I, like many others I am sure, was
a little thrown off by the transition from the names of the Greek gods, to
those of Rome while reading The Aeneid.
I personally favor the Greek gods over the Roman, simply because I am more
familiar with them, but I quickly realized that I should get more familiar with
them- so I made myself a chart. However, while thinking about the change from
one culture to another, I thought about the transition from the British culture
to that of the US when Merriam Webster decided that he wanted to change the
spelling of several words simply to create a further separation form the Old
World to the New. The simple change from the word “colour” to “color” was a way
to show the establishment of a new power house, just like changing the name of Zeus
to Jove, and Hera to Juno was a way for Rome to show the transition of power
from Greece.
p.s- I commented on Emily LaForce's "I want it now"
p.s- I commented on Emily LaForce's "I want it now"
I agree with you about the changing of the names from Greek to Roman. I was really confused at first because I thought they were different gods until Dr. Schuler clarified in class that their the same gods basically just different names. I'm glad that you posted this because I never would have thought of it as a change of power. It is very interesting that just by changing names or the spelling of something can have such an impact on society that it can even point to a shift in power.
ReplyDeleteEven though I have no way of knowing that this is the definite reason the names of the gods were changed, your idea does seem to be a very good possibility. It is understandable that a country would want to separate their culture from that of another, especially if there has been tension, war, etc. between the two. I liked how you related it to one of the changes made by Americans to further remove themselves from the British. I don't remember how this was brought up, but Dr. Taylor mentioned something related to this in my Mission and Message class earlier this week. Supposedly, Americans drive on the right side of the road (originally horses and carriages of course) simply because the British used the left. As silly as it may seem, people will go to great links to avoid being associated with the wrong people. Just think how many sports fans wouldn't dare where the colors of their rival team.
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