Greek and Roman Gods: Similarities and Differences

NOTE: The reason why this post is so delayed is because there was a major problem with the Apple Developer Center, and as a result could not run the app, and caused the authorization check to fail.

For my project, I made an iPhone app - describing the differences between Greek and Roman mythology. This has existed for longer than we can fathom. They are another way of looking at the world. First, I'd like to talk about similarities. Now, one may think that since the Greeks and Romans were in different time periods, that there aren't many differences. However, you'd be incorrect in saying so.

Both mythologies developed 500+ years ago, and yet they're very different from each other. But still, no one knows quite how the start of this mythology came to be. Roman mythology, though, was started by native Roman citizens, and some might argue that they stole from ideas from the Greeks.

These two mythologies are similar because they are so complex and mysterious. In Greek mythology, it talks about indecipherable stories; and Roman mythology talks about battles, soldiers, and immortal beings. Clearly, there is a similarity in the stories because of mysterious and unexplainable tales.

Despite this similarly, the two mythologies have a discrete difference. Greek mythology talks about the mortals who were heroic enough that took part in perilous battles. For example, Perseus and Hercules. The Romans, however, completely ignored the thought of life on earth and said that only the afterlife was important. As you can see, the ideas of Roman mythology disregarded normal life, but the Greeks actually praised those ideas.

Another difference is that the Roman gods didn't have actual character traits and personalities. The way the god(s) looked were actually determined by the reader. But in Greek mythology, it was just the opposite - the traits were given to all the gods and goddesses. They were depicted as elegant.

Clearly, the Greeks and Romans, along with their gods and goddess, had various similarities and differences. This is what made the two mythologies so interesting to research. The YouTube link showing the iPhone app itself is here:

http://youtu.be/1RvbHJ4iheg

Unfortunately, I cannot share the actual app and have people install it, as it would violate my service agreement with Apple. But you can ask me any questions about it!

Works Cited

"Roman vs Greek." Encyclopedia Mythica:. N.p., n.d.

"Greek Gods vs Roman Gods." - Difference and Comparison. N.p., n.d.

Pope, Stephanie. Cambridge Latin Course, Unit 2. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2001. Print.

Roman Invasion of Britan

I found that the invasion of Britain by the Romans very interesting so I decided to do my common task on it. The Romans were a very proud and aggressive country. They always had to show that they were the best at everything that they did. One way they displayed their country's strength was by conquering other territories: it was like a game. They conquered Spain, Greece, parts of Asia Minor, and Africa. They could not however conquer Britain. The first roman general to have tried was Julius Caesar. He invaded in 55 BC and 54 BC. He had to leave in order to stop a rebellion. Under emperor Claudius was the roman empire finally able to conquer Britain in a series of attacks begging in 43 AD and ending in 75 AD. The people were oppressed by the roman empire and frequently tried to revolt against them. Most famous were Caratacus' revolt and Boudicca's revolt. Boudicca's was the leader of the Iceni after her husband was killed by the Romans. After the Romans stole their money attacked Boudicca and her two daughters sparking the revolt. She was the first woman to lead an army of her own, containing 70,000 men. They stormed the roman town, Camulodunum, stealing food, clothing, and jewelry. The Romans, who were living in the town, hid inside a huge temple. Boudicca and her army were able to break down the doors and slaughter all the men. women, and children. Afterwards, they set the town on fire before leaving. They invaded two more Roman towns, decimating the three largest towns in Roman Britain.  The last major battle was against Suetonius who was leading an army of 10,000 men. They clashed between St. Albans and Wroxeter. The Romans stopped their advance forced the rebels to retreat. They killed 80,000 men, women, and children for their 400 hundred men that they lost. Boudicca later committed suicide and the most serious threat to the Romans was over.

My journal shows the hardship that the British people went under roman control and them resenting everything about them. There have been situations like these in the future such as the American colonist being oppressed by England or the South American colonist being oppressed by Spain. Even situations today you have people being oppressed by their rulers and revolting such as the situations in Syria. One interesting thing that I found out about this topic is that it took many invasions by the Romans in order to conquer Britain. I always thought the Romans were so strong that they could invade a less powerful country, with tribes, easily.

https://docs.google.com/a/egsd.net/presentation/d/1fI6oq2YskR3nPjM4diaxpG2y37XL5l4fJlKaKtOzrs8/edit?usp=sharing

The Egyptian Religion

The Egyptian Religion was very popular in Ancient Greece. It was a polytheistic religion that contained varying beliefs and practices. Although the tales vary, the following is the most common story of creation.

Before the gods, there was only darkness and chaos. One day, a hill rose from the darkness with the first god Atum standing upon it. When the hill finally rose, Atum coughed up the second and third gods. The god of air and the goddess of moisture. They had two children, Geb the god of Earth and Nut the sky goddess. Shu (the goddess of moisture) lifted Nut over Geb to create the night sky.

Nut and Geb had four children. Orisis, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys. Orisis became the king of the Earth with Isis as the queen. Seth became so jealous of his brother that he killed him to become the king of the Earth. Orisis was sent to the Underworld where he soon became ruler. Meanwhile Orisis’s son, Horus, overthrew Set to become the king of the Earth.

For our project, we made a board game. This board game is similar to “Candy Land” with Egyptian gods and goddesses lining the side as well as their Roman equivalents. There is also a bit of information about each god under an image of them.

"Egyptian Mythology." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2014): 1p. 1. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.

"Gods and Goddesses." Gods and Goddesses. The British Museum, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.

"114 Gods of Ancient Egypt, Ägyptische Götter." 114 Gods of Ancient Egypt, Ägyptische Götter. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.

"Egyptian Religion." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.

Comparing Britain, Pompeii, and Alexandria

I did my common task comparing Britain, Pompeii, and Alexandria. I wanted to do this to see how all the cities held up against one another as they all had some interesting features, and I wrote 3 diary entries considering where I would want to live and why.

Greek, Roman, and British Mythology

Greek, Roman, and British cultures were very much predominant in ancient Europe. The myths and tales of each of these countries are historically integrated in each other, in fact, it is difficult for historians to accurately pinpoint what Roman mythology was like before it was introduced to Greek mythology because of its immediate influence on the former. Most aspects of Roman mythology were not recorded, but instead kept in the memories of people who knew the stories well. This made it very easy for Roman mythology to change and distort as the Roman citizens heard of other myths. Because of this cultural integration, Greek and Roman myths became increasingly similar as the two cultures became more and more involved with each other.

Roman mythology often centered around the deification of significant Roman figures, such as emperors and heroes of war. The stories themselves often romanticize the history of Rome, and the beasts explained in such stories often appeared physically as hybrids of two or more animals. For example, the Roman harpy was a bird with the head and chest of a woman and was believed to control the winds. Ancient Greek literature also uses this animal hybridization to create creatures, but Greek monsters are built less around a story and more around an inexplicable phenomenon that needs explaining.

British mythology is more human-centric. Most of the monsters out of British mythology are humanoid in form or based off of man's best friend, the dog. Humanoid monsters, such as the green man, a man with foliage sprouting out of his face who is largely responsible for springtime, mermaids, people with fish tails that lure sailors to their doom, and selkies, seal people, seemed to have the same purpose as Greek and Roman monsters did- to explain the unexplainable or to add a sense of mystery and fear to a dangerous place. Dog-based monsters, such as Faerie dogs, which are banshee-like barking omens of death that live in the dark parts of the forest.

For my product, I will be creating a new mythological creature by taking reference and influence from these three cultures. I will begin with a phenomenon, like the Greeks, use the hybrid characteristic coined by the Romans, and the human base that the British were fond of.

I began with the question of deaths in the desert. Ancient peoples did not know much about dehydration, so I've created a beast that roams the desert in packs and picks off unprepared travelers. The species is a centaur with a tiger's body. Possible additions include tribal head tattoos, small wings behind ears, and pincer-like sharp teeth.


(Progress: I have tons of concept sketches but no working scanner at the moment, I will upload the final product and its progress as it will be done digitally! References used)


Works Cited
Hargraves, Richard, Elaine Kenzel, and Miami, FL. Dade County Public Schools. Greek And Roman Mythology: English, Mythology. n.p.: 1971. ERIC. Web. 6 Jan. 2015.
Hayman, Richard. "Ballad Of The Green Man." History Today 60.4 (2010): 37-44. Academic Search Elite. Print. 30 Dec, 2014
Morford, Mark P.O. "Classical Mythology, 8th Edition," 2007. Web. 30 Dec, 2014
"Roman Mythology." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2014): 1p. 1. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Print. 29 Dec, 2014.

Roman Medicine

When looking for a topic, I chose Roman Medicine. This topic interested me because I was really curious how people in ancient times would be able to handle sickness and disease. 
Medicine is a huge and essential part of our lives that allows us to cure illness and prevent disease. Over the years there have been countless breakthroughs and discoveries. With these, medicine has come an extremely long way from ancient times. But what would happen if we, today in 2015, were only educated as much as the Romans were about their health. If this were true, people with something as simple as a cold could be at risk of death. This is because the Romans were extremely under-educated when it came to medicine.

They had very little amounts of medicine, but would usually just use prevention to keep them from getting sick. Romans were under the impression that a healthy mind would bring them a healthy body. This not only made them oblivious to all the dangers of the diseases they had, but also prevented them from coming up with cures. If we were only as educated as the Romans were then we would suffer greatly because there were no roman doctors. The head of each household was in charge of the well being of his family and would often use herbal cures to treat his household. It wasn't until the ancient Greeks came along that doctors were introduced. When the roman empire expanded into Greece, the Greeks had a huge influence on the growth of Roman medicine. Although the Romans refused to copy Greek idea’s, they would improve them and turn them into their own. 

There were many negative things about roman medicine, but the Romans did have a few beneficial things that they did which helped them. One of those things was the bone lever (Surgical Instruments). The bone lever was invented by the Romans to take a fractured or broken bone and hold it in the right place. The Romans also had the bone forceps which allowed the Romans to open someones skull and take out tumors in the brain. This contraption was known as one of the most advanced tool the Romans had.

Since Romans believed that a healthy mind led to a healthy body they had many superstitions. One of them was that where they lived effected how healthy they were. (Medical News Today). They would try to live in places that were close to fresh water and also places that were out of the way of pollution or anything else bad. Based on the techniques and knowledge Romans had, if we had the same medical advances and techniques life for us would be extremely different, and the survival rate for any illness would be much lower. People with cancer and other diseases would have absolutely no chance. The breakthroughs and discoveries in medicine have been extremely necessary, because if we only knew as much as the Romans did, life would be much much harder.

final product:

sources:
"Medicine in Ancient Rome." Medicine in Ancient Rome. N.p., 12 Dec. 2000. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.

Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 14 May 2008. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.

"Roman Medicine." Roman Medicine. N.p., 17 Feb. 2002. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.

"Surgical Instruments from Ancient Rome - Ancient Roman Surgical Instruments." Ancient Roman Surgical Instruments. N.p., 23 Feb. 2012. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.