Origins of Empire: The Lasting Influence of Ancient Ecological Behaviors in Roman Mythology
Submission Type
Event
Faculty Advisor
Joanne Diaz
Expected Graduation Date
2019
Location
Room E105, Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Start Date
4-21-2018 11:00 AM
End Date
4-21-2018 12:00 PM
Disciplines
Education
Abstract
Greek and Roman mythology is generally thought to showcase the ways humanity has thought and felt about the ancient world they inhabited. In his work, Robin Lane Fox, an English ancient historian at the University of Oxford, explores the natural places that have inspired and continue to grow as mythological sites. However, I am conducting research on the attitudes towards nature that these myths represent and how they influence present behaviors. By closely reading the myths of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, I examine the opposing forces of fear, and desire to conquer that the ancients had towards the natural world around them. I connect this tradition to historical examples from American history to demonstrate how the pervasive influence of these attitudes continue to shape our culture. My scholarly paper is critical in expanding our understanding about our own culture and its tendency towards ecological exploitation. By considering the legacy of these behaviors, this paper attempts to establish both that humanity’s number one priority is, and always has been, civilization of the natural world as well as the pitfalls of such a system.
Origins of Empire: The Lasting Influence of Ancient Ecological Behaviors in Roman Mythology
Room E105, Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Greek and Roman mythology is generally thought to showcase the ways humanity has thought and felt about the ancient world they inhabited. In his work, Robin Lane Fox, an English ancient historian at the University of Oxford, explores the natural places that have inspired and continue to grow as mythological sites. However, I am conducting research on the attitudes towards nature that these myths represent and how they influence present behaviors. By closely reading the myths of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, I examine the opposing forces of fear, and desire to conquer that the ancients had towards the natural world around them. I connect this tradition to historical examples from American history to demonstrate how the pervasive influence of these attitudes continue to shape our culture. My scholarly paper is critical in expanding our understanding about our own culture and its tendency towards ecological exploitation. By considering the legacy of these behaviors, this paper attempts to establish both that humanity’s number one priority is, and always has been, civilization of the natural world as well as the pitfalls of such a system.