What makes someone a hero? We often think of great warriors with courage, fearlessness, bravery, selflessness, dauntless and strength when we hear the word hero. Two men, who are considered heroes, Arjuna of India and Achilles of Greece both showed heroic qualities. By examining the hero's quest, downfall, death, and traits, we can learn much about them. Heroes, despite different quests and downfalls, have similar virtues and duties to perform, thus receiving the title of a hero. The first hero that will be examined is from the 700 verse Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Arjuna, the main character is faced with a difficult decision deciding whether or not to fight. He is the leader of Pandava, and his charioteer, who really is a god, is Krishna. Arjuna does not want to fight; he does not understand why he must shed the blood of his relatives, the Kauravas, for a kingdom that he does not want. “Krishna, how can I fight against Bhishma and Drona with arrows when they deserve my worship?” (World Literature 469) For him, killing his family is the greatest sin of all, but Krishna urges Arjuna to fulfill his dharma, “sacred duty”and wage battle. Arjuna shows selflessness by not focusing on his own duties but, thinking of the good of others. The …show more content…
Arjuna is notable for treating his opponents with respect while Achilles does not respect the corpse of Hector and mutilates it. “Chariot horses at a brutal gallop pulled the torn body toward the decked ships” (World Literature 262). Achilles allowed his pride to get the worst of him, and unfortunately it caused the misfortune of another prideful human. I would consider it poor sportsmanship to treat your opponent so horribly after a battle. Arjuna does not treat his opponent that way but accepts his duty to complete his Dharma for his
What is a hero? The book Mythology by Edith Hamilton has a lot of heroes and most of them have 2 things in common. The heroes are in their own ways superior whether it be strength, intelligence, and/or courage. The second thing they have in common is a quest that establishes their greatness and proving that they are good enough to be called heroes. The catch is that even though they may have the characteristics of a hero, not all of them are epic heroes.
Using the above definition of hero and heroism, this essay attempts to assess three famous heroic characters portrayed in arguably the three greatest literary epics known to humankind, Achilles of Ancient Greece, Sundiata Keita of Ancient Mali and Rama of Ayodhya in what is today Modern India. With references to Stanley Lombardo’s translation of Homer’s Iliad, D.T. Niane’s Sundiata and R.K. Narayan’s translation of Valmiki’s Ramayana, this essay seeks to compare and contrast the attributes of these heroes, the morals associated with their heroism and their reasons for engaging in battle.
What is a hero? Merriam Webster defines a hero as being a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities. What are those noble qualities? They are bravery, selflessness, and strength. Two heroes, Beowulf and Sir Gawain, exemplify these traits while the "hero" Arcita fails to do so.
According to google.com a hero is someone who “is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievments, or noble equalities.” (google.com). For example, superman , superman is an all time american classic modern hero who is admired for his courage and for saving earth multiple times from super villains. Another example of a hero is Beowulf. Beowulf was created around 1000 AD and was known far and wide throughout the lands for his selflessness,bravery, and courage .
The Greeks placed great importance on personal honor. Why is this? Is it because to them man I nothing without honor. Or is it that the honor is more important than the man? "Honor to the Greeks is something that is won by a man's prowess, his ability to fight and be victorious on the battle field"(Schein 62). This is just one example of how honor is obtained. A second method of gaining honor is to be a great orator, one must posses the ability to speak in the assembly and express his ideas eloquently, and persuasively to the gathered body. A third way of achieving personal honor is to demonstrate athletic ability.
The question "was Achilles' anger justified" brings up issues that seem to have little or no relevance to the war. In time of war I would expect the leaders to prioritize the groups interest for the sake of unity and cooperation rather than being entrenched in achieving their own personal goals. But my expectations are those of a modern day literature student, I'm inclined to think that the Greeks who first read this epic valued different things than myself. Another relevant question might be "were Achilles' actions justified". Anger can be easily justified, but the actions that anger might lead you to take are not as easily justified. Again I am not an ancient Greek and my opinions are irrelevant unless I open my mind to different viewpoints. Therefore I am striving to look into this issue through ancient Greek eyes where the principle of sacrificing ones own interests was apparently not valued, but maintaining ones honor, on the other hand, was greatly valued. In the following paragraphs I will attempt to answer these two aforementioned questions.
Throughout history, there have always been heroes. Those strong-willed, brave individuals who perform courageous acts for fame and glory are prevalent in most cultures.. Societies have these heroes as standards of their cultures’ moral codes. Every society has their own definition of these codes are, so a unifying definition of hero can be hard to achieve. However, Philip Zimbardo says “Simply put, then, the key to heroism is a concern for other people in need—a concern to defend a moral cause, knowing there is a personal risk, done without expectation of reward.” With this basic definition, I will be examining various epic heroes I’ve studied throughout the course of my senior year for characteristics. From the copious amounts of studying, I’ve deduced that Achilles, Odysseus, Aeneas, Socrates, Gilgamesh, Beowulf, and Arthur all have characteristics that make them heroic.
Heroism entails several things; a selfless act, courage, or the accomplishments of bold and daring expeditions. A hero can also mean courage in the face of death. Others may view this type of hero as stupid, or a martyr. Every hero has faults and these faults along with heroic deeds make the man or woman; a hero, heroine.
Also, Homer describes both Achilles and Hector as “god-like”. This suggests that their standards in the field of battle are very much the same and that they are superior to the other soldiers. Furthermore, Homer shows us that they both possess great pride. In Achilles’ case, Agamemnon dishonors him in the beginning of The Iliad: “But I, I will be there in person at your tents / to take Briseis in all her beauty, your own prize” (1.217- 8). Agamemnon angers Achilles by taking his prize Briseis, so he refuses to participate in the Trojan War for a while.
When I think of a hero I immediately think of someone who is strong, intelligent, handsome, and daring. Upon closer examination, many different qualities than these become apparent. Courage, honesty, bravery, selflessness, and the will to try are just a few of the overlooked qualities of a hero. The definition of heroism changes with the context and time. Heroes of the past are not necessarily heroes of present time and vise versa.
Achilles and Hector have many similarities. Both Achilles and Hector were respected by the people whom they fought for. ”Personally to Achilles to control his temper, since he is, for all Greeks, a mighty bulwark in this evil war” (237). This shows that even when Achilles was wrong his people still respected him, because he was their meal ticket to the war. He was the only chance the Greeks had in defeating the Trojans.
According the Iliad by Homer, Hector and Achilles are the main characters that have many different, but also they have some similarity.They both have the different in personalities and life. Also, they have the different about leadership and relationship with their family. Both are the two strong warriors and heroes. Achilles is in Greek side, Hector is in the Trojans side , and they both want to win the battle . Both characteristics believed that their fate is to die on the battle as the warrior, but approach war differently. However, they all have the advantage and disadvantage. Also, They have the different reasons to fight the battle that hector fight for his homeland and his family's honor and Achilles fight for Helen , also because he is the best warrior that he want people to respected him.
Homer's Iliad refers to an ancient epic Greek poem. The poem is based on the events of the Trojan War, the siege of the Troy city by a combination of Greek states that took almost ten years. The poem outlines the events and battle that took place between the Greeks and the Trojans. The events captured in the poem cover a few weeks to the end of the war. However, the poem contains deep Greek mythical allusion. It describes the great Greek legends involved in the siege, the events that occurred before the actual war such as meeting of the warriors planning the siege, the reason and the foundation of the battle and the events that happened in the beginning. It further illustrates prophesies of the future such as the death of the Troy (Iliad, pp 87).
In the poem, Iliad, Achilles and Hector both show relative heroism in their own different ways. Achilles may have been the more popular hero, but Hector had great heroism as well. Each of these characters possess their own different strengths and weaknesses. These two characters both have pride as being one of their main weaknesses. Hector seems as if he would suit best in the modern world, but there are a few different reasons as to why the ancients may have chose Achilles. Hector and Achilles both lost a lot by letting their pride get in the way of their heroism. Both of these characters were their country’s best warrior. Achilles and Hector have very different personalities, and very different ways of approaching situations.
In the Greek society, Achilles has the role of the aggressive soldier. From the very first lines of the epic, we are introduced to Achilles’ murderous rage: