The reason myths are studied in today’s culture are because the stories are about the human condition, not about time or place. It is this versatility of myths, that allows Far East’s Ramayana to be mirrored in many ways by a far away galaxy’s Star Wars. The Ramayana’s lead hero is Vishnu, in the human form of Rama. The birth of Rama is divined by priests. The goal of Rama will be to defeat the evil Ravana. Star Wars starts in a similar fashion with the jedi legend of a chosen one, who can bring balance to the force. Unfortunatley, when Luke Skywalker is born, he his driven into hiding and is exiled to the outer rim of the galaxy. While living in exile in the Dune Sea, Luke makes a name forhimself as being the best pilot around town. Rama must face a similar trial to give up his destiny as a leader. One of his father’s conniving wives, tricks Rama into going to the wild forest. Bharata’s mother is much like Senataor Palpatine, who will do anything for power. While in exile, Rama meets a wise old hermit, who advises him on how to overcome the evil forces in the area. He even gives Rama a sword. Luke Skywalker, meets Obi-Won Kenobi and is shown the ways of the force by the old man. He is then given a lightsaber, later used to destroy the Emperor. During both Luke and Rama’s adventures, their trusted siblings are leading in their place.
One of the most exciting adventures Rama must overcome is to rescue his princess wife from the evil Ravana. He does so, against invincible odd...
There exists in each culture a sequence of tales and stories, which starts up a piece of culture history. These stories, called myths, frequently wander into the magical world, with fascinating heroes fighting dreadful beasts to protect exotic lands. As civilization has advanced, we have moved beyond the need to attribute unexplained events to bizarre workings beyond our knowledge. As a result, present day culture puts its assurance towards science and religion, and since then, there has been no modern myths. "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." (Star Wars), the opening scene for the Star Wars franchise, has created a strong impact towards the media and culture. Star Wars is “an American epic space opera franchise centered
Star Wars was a low budget science-fiction film that became a blockbuster box office success. The movie has been extremely popular with all cultures and ages for several decades. As well as being popular Star Wars also conveys many important themes. I believe one of the more prominent themes throughout the movie is the classic hero journey. The hero journey is a major part of stories and myths throughout the world. Both primitive and modern cultures use hero journeys as the basis for stories. The three main parts of a hero journey are the departure, the initiation, and the return. Luke’s departure is caused by a variety of factors.
Many of the stories that have been told for centuries, or have recently been created, incorporate the story of a young innocent character who embarks on a journey and becomes a hero, known as The Hero’s Journey; a series of steps that all heroes follow. This journey not only shows the main character becoming a hero but also shows the hero move along a path similar to that of adolescence, the path between childhood and maturity. The Hero’s Journey was created by a man by the name of Joseph Campbell. He wrote a book called The Hero with One Thousand Faces, a novel containing a variety of stories that follow the steps of the Hero’s Journey. One famous creation that follows The Hero’s Journey is the science fiction film trilogy: Star Wars, created by George Lucas. Lucas depicts the struggles that take place along the path of adolescence through the story of a protagonist Luke Skywalker, who strives to become a Jedi Knight to show that Campbell’s Hero’s Journey reflects the struggles that youth go through whether they are depicted in a story or not.
Great Indian authors have written grand epics that depict heroic characters performing virtuous deeds. Many of these epic tales feature fearsome and godly battles, while others highlight the soft side of human emotions. Despite seemingly unrealistic characters such as talking hawks and ten-headed monsters, and unlikely conflicts that feature bloody battles, many of these grand epics display many traditional values that Americans value in modern society. When construing three particular celebrated Indian epics (“the Mahabharata,” “the Bhagavad-Gita,” and “the Ramayana”), readers would easily glean the values and belief system that Ancient Indian society held in high esteem many thousands of years ago. Moreover, by comparing and contrasting respective ideals and principles, similarities between Ancient Indians and Americans would come to surface.
“Ramayana.” The Language of Literature Ed. Arthur N. Applebee, et al. Boston: McDougal Littell, 1983. 130-140. Print.
The myths mentioned by Richard Howells diversify in five installments, “Women and Children First!”, ‘We Shall Die Like Gentlemen’, ‘Be British!’, ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’, and ‘The Unsinkable Ship’. These myths are a combination of different characteristics the attitudes of people should direct their lives, the behaviors of gender concerning with age, and the ideals of the ship itself.
Luke Skywalker is an example of someone who embodies a modern epic hero. Skywalker is the central figure in the movie Star Wars IV A New Hope written by Gorge Lucas who reflects the values and heroic ideas of his society. Luke faces many laborious challenges throughout his journey to destroy the evil Empire. Throughout this journey, Luke stays true to himself and does not give into the thought of failure and believes in the force. Luke is tenacious, courageous, and determined to defeat the mighty evil Empire.
The epic hero’s journeys hold the hopes for future of ordinary people’s lives. The Epic of Gilgamesh was written in approximately 2000 B.C.E which is highly enriched with Ancient Mesopotamian religions, and The Ramayana was written by ancient Indians in around 1800 B.C.E. The stories were written in two different parts of the world. However, these two stories etched great evidence that show people from generation to generation that different cultures and religions are interconnected; they share ideas with each other. Both Gilgamesh and Rama traveled long journeys in these tales. These epic journeys played a role in the creation of different archetypes. We can clearly see that these two tales share similarities between these archetypes. Although
In her poem "Myth," Natasha Trethewey uses mythology, a unique structure, rhyme pattern, and punctuation to make form and content inseparable. Each of these elements serves to share the stages of grief one goes through one feels at the death of a loved one as well as the feelings of deep loss and longing.
According to The Power of Myth, one of the characteristics of hero is to encounter troubles. He explains, “The trials are designed to see to it that the intending hero sh...
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.
Zeus hurls his thunderbolt and the world trembles. Odin invites fallen warriors in the halls of Valhalla for a drink. Jesus Christ spreads the words of his father and gathers disciples. Buddha sits and meditates the meaning of the universe. Across the world there have always been mythological stories. From the first civilization to modern times, mythologies help explain the vents of the world and attempt to provide answers for unanswerable questions. Though every mythology appears different, if one looks close enough, commonalities appear. Joseph Campbell spent his life studying mythologies and religions along with compiling the commonalities amongst them. This study on the works of Joseph Campbell focuses on the following areas:
It is essential that Rama, even being the hero that he is, has helpers to aid him through his journey; Hanuman,
How did the world begin? Have you ever wondered this most likely yes. Everyone has been asking this question for millions of years. The explanation of this is called Mythology. By looking at What Mythology is, the categories of Mythology, the regions of major myths, some of the key players of myths, and finally the similarities of the cultures. With that I will start my paper and by the end of it you will have a more in depth knowledge of Mythology.
A fable is a narrative that teaches a moral through the use of animals as the main character. Fables toy with the idea of human vanity. Fables are very popular in children’s literature as it teaches children lessons while keeping them interested with the animal characters. Fables were westernized through the help of Aesop. It is unknown whether or not Aesop was a real person but is viewed as one of the fathers of fables. Modern editions contain up to 200 fables and are growing.