During Cicero's time, the Romans had an ambivalent attitude towards the Greeks: they admired their cultural achievements but, on the other hand, felt superior to those who were its subjects. We can see the ambivalence in this Cicero's excerpt.
1. Cicero argues that studying Greek literature is useful to the state because it provides models of excellence which could incentivize noble actions in the reader.
2. But the reader of Cicero might ask: were those exemplary figures so because they learned so or because of some innate nature? Here the ambivalence surfaces: Cicero claims that Greek excellence lay in learning, while Roman's lay in an innate excellence.
