The ancient mythology culture--Essay代写范文

Essay代写范文:“The ancient mythology culture”，这篇论文主要描述的是一座智慧的城市也是一座充满着神话的城市，雅典从古至今流传着许多的神话故事，城市起源的背后可能就存在着不为人知的神话故事，有人说雅典是神的指令而创造的城市，也有人说雅典是海神波塞冬与雅典娜两位神明竞争后，雅典娜胜出并为这座城市赋予了雅典之名。

What do myths recounting the origins of ancient cities express about those cities and their citizens?

Myths of the origins of cities can express information from what the city was like to what the city looked like in outsiders’ eyes[1], myths exist and hand down because they contain many research and archaeological information. They express the relationship between the community and the ancient gods, which is shown by clips of stories like founding heroes often children of gods, cities founded on divine instruction or as consequence of direct divine action, city founded to celebrate god, city founded to cleanse a pollution or appease a god. They also present self-identity of citizens who either want to leave the past behind and to start a new life or what to represent the character of themselves through the character of the city myths founders. Origin myths tell the future of the city, too. They indicate how the city would develop or in what direction would this city develop toward. What’s more, the myths reveal about the culture and legislation of the city. This essay will take a close look at Athens, Rome and Thebe about their foundation myths and what these myths tell about.

Analysis

Athens is a great city with a typical origin myth. There is a wide-spread myth about origin of the city’s name, which concerns the Goddess Athena. It is said that Poseidon and Athena was in a competition to acquire the guardianship of a newly built city, and the one who can provide the citizen with a more valuable thing shall stand out. Poseidon showed his power by conjuring up a valiant horse for warship, while Athena presented people with olive tree which is a symbol of piece and wealth. In the end, Athena won and the city was named after her name as Athens (Homer, Iliad 2.546-9).

It can be conclude that Athenians held great reverence for their gods. In Rome and Thebe’s origin myths, city founders were not gods, instead, they are god’s mortal relatives. Athens originated with the help of Athena in the myth, where Athena brought numerous blessings to Athens people, including agricultural equipment, mechanical equipment, textile equipment and legislation. Thus in reality, that is interpreted as, Athenians spent their lives with their reverence for the gods who can protect them and enrich them.[2]

Also, the myth reveals Athens’ future. The myth highlighted two things —— peace and wealth which symbolize the city in some way—— in Athens. And by highlighting these two things, the myth indeed wants to deliver a concept that in the future, what Athens will be pursuing for will be peace and wealth. This information delivered by myth is proved to be in line with the following history of Athens’ golden age. Just like Rome’s origin myth which was obsessed with violence and revenge conveying the information that Rome is a city based on sword and spear. Therefore, Athens’ origin myth, which actually is hand down by words generation after generation, is given a function of reflecting the city’s developing direction.

The myth tells about Athens’ culture, too, both political and institutional. In the myth, Athena is the goddess of justice and wisdom. She bestowed her citizen with the ability to argue, to justify, to govern and to unite. She brought the democrat legislation and the education system to the city. All these sounds so familiar because we know that in real history Athens is the headstream of western democrat legislation and the seedbed of western civilization.[3] All these lost glories the Athenian want the rest of the world to remember is delivered through this myth, isn’t it?

What about Rome, their origin myth and their city. This myth is about revenge and immigration. Romulus and Remus were unfortunate brothers breed by wolves, they were obliged to take revenge of their grandpa’s brother who intrigued the crown off their grandpa. After they regained the crown with the help of the people and gave it back to their grandpa, they returned back to the place where they were saved by the wolf and established their own kingdom called Rome. There, the brother welcomed everybody no matter who he is and what he did, because the brother said that the city is the oracle sanctuary where everybody will be safe. Soon enough, the city boomed with people. And not long later, Romulus killed his brother to be the only ruler in the city (Hesiod, Theogony, 937, 975-978).

So this myth wants to tell that Rome was established as a sanctuary for the immigration population.[4] The brother received everyone who came to them and never did they hand out a single one to the slaveholders or the creditor or the judge, they believed the city is the salvage place permitted by the Field Fane. Actually, not only in the myth, but also for the following hundreds of years, Rome had been a place of immigration or salvation. Begin with the Rarnnenses, Tatienses and Luccrenses told in the myth, and then with the conquest of more and more lands, there came more immigration who moved there either for safety or for religion. From the Great Caesar to the Augustus, Rome became bigger and bigger by receiving different background people.

The myth also tells about Rome’s most outstanding contribution to the world, that is, its ancient legislation system. Remember the three immigration people in its origin myth, Rarnnenses, Tatienses and Luccrenses? They are the basic original motivation of Rome’s three law—— natural law, civil law of citizens and national law.

The myth implies Roman steel spirit and ironic discipline. All through the myth, violence and discipline emerged everywhere, waving their flag, saying that Rome is not a city arises from some olive trees, and wealth is not what Romans pursue, instead, it is expansion and stableness.[5] Romans are not self-contemptuous to say their city was established by a stranger as said in the myth, instead, they are proud of this myth because it expressed the spirit Roman are proud of, that is a spirit of unyielding toughness and unbendable discipline.

Contrasted with Athens and Rome, Thebe is a lot less complicated both in the myth story and in what the myth expresses. According to the native recording, the unfortunate Phoenicia prince Cadmus was in an attempt to search for his lost sister, but was instructed by Apollo half way to follow a magic cow and cease the searching attempt. Following the cow, Cadmus established a town named Cadmeia. Later there were Cadmus slaying the giant dragon and sowing its poison teeth which gave birth to teh five warriors, the sown men which later became the five noble household in Thebe (Herodotus, 5. 57-59), and the below is a relative description about the myth.

Alarmed by this new enemy Cadmus was about to take up his weapons … he founded the city commanded by Apollo’s oracle. (Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.115-30)

This is a traditional Greek myth about city origin, which involved a heroic founder, oracle from gods, and indications of the later noble family. It expresses the reverence of Thebe citizens to Greek gods, however, the myth also expresses some kind of revolt to the gods which is different from Athens’ myth, because, how Cadmus dare to slay the dragon.

And more or less the myth reveals the city’s future, too. It is implied by Cadmus slaying the dragon which belonged to Mars Ares. So, maybe as a punishment from gods, during the later years of Cadmus’ life, he experienced plenty of sufferings. Through wars and expansion, Thebe had become one of Greek biggest cities for a short time, and later the city experienced lots of sufferings, the same fate with Cadmus himself. It probably tells that god is invincible for men, and where there is offence, there would be punishment.

On the other side, the myth about Thebe contains some vague view about area and species discrimination. According to historical research, Thebe was established by foreigners, then why would Thebe myth described Cadmus as Phoenician? Sit is because Greek were ashamed of being recognized as foreigner, they were proud to say they are descendants of Heran, that is why they conjured up the Phoenician thing and the five sown men to highlight the city’s aboriginality.[6]

Conclusion

After contrasting the origin myth in three Greek and Rome cities, a conclusion about these three cities can be made. In Athens, its origin myth tells that Athenians held great reverence for gods, and some typical description and details in the myth reveals the city’s future and its culture, both political and institutional. And in Rome, the origin myth indicates that Rome was established as a sanctuary for the immigration people and tells about Rome’s most outstanding contribution, its ancient legislation, to the world. And to the very best favor of the Roman, the myth also implies Roman steel spirit and ironic discipline for which the myth tellers are so proud. And in Thebe’s case, origin myth is not only about the city itself, but also about other city and other city’s value, preference or disapproval. Thebe origin myth contains some vague view about area and species discrimination across Greece back then . After comparing the implications of these three cities’ origin myths, it is easy to conclude that even though different origin myths express different things about the city and their citizens, the main point is that myths exist for the benefit of human kind who created the myths, and for the image and fame of the cities majored in the myths.

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