Romans would Use Instagram

Although Greek and Roman legends share many themes and motifs the purpose they served was vastly different in each culture, Roman legends were created to inculcate the populous with common ideals and sense of ancestry. Greek legends were much different as it was used to explain almost anything in the world and regarding their hero’s most cities had there own and used these in a way to distinguish themselves from city to city. The hero’s themselves also differed greatly from one culture to another; Roman heroes, with the exception of Aeneas, did not go on heroic quests to the same extent as Greek heroes like Jason, and they were much less flawed often just portraying an admirable Roman virtue.

There was more than one purpose to Roman legends but they were for the most part all different than those the Greeks had. Roman mythology basically has two foundation legends, that of Aeneas from which they draw their descent from the Trojans after the fall of Troy and that of Romulus and Remus who founded that actually city of Rome.

The legend of Romulus and Remus is a good example of how the Romans used their legends to reinforce ideals they found important one these was the separation power at the top of government and the “in origin the story of the two brothers may have advocated the sanctity of consuls dual role in the states as the best refuge against kingship”. Romans after the fall of the seven kings had an huge amount of anxiety about be under the control of a king again and used one of there foundation legends to warn against the dangers of having a king. Greek foundation legends on the other hand were created in large part to add prestige to the individual city state not to teach the lower class people common ideals. This can be seen in the Athenian myth of Theseus which was heavily added to in the fifth and sixth century BC when Athenian power and cultural relevance were on the rise so the myth was enhanced to compete with that of other powers like thebes. For example it is thought that the idea of Theseus divine birth in which his mother sleeps with both Aegeus and Poseidon in the same night mirrors that of Herakles “The Story of Hercules divine birth probably was inspiration for the story: Alcmene too slept with man and god on the same night”.

Although the Athenian myths of Theseus hold little similarity of to some Roman myths it is very similar in some respects to that of Aeneas in the purpose that it is used for and that was propaganda to support the people in power. Pisistratus was the ruler of Athens and many of his accomplishments are mirrored in the myths of Theseus such as Theseus being credit with first minting coins when in reality it was most likely done Pisistratus, the myths of Theseus strengthened his hold on power. This is similar to how Augustus used Virgil Aeneid to strengthen his position in the new political climate of Rome and add legitimacy to the claims of his uncle Julius that they were descended from not one but two very important gods in Rome Mars and Venus. The Heroes themselves as well as the overall myths are much different from one culture to another. In Greek myth the hero’s were generally flawed and went on long complex and arduous quest to retrieve some object in hopes of helping themselves or a loved such as Perseus or to make up for terrible deed as in the case of Herakles, while roman hero’s rarely went on long drawn out quest and the point of the story was to reinforce a virtue that the Romans held important. In Greek myth much of the action, and sorrow, were caused by the gods manipulating the humans into bringing about their will. Jason and his quest for the golden fleece is a prime example of this in Greek myth, Jason mainly goes on the quest because he feels that he should be king of Iolcus instead of Pelias and the only way to accomplish this, but there is also the underlying fact that the entire action of the myth is being influenced by Hera in order to exact her revenge on Pelias for not honoring her. Theseus proceeds to go on a long journey with a series of trials before arriving at Colchis and meeting the sorceress Medea who helps him steal the golden fleece and helps him safely journey home to Thessaly.

Jason’s journey is long and in many ways self serving even ignoring the fact that his actions were manipulated by the gods to serve their own purposes; this is in stark contrast to what Roman heros were said to have done. Cincinnatus one of the most revered Roman hero’s story can be rightly told in just a few lines a far cry from the epics required to tell of the deeds of Greek heroes. Cincinnatus had been a consul in Rome years earlier but at this point in his life had returned to live as a normal citizen farming his fields when he was offered the role of dictator ” Cincinnatus left his plow in the field to accept the special grant of imperium, led the Roman army to victory, and returned to hi

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