteem in their culture. In truth, they are many times seen as a sacred animal and featured significantly in ancient songs, dances and stories that have been handed down for generations. Their role in artwork and other cultural items of Native American life was a given and often revered and welcomed. In Christianity, the wolf is represented as a symbol of greed, lust, evil, destructiveness. This may be where Antonio got his perception of wolves because on page 76 of the novel he states he advises his students to read Christ stopped at …show more content…

Therefore, Antonio sets the rest of the mood of the novel by changing the focus from just immigration to internally as well (North versus South). He uses something empowering to the Roman people against them, comparable to racism. He enforces the point that even fellow Italians possess distaste between each other and compartmentalize misconstrued labels on them. This novel presents different viewpoints of life in Italy and how each one has reasoning’s for the ideas of other people with none, except for Amedeo, ready to conform together and help each other. The novel’s purpose is to allow for new Cornell students to see culture from different points of view and to understand

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