The Greek/Roman may have shared many similarities with the Anglo-Saxon culture, such as the monastic life, but the two cultures still do have some conflicting aspects. The differences in the rituals in the Greek culture versus the Anglo-Saxon culture also has to do with the fact that the Greek/Roman culture was heavily pagan while the Anglo-Saxon culture had the monotheistic Christian God view. Although both cultures manifest much respect in a man’s death through ritualistic burials, the Anglo-Saxon have a more heathen approach. For example in Beowulf, one of the most famous poems from the Anglo-Saxon era, the hero is highly valued in his society and must be buried and burned when deceased. At the end of the poem, Beowulf dies and his body is taken to Hronesness to be burnt on a funeral pyre. This heathen ritual was influenced by the Christian belief that the mind and body are two separate entities. When the body died the Anglo-Saxons believed that they must free the mind from the body so that the soul may enter the heathen realm of heaven. Both the Greek and the Anglo-Saxon culture have high values for the burial rituals of a dead man but the Anglo-Saxon carry out the ritual even further by burning the body.
Team 7: Tim Szu, Devin Mitchell, Jason Sim
The idea behind the burial rituals of the Anglo-Saxons and the Greeks proves to be an intriguing concept when it is tied in with the religion of each era. Signifying different ideas, each culture's religion certainly plays a role in terms of defining the importance of each civilization's rituals.
ReplyDeleteFor the Anglo-Saxons, it was interesting to understand how they justified their burning rituals through their monotheistic Christian culture. On the other hand, the Greeks justified their burial rituals based on a concept not completely tied in with religion; rather, their justification comes with human dignity and respect.
Additional reasoning behind the cultural conflict between the burial differences can be determined by looking at the different perspectives of each culture. As it was noted in your team's synthesis response, the Anglo-Saxons believed that the body and soul were still one connected entity even after a person's death. The Greeks, however, believed that once a person was deceased, their soul left their body instantaneously. As a result, the reasoning and rationale behind the different burial processes became clearer; the Anglo-Saxons believed that the body and soul would be separated through the cremation of a person and the Greeks focused on the proper respect towards burying the dead.
It should also be noted, however, that the Greeks occasionally would cremate their dead; not completely unlike the Anglo-Saxons at times. But, the reasoning behind each burial process creates a deeper meaning behind it, as each culture continued to practice their rituals; one that was important to both in their time.
This synthesis response was able to create a succinct message of the differences between the two cultures by introducing the ideas of religion in order to tie in with the burial process of each.
wylie.p5.t6.anglo-saxon
Janelle Li
Nancy Lai
Zachary Lindecamp
Kelsey Nakamura