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One of the most interesting things about Homer's works is how very, very different the system of morality was back then. Throughout the book they talk incredibl

by cm2012 13y ago

One of the most interesting things about Homer's works is how very, very different the system of morality was back then. Throughout the book they talk incredibly casually of killing civilians and raping and enslaving their women. It is not just in war situations either (which is bad enough) - it is just not wrong to kill some island people who aren't part of your home country or allies. One thing unique about Christian values (new testament) was the introduction of the idea the might doesn't necessarily make right, and the focus on the downtrodden instead of the epic. If you read Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, the main reason Christianity spread so quickly and powerfully in their missionary work was that they accepted the outcasts of the society, lepers, poor people, weak people, etc.

mathattack 13y ago
This is an important reason why it's important to study the historical context of when novels were written.
yetanotherphd 13y ago
Things Fall Apart also described how Christianity only fixed local forms of inequality and oppression, by replacing it with a much bigger one (colonialism).
antiterra 13y ago
Civilization has made things better but people are still capable of murderous savagery, even when considering themselves Christian. There's a huge list, the Crusades (incredibly abominable[1]), Germany in Belgium, Nazis, European fascism, Inquisitions, Muenster's Anabaptists, Rwanda, Kosovo, heck, even the Mongols had absorbed Nestorian Christianity. Then there's the past century in South and Central America, dirty wars, drug wars, guerrillas, and the corrupt governments that spawned them (both influenced by the meddling of the US.) I'm sure I am missing a ton here, like the colonization of the Americas and the war in the Philippines or all the rape in the prison system that the majority of people appear to find unconcerning. Take a look on YouTube at nationalist videos posted by Greeks and Turks, and read the comments that show they barely view each other as human. Modern humans are not so different. [1] Women, even nuns, were raped by the Crusader army, which also sacked churches, monasteries and convents. The very altars of these churches were smashed and torn to pieces for their gold and marble by the warriors who had sworn to fight in service of Christendom without question. -http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(1204) http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(1204...

by cm2012 13y ago

mathattack 13y ago

This is an important reason why it's important to study the historical context of when novels were written.

yetanotherphd 13y ago

Things Fall Apart also described how Christianity only fixed local forms of inequality and oppression, by replacing it with a much bigger one (colonialism).

antiterra 13y ago

Civilization has made things better but people are still capable of murderous savagery, even when considering themselves Christian. There's a huge list, the Crusades (incredibly abominable[1]), Germany in Belgium, Nazis, European fascism, Inquisitions, Muenster's Anabaptists, Rwanda, Kosovo, heck, even the Mongols had absorbed Nestorian Christianity. Then there's the past century in South and Central America, dirty wars, drug wars, guerrillas, and the corrupt governments that spawned them (both influenced by the meddling of the US.) I'm sure I am missing a ton here, like the colonization of the Americas and the war in the Philippines or all the rape in the prison system that the majority of people appear to find unconcerning. Take a look on YouTube at nationalist videos posted by Greeks and Turks, and read the comments that show they barely view each other as human. Modern humans are not so different. [1] Women, even nuns, were raped by the Crusader army, which also sacked churches, monasteries and convents. The very altars of these churches were smashed and torn to pieces for their gold and marble by the warriors who had sworn to fight in service of Christendom without question. -http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(1204) http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(1204...