When in Rome, do not forget the Greeks
When we think of Greece and Rome, we often think of two civilizations carved in stone. Greece, the birthplace of philosophy and art and Rome, the empire of law and conquest. Professor Dwayne Meisner, a classics professor at the Campion College, reminds us that the real story is far more intricate. Dr. Meisner’s research focuses on Greek and Roman myth and ritual and Greek and Latin language and literature amongst other topics. His present scholarly project is focused on the first complete English translation of the Orphic Hymns, Lithica, Argonautica, and Orphic fragments.
In his conversation with the Carillon, Meisner spoke about how Greek creativity and Roman practicality intertwined, how pottery and poetry mirrored daily life, and how the spectacles of tragedy revealed the politics of their times.
The invention of vowels
Dr. Meisner believes that the invention of vowels makes the classical ages of Greece and Rome a pivotal era in world history. “Greeks in the early first millennium learned the Phoenician alphabet and adapted it to their own language by creating vowels. This allowed much greater flexibility with written language, as well as more widespread literacy, than had ever existed before,” he said.
He explained that the Greek alphabet “opened the way for many more advancements in learning and culture.” He attributed the presence of extensive written records from ancient Greece and Rome as possible because of vowels which speaks of the importance of their invention.
Greek democracy vs Roman republicanism
Dr. Meisner also elaborated on the distinctiveness of Greek democracy and Roman republicanism. He said that the development of the Roman states was clearly distinct from Greek city-states which “is one of the most important things that made Roman history follow a different trajectory from Greek history.”
He explained that the Romans were profoundly influenced by Greek art, literature, and culture, but did things their own way for their political, judicial, and military systems. “The Romans had their own way of doing things. This helps explain why the Romans were able to form a massive empire, but the Greeks were not,” said Dr. Meisner.
He says that knowing Greece for philosophy and Rome for its engineering is too simplistic but not wrong. “As I always say, ‘if you want to write beautiful poetry or profound philosophy, do it in Greek, but if you want to command an army or conduct legal proceedings, do it in Latin,’” he said.
He elaborated that “it is true that the Greeks were a very creative and intellectual culture while the Romans were a very conservative and practical culture.” He mentioned the roman poet Vergil’s (Aeneid 6.981-984) quote about the Romans that said, “These will be your arts: to put your stamp on the works and ways of peace, to spare the defeated, break the proud in war.”
Dr. Meisner however also pointed out that there were great philosophers in Rome like Cicero and similarly great engineers in Greece like Parthenon’s work in Athens which represents Greek engineering at its finest.
If you want to write beautiful poetry or profound philosophy, do it in Greek, but if you want to command an army or conduct legal proceedings, do it in Latin. – Dwayne Meisner, professor, Campion College
Similar yet different entertainment
Dr. Merisner explained that the Greek tragedy and Roman gladiatorial games were both two forms of entertainment which were related to “the political situation of the cultures that produced them.” He explained that Greek tragedies portrayed democracy while Roman gladiators were a display of imperialism.
“All the greatest Greek tragedies were produced at a time when Athenian democracy was at its peak and everyone in the audience was grappling with the profound themes that tragedy deals with.” he said.
About the Roman gladiatorial games he said that, “the peak time of production for Roman gladiatorial games, on the other hand, was when Roman imperialism was at its peak. Augustus was a genius at using gladiator competitions, as well as other spectacles like chariot races and beast hunts, to gain the favour of the people and solidify his rule as emperor.”
Discussion on Greek pottery
When asked about the reflection of societal value and daily life in the Greek black-figure and red-figure pottery, Dr. Meisner shared that many Greek pottery pieces show scenes from daily life. “[…]There are depictions of women working at the loom or gathering around a well, or scenes of slaves working in the fields, or blacksmiths with their anvil and hammer,” he shared. Additionally he told us that the military themes and scenes from famous legends are also commonly seen on Greek pottery but most “depict typical Greek athletes, and these come closer to illustrating real life.”
Dr. Meisner mentioned Greek understanding of morality, heroism, and divinity being another commonly used theme in their pottery. Some of the most famous ones include scenes of heroes from the Trojan War “which reflect military ethos and related societal values related to heroism, and scenes of deities from various myths, which reveal that the divine was complex and was always a reflection of humanity,” he said. He cited the example of the multitude of pottery that show the God of wine, Dionysus with his entourage of maenads and satyrs, “which makes sense since a lot of the best pottery was produced for aristocratic drinking parties.”
Favourites and recommendations
When asked if there is a particular artifact, inscription, or ruin that tells the most human story from antiquity he said that he loves the graffiti that is found in Pompeii. “They tell us all kinds of human stories – never a lot of information, but undeniably authentic,” he shared. Dr. Meisner further shared that in one of his courses he looks at the graffiti that talks about gladiators “because there is a lot of that in Pompeii.”
“There are only a few graffiti written by gladiators themselves, and all of them boast about how women found them attractive,” he said. “For example: Celadus the Thracian is the delight of all the girls (CIL IV 4289).”
Dr. Meisner recommended Plato’s Symposium as a must read text to the readers. “It is a strange little text in which Plato depicts a group of upper-class Athenians – one of whom is, of course, Socrates – gathered at a symposium, which was an aristocratic drinking party. One of the people at this party speaks up and suggests that, to entertain themselves, they should all take turns delivering a speech about Eros – aka Cupid, the god of Love, son of Aphrodite,” he explained.
“I recommend it because right now the world needs more love, and it helps to think about these things from different perspectives.”
