Super profoundly grateful.
In ancient Rome, the relationship between a young adult male and his father had nuances of their own. Although their gradual release of responsibility followed a curve similar to our own, there were a few interesting differences. For example, a 17-year-old could be given command of a group of soldiers and lead them in battle, but he still had to rely on his father for serious financial deals and exchanges. Romance, which we view as almost solely the choice of the young man and woman, was also in the hands of the parents. Instead of wooing a girl, a suitor usually put more effort into wooing her father. Today, animosity seems to mark more in-law relationships than brown-nosing does. These differences highlight that although we believe in the gradual release of responsibility, we have a large division as to which responsibilities belong to the son, and which are "too big" for them.
A father-son relationship is an interesting subject to consider. I think we would be wise to mirror the Roman way and involve parents more in financial and romantic decision making.
ReplyDeleteYou make a really good point about relationships with parents to children. We sometimes forget the context in which we people in ancient times lived. They had things a lot more structured and prearranged than we do now.
ReplyDeleteI love what you said about in-law relationships. So true. However I feel like society today recognizes brown-nosing and insincerity in any form quickly, and I don't know how effective the "roman in-law approach" would be. But its worth a try!
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