Research Paper on:
Ancient Literature and Cultural Characteristics

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
we may feel that the ancient people are far removed from our culture today, the truth is that there are some incredibly strong connections, such as the intellectual belief that  we are smarter than destiny when we strengthen our knowledge as a culture. There are many ways in which our culture has taken the ancient culture of the Greeks and  used it to establish who we are, consciously or subconsciously. And, in all honesty, this is the reason why so much of the ancient literature we read seems so relevant  today, despite some of the fantastical qualities. Bearing that in mind the following paper examines "The Epic of Gilgamesh," "Oedipus the King," and "Lysistrata" as it relates to the cultural  traits found in ancient literature, the cultural traits that seem unique to the literature, and the cultural connections between the ancient literature and our present day society. Cultural  Traits of Ancient Literature There are numerous cultural traits which we can see in much of the ancient Greek literature. For example, we see the cultural realities that speak of  the gender division between men and women, a powerful element in Lysistrata. We see the focus on predestination as it involves Gilgameshs story and Oedipus story. And, interestingly enough, in  Oedipus story we have one that seems to offer us the belief that through intellectual pursuit we can somehow avoid the inevitable, because intelligence somehow seems to speak of power  over the nature of life. In the story of Oedipus we have a man who feels that with the knowledge of what will come to pass he can avoid  it. He feels that he will not fulfill the prophecy because he is aware of the prophecy. In this simple, yet symbolic perspective, we see how the culture of the