Blindspots

The mighty Roman empire is one of the most valuable models of human civilization. The richness and value that contemporary cultures hold would never be the same if it weren't for the people of Rome. They have provided us with the basic building blocks of several aspects of life and have dones so remarkably well. The need for a foundation myth is therefore clear: The Romans, like all people, need to know where and how they came out. Just like our beliefs and essentials are provided through history, the Roman beliefs were provided through foundational myth.

The people of Rome had no sequential narratives like the Greek Titanomachy or the seductions of Zeus and Hera. What can a society do with nothing? It's difficult, if not impossible, to build upon culture, value, and identity when there is no core. Poets of Rome therefore borrowed from the Greeks. It is undeniable that the Romans were, in fact, routed to the Greeks.

They took these Greek routes and created a rather sophisticated world. They made had a highly developed system of rituals, priestly colleges, and pantheons of related gods. And they made a their own set of historical myths the foundation and rise of their city with the inclusion of humans, as well as occasional divinities. The need to borrow foundations from Greeks to make their own foundations arises from the same meaning. The gaps of tradition had to be filled, and filled with something of substance.

When it comes down to it, human existence is through the past. We would not exist if it wasn't for the struggles of our mothers, fathers, and forefathers. We all come from something, and the importance of that something is extremely crucial to identity. Hence, children not knowing who their mothers/fathers are often lost and confused. The Romans needed to trace their existence not only to know where they came from, but to know where they are headed. The generations ahead had to know the who, what, where, when, why, and how of their being-because without it there is nothing.