Greek gods plan to beat Roman challengers

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Greek gods plan to beat Roman challengers

Postby Quintus Aurelius Orcus on Wed Jul 28, 2004 11:40 am

Salvete

Since this deals with religion and mythology, I thought I post this article here. Its from a newspaper. I thought it would be interesting to point out some mistakes in this article.
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Greek gods plan to beat Roman challengers

DANIEL HOWDEN

Posted online: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 at 0000 hours IST

ATHENS, JULY 6: The Greeks invented the word ‘plagiarism’ but they say it was the Romans who perfected the art, hijacking the Hellenic culture they admired right down to its gods and heroes. Next month, though, the Greek gods are set for an Olympian comeback with Zeus and his divine entourage looking forward to setting the record straight during a fortnight in the global spotlight thanks to the Athens Olympics.

The Greeks are seizing the opportunity to remind the world that their gods, heroes and monsters were the originals, with their Roman counterparts the impostors.

If you do not know your Jupiter from your Zeus let alone Ulysses from Odysseus then the August 13-29 Games promise to set you straight with a blast of mythology.

The opening and closing ceremonies will lean heavily on mythology with the premiere themed on Apollo, the god of intellect, the arts, prophecy, healing and light. The curtain will come down with a show inspired by Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry.

Even the mascots Athena and Phevos are a cartoon-style take on Olympian gods. Athena was the goddess of wisdom and patron of Athens, while Phevos was the alternative name for her brother Apollo.

For the Greeks, it all started with the Olympian creation myth. The earth goddess Gaea came out of the shapeless mass, Chaos, to forge a Union with the firmament or Uranus.

Two generations of power struggles later, Zeus and his wife Hera emerged victorious from a celestial civil war to rule the world from Mount Olympus, along with the pantheon of 12 Olympian gods.

According to Wisconsin classics professor Barry Powell, the effect was overwhelming and swept away the domestic worship of abstract fertility spirits. “The Romans had no gods,” said Powell whose book ‘Classical Myth’ examined the roots of mythology in Greece and Rome. “The cultural power of the Greeks in the Roman Empire was extraordinary. The Romans absorbed it lock, stock and barrel.”

As the power of Rome rose, the names were changed to pay respect to local traditions. Thus the gods of love and war, Aphrodite and Ares, became Venus and Mars. Zeus, Hera and Athena became Jupiter, Juno and Minerva; sea god Poseidon got re-branded as Neptune and the confusion began in earnest.

It could all have been so different. It was Rome not Athens that was the favourite to win over the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1997 as hosts for the 2004 Olympics. The Italians were so incensed at their last-round defeat to Athens that the Mayor of Rome cried scandal and called for the vote to be taken again. (Reuters)


From: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=50481
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valete optime

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Postby Lucius Tyrrhenus Garrulus on Thu Jul 29, 2004 5:36 am

Salve Romule!

And I thought that the invasionist theory of history was long extinct... Come to find there are those who still espouse such dribble. :x
I think it was the Elder Cato who said that "Not everything handed down by the Greeks is worth admiration." Then there is always that famous quote from Pliny the Elder who said, "It is amazing the extent to which Greek gullibility will go." Lock, stock and barrel my a$$ Mr. Daniel Howden!

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Postby Quintus Aurelius Orcus on Thu Jul 29, 2004 8:29 am

Salvete

I was under the impression that before Roman religion became hellenized, it already had gods and they weren't perse fertility spirits.
valete optime

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Locks, stocks, and butt-bones

Postby Aldus Marius on Fri Jul 30, 2004 2:12 am

Another artifact from the Topica strata [Originally posted Nov 08, 2001]:

Salvete, Romani Viatores...

--- Quoth a friend of mine:


> However much one may appreciate Roman culture, it is a plain
> fact that it is simply unthinkable without Greek and Etruscan
> culture. All Roman literature depends on Greek models, all Roman
> architecture is based on Etruscan models, Roman philosophy is
> essentialy Greek philosophy adapted to meet Roman needs and I
> could go on listing such items for quite a while.


Now, this is exactly the kind of talk that makes my hackles bristle. I don't know how many times I have heard some variant of this, and the consensus seems to be that "the Romans had no culture until the Greeks gave them one." This offends me on the same level as the proposition that "The Romans had no religion until the Etruscans (or Greeks) gave them one" would offend a practitioner of one of the older forms of the Religio. Either claim is patently ridiculous. Greece and Etruria may have had a lot (too much, if you ask me) to do with the final forms of Roman culture, but the Romans did indeed have their own, native ways of life before any foreign influence made itself felt.

*All* societies have a culture of some kind, a means of answering the questions any society must ask itself, and something for the elders to pass down to the children. I have been particularly interested in 'pre-Graecophile' Roman culture; I want to know what it was, how Romans conducted themselves and did things, what they thought about this-and-that, what they believed. I am certain that something was lost when the Greek influence swamped everything and made 'Romanitas' into something it would not have had to become on its own. I am trying to discover what that something was. I feel it must be something closer to my heart and the Roman soul than what Rome finally wound up with.

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Postby Aulus Dionysius Mencius on Fri Jul 30, 2004 7:55 am

Salvete omnes

Indeed, denying the fact that Roman culture was influenced by Etruscan or Greek culture, would be demonstrating a narrow view. But then again, I strongly believe that every culture has its own essentials that in this case unmistakeably Roman. So I agree with the Wolf. How's that, mi Mari :wink:
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Addendum

Postby Aldus Marius on Sat Jul 31, 2004 10:51 pm

Salvete iterum!

> How's that, mi Mari


That's just fine with me, mi Menci...although you don't need my permission, or anyone else's, to think that way. >({|;-)

Too, my anthropological training informs me that cultural exchange is never just one-way. What say you and I go stir up a bunch of Graecophiles by posting all over the 'Net about how Rome influenced Greece?? [feg]

And that neither was inherently superior.

No matter what those silly Olympic publicists say.

(Hey, what's with all these Web-form buttons that all urge us to "Submit"?)

Amator Romae is...
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Postby Aulus Dionysius Mencius on Sun Aug 01, 2004 12:54 pm

Salvete iterum

Mi Mari, I quite like your idea [feg]. It is charmingly provocative, it will raise a firestorm, it is shameless albeit absolutely just :twisted:

Many greetings, amice

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Postby Anonymous on Mon Aug 02, 2004 4:18 pm

Salvete Omnes!

'The Romans had no gods...' (gasps at the blasphemy)

I suspect (and hope) that the Professor is being quoted out of context. :roll: otherwise one suspects that the thunderbolts are being sharpened on Olympus (whoops that just slipped out :oops: ). No, somewhere in the Appenines.

On a serious note has anyone read Mr. Powell's book?

Valete
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Postby Horatius Piscinus on Wed Aug 04, 2004 12:13 pm

Salvete omnes

Caius Durnovarius Brutus wrote:'The Romans had no gods...' (gasps at the blasphemy)


Shades of some other place :x

Caius Durnovarius Brutus wrote:I suspect (and hope) that the Professor is being quoted out of context. :roll: otherwise one suspects that the thunderbolts are being sharpened on Olympus (whoops that just slipped out :oops: ). No, somewhere in the Appenines.


Monte Corno :?: Then They would be Marruccini Gods, no? You must mean the sacred Mons Algidus where barefoot Diana runs along mountain spring paths, in Latium. :wink:

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