The life of Romulus was more admirable
than that of Theseus.’ How far do you agree
with this statement? (15 marks)
I agree with this statement to an extent, because at the beginning of his life,
Theseus appears to be much more admirable and heroic, but as time goes on his
morals and altruism arguably decrease, while Romulus’ increases a lot.
Firstly, when it comes to heroic feats of power and strengths, Theseus’ acts
appear much more extraordinary than Romulus. Throughout his life, Romulus
fought against many, including the Sabines and Amulius, but these were all
humans. In contrast, Theseus fought all kinds of mythological creatures,
including the Minotaur, Centaurs and Amazons, all classified as ‘barbaric’ by the
ancient world. The 6 labours of Theseus and some of his other accomplishments
are displayed on the Theseus Kylix, which was a cup for drinking wine. The
Theseus Kylix displays Theseus fighting may ‘tyrants’, such as Sinis, Sciron and
Cercyon in an idealised light, presenting Theseus as muscular, young (beardless)
and strong throughout the labours. While a modern audience may view the
Theseus Kylix as glorifying Theseus’ acts of violence, for a contemporary
audience, Theseus killing such monstrosities would have been the epitome of
admirable and heroic. Additionally, Romulus only defeated people, such as
Amulius, because it benefitted him personally; he did not defeat him because
Amulius was a tyrant towards his people, but because Amulius had kidnapped his
brother. On the other hand, Theseus slayed many monsters not because they
had done him any personal harm, but to save the public from these creatures. To
summarise, in terms of achievements, Theseus would have been more admirable
than Romulus.
Secondly, both Theseus and Romulus were responsible for many deaths,
especially those of their own family. Romulus, is notoriously known for
committing fratricide, brutally murdering his brother Remus so that he could
build Rome on Palatine Hill. However, this murder is presented very differently by
Livy and Plutarch. Livy entertains the idea that Romulus may not have killed
Remus, presenting multiple versions of the myth in his regular factualness. On
the other hand, Plutarch condemns Romulus for his fratricide in one chapter, but
justifies it in the other. Plutarch condemn Romulus by stating that murder was
inappropriate as the disagreement was political, but later justifies the murder,
stating that it was for the good of Rome. While neither writer’s present the
murder in a positive way, one does attempt to justify it. However, Theseus is
arguably responsible for both the murders of his son and his father. While
Plutarch attempts to justify the murder of Theseus’ son, labelling it as a crime of
passion, arguing that Theseus only cursed his son and did not physically kill him
and blames Theseus wife and fortune, However, Theseus’ parricide is beyond
justification and Plutarch condemns him for it, stating it was a result of
carelessness and negligence. While murdering your family members is not ok,
Romulus only murdered one family member compared to Theseus’ two, so
arguably, he can be seen as slightly more admirable.
Coincidentally (or not), both Romulus and Theseus were involved in the
abduction of women, but their reasons for doing so were rather different.
than that of Theseus.’ How far do you agree
with this statement? (15 marks)
I agree with this statement to an extent, because at the beginning of his life,
Theseus appears to be much more admirable and heroic, but as time goes on his
morals and altruism arguably decrease, while Romulus’ increases a lot.
Firstly, when it comes to heroic feats of power and strengths, Theseus’ acts
appear much more extraordinary than Romulus. Throughout his life, Romulus
fought against many, including the Sabines and Amulius, but these were all
humans. In contrast, Theseus fought all kinds of mythological creatures,
including the Minotaur, Centaurs and Amazons, all classified as ‘barbaric’ by the
ancient world. The 6 labours of Theseus and some of his other accomplishments
are displayed on the Theseus Kylix, which was a cup for drinking wine. The
Theseus Kylix displays Theseus fighting may ‘tyrants’, such as Sinis, Sciron and
Cercyon in an idealised light, presenting Theseus as muscular, young (beardless)
and strong throughout the labours. While a modern audience may view the
Theseus Kylix as glorifying Theseus’ acts of violence, for a contemporary
audience, Theseus killing such monstrosities would have been the epitome of
admirable and heroic. Additionally, Romulus only defeated people, such as
Amulius, because it benefitted him personally; he did not defeat him because
Amulius was a tyrant towards his people, but because Amulius had kidnapped his
brother. On the other hand, Theseus slayed many monsters not because they
had done him any personal harm, but to save the public from these creatures. To
summarise, in terms of achievements, Theseus would have been more admirable
than Romulus.
Secondly, both Theseus and Romulus were responsible for many deaths,
especially those of their own family. Romulus, is notoriously known for
committing fratricide, brutally murdering his brother Remus so that he could
build Rome on Palatine Hill. However, this murder is presented very differently by
Livy and Plutarch. Livy entertains the idea that Romulus may not have killed
Remus, presenting multiple versions of the myth in his regular factualness. On
the other hand, Plutarch condemns Romulus for his fratricide in one chapter, but
justifies it in the other. Plutarch condemn Romulus by stating that murder was
inappropriate as the disagreement was political, but later justifies the murder,
stating that it was for the good of Rome. While neither writer’s present the
murder in a positive way, one does attempt to justify it. However, Theseus is
arguably responsible for both the murders of his son and his father. While
Plutarch attempts to justify the murder of Theseus’ son, labelling it as a crime of
passion, arguing that Theseus only cursed his son and did not physically kill him
and blames Theseus wife and fortune, However, Theseus’ parricide is beyond
justification and Plutarch condemns him for it, stating it was a result of
carelessness and negligence. While murdering your family members is not ok,
Romulus only murdered one family member compared to Theseus’ two, so
arguably, he can be seen as slightly more admirable.
Coincidentally (or not), both Romulus and Theseus were involved in the
abduction of women, but their reasons for doing so were rather different.
