Parallels between ancient Roman society and United States’ society

Ancient Rome and the United States have their peaks in different period of times, but they both share great similarities. Among these, we find social, political, and even art parallels.

Social

The United States has adopted some of the social aspects from Rome, especially in the family. The traditional family is still seen as in ancient Rome where the head of the house is the husband, and he’s in charge of the wife and kids. The social view of the organization in the traditional family is still very clear to everybody. Odysseus is a great example of a father who does all he can to make back home with his wife and son. Nevertheless, in modern times, the concept of family is extending from its original roots.

Another social aspect that gets its roots from the Roman times is the distribution of social classes. The USA still has a hierarchy where people are part of group mostly because of their economic status. In ancient Rome, however, the status was determined mostly by the family heritage of the person. Most of the main characters in The Iliad and The Odyssey seem to have an important heritage, either by gods or kings. Agamemnon and Achilles were powerful because of their inheritance.

Political

The modern United States has based its politics in many aspects taken from the ancient Rome. Today, the country has a president, but any decisions need to be approved by the congress.  In ancient Rome, assemblies used to take place in order to determine matters concerning the nation. Even during Homeric times, people established or called meetings to make decisions of any matter, though the king had usually the ultimate word.

Source: http://www.vhinkle.com/rome/spartacus.html

Source: http://www.hangthebankers.com/?attachment_id=2378   

Another big parallel between the ancient Rome and The USA is The Constitution, which contains the laws and bills that keep maintain the order in the country. Men need to abide by rules and laws to actually enjoy freedom. Thucydides talks about how they had a “constitution… that favours the many instead of the few”. Just like the constitution The USA that favors the many and not just a few citizens. As consequence, people have freedom in their ordinary lives.

Art

Ancient Roman art can be seen all around the architecture in many of the buildings in the United States. One of the aspects most commonly seen is the use of classical columns in national buildings. In the ancient Rome, these columns are mostly use in the temples and important buildings. Also, sculptures of important personages of history of the United States show how much influence the ancient Roman has in our current society. In the ancient Rome, people sculpted gods and kings of great importance. The USA has done the same with sculptures of people such as Abraham Lincoln.

Source: http://www.touropia.com/ancient-roman-temples/

Source: http://architecture.about.com/od/greatbuildings/ss/SupremeCourt_2.htm 

Definitely, ancient Rome and The USA have a lot on common, it's amazing how this aspects have survived through out the centuries.

Is self-interest an appropriate motivation for a free society?

During Homeric times, self-interest was the driving force to motivate individuals to make decisions. Achilles was motivated by his own pride and honor to leave the army, causing the death of many, even his best friend, Patroclus.  Just as Agamemnon’s interests were motivated by his power and authority to do what it was more convenient to him, bringing his own death and the death of others.

Calchas, the prophet, states to Achilles that “[he, Achilles, is] stronger [than Agamemnon] and that is a goddess that bore him, but [Agamemnon] is more powerful, since he rules over more (The Iliad, Book I.265)Since Agamemnon had such a great authority, he was motivated to take advantage of the ones below him, caring less about a free society. Eventually this brought destruction and death.

On the other side, Thucydides teaches us how democracy was part of the Athenian law.  According to Thucydides:

…the administration of [the Athenian constitution] favours the many instead of the few (Thucydides pg. 267).

This statement shows a very opposite approach than the one followed in the Homeric times. Because of the democracy which favoured the many, Athenians in Thucydides had freedom in their ordinary lives (Thucydides pg. 267).

In conclusion, self-interest doesn’t motivate a free society as seen in the example of Achilles and Agamemnon. Their self-interest just brought sorrow and pain.

Beautiful Naesicaa

The way Odysseus speaks to Princess Naesicaa when she first found him is amazing. His description of the Princess makes the reader realize how beautiful the girls is. Her beauty is so great that she could definitely be a goddess, even the daughter of great Zeus.. 

"...If one of the gods who rule the skies up there, you're Artemis to the life, the daughter of mighty Zeus - I see her now - " (Book 6, line 164)

But in case that Odysseus were wrong, and she is not a goddess, then he states how blest Naesicaa's family is because of her beauty. This reassures how beautiful the princess is compared to the rest of the mortals, not even Odysseus' wife.

"... I have never laid eyes on anyone like you, neither man nor woman..." (Book 6, line 175)

The message that I like the most about this part of The Odyssey is that Odysseus wasn't unfaithful to his wife Penelope, even though the Princess is more beautiful than any other mortal he has ever seen.

My 4 Epithets

International Nerdy + Fun

I’m an international student from El Salvador. Many of you may not know where my country is, especially since it’s almost the smallest country in the American Continent (Map below just in case). I’ve been studying at BYU since the summer of 2008, and this is my last semester in school. I’ll be graduating in August in Information Systems. My computer background makes me look like I’m a geek, but I’m actually really fun to hang out with.

Image Source Page: http://www.kids-online.net/world/elsalvador.html

Happy-Adventurous  

I’m always carrying a smile with me. I feel that being happy and having a good attitude about everything makes you healthy. I love meeting people from different backgrounds and making new friends. I love travelling and going to places I've never been to before. Last summer I went to Europe and I had such a great time, it was a new experience and a great adventure.  There's so much to explore in the world, and I want to continue searching for new experiences.

Nice and Friendly

I always try to be a good friend no matter what. I really care about others, especially my friends. People tell me that they can’t picture me getting angry because I’m always too kind. Don’t get me wrong, I do get angry (not as much as Achilles), I just hide it really well

Funny and Funnier

Something about me is that I’m joking all the time. Sometimes people don’t get my jokes, but they still end up laughing. I like to be the person who comes up with the most random comments in any conversation, and my friends love that about me. Since I come from a different culture, my sarcasm is different, so I’m still learning to use the sarcasm in the USA.

Feeling like a freshman in my last semester!

This is my last semester at BYU. I'll be graduating in August 2012. In order to do so, I'm taking my last GE class, which is Classical Tradition, basically a Greek-Roman history class. It's really strange to take a GE class after taking so many Business courses, I feel like I'm just starting school all over again. I honestly love feeling like a freshman again.

The interesting thing about this class is that instead of writing long-boring papers, I will be BLOGGING. I haven't done this in awhile, and I am not the best blogger either, but blogging will be so much better than writing papers. Nice way to end up school!

My First Website is Finally up!!!

The Information Systems program has taught me really important lessons. One of those lessons is to always improve yourself and never stop learning.

When I first got into the program, I had almost no knowledge about websites and servers and all that. So I knew I had to step up and start learning. I decided to help my best friend's mom's company to build its website. I wasn't sure of what I was getting into, but it was definitely something that I wanted and need it to learn.

The company that I'm making the website for is called Main Services, they primarily focus in money transfer, notary public, general services such us photocopies, and filing taxes in Houston.

Please check it out and I'm happy to receive feedback!!!

Here is the link:

www.main-services.com

New Article

Here is the link to my new article on Ezine Articles:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Federal-Disability-Retirement&id=5501292

Check it out!