Meditations Paper
In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius uses Stoic philosophical ideas, which has some similarities as well as several differences between The Epic of Gilgamesh’s Roman Polytheism. As shown in Gilgamesh, Roman Polytheism is the belief in many gods and goddesses which are often tied to natural phenomenon such as wind, fire, water, sun, etc. In Roman polytheism, the gods and goddesses have limited powers and responsibilities. The gods and goddesses are believed to be emotional as well. They take on human emotions, characteristics of humans, and sometimes even human form. In Roman Polytheism, human’s purpose in life was to serve the gods. The humans are mortal and their fate is death. Mesopotamian gods on the other hand are immortal and tied to nature. Polytheism is a very pessimistic and pervasive type belief and relationship. Everything involves serving the gods, there is no reward, and the only thing to look forward to is death. Monotheism, on the other hand contrasts greatly from the Roman Polytheistic view. In Monotheism, there is a purpose to life, instead of living to serve the gods.