The Great Epics And Tales

Sexism is defined as prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex, and is a topic that has been on and off the media throughout the years, becoming more prevalent in the 21st century. Many iconic figures throughout the ages have spoken out for women, people like Mahatma Gandhi, who said “Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so degrading, so shocking, or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity; to me, the female sex is not the weaker sex.” Sexism has been around for about as long as the human race, dating back to biblical times and beyond. A woman’s traditional role in the family has been that of the cook, the cleaner, the child raiser, and the gardener.

In Greek literature, the character Gilgamesh from The Epic of Gilgamesh and Odysseus from The Odyssey by Homer can be compared by their similar journeys and differing heroic qualities.

Gender inequality has been a controversial topic for numerous religions and cultures throughout history. Women were commonly regarded as the subservient gender, an idea that was no different in Ancient Greece. Throughout Greek mythology, women were considered inferior and troublesome symbols, while men were known for courage, leadership, and strength. While there is no argument of the flagrant sexism that is illustrated in Greek mythology, it can also be claimed that women were given a situated position of freedom, necessity, and power as well. Many popular Greek plays and myths contain several complexes and well described female characters. These goddesses themselves, partook the role of victim, heroine, and villain as it illustrated the diversity of characters in which women were portrayed and seen in both Ancient Greek society and mythology, allowing us to question “Were the women of Ancient Greek mythology equally represented as free and superior?” The creation of the Greek mythological universe, the creation of multi-gendered goddesses or deities, and the free and superior personalities accredited to women in Ancient Greek mythology to answer the question that women were fairly represented as powerful in Ancient Greek mythology.

The Odyssey, written in 725 BCE. in Greece is a tale of a great warrior Odysseus, trying to return home to his wife after fighting a great war. The Epic of Gilgamesh, written earlier in 2700 B.C. in Mesopotamia, is the tale of a King Gilgamesh who goes on a quest to find immortality. Throughout these two epics’ both Gilgamesh and Odysseus are required to fight for their survival.  In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk has to fight Humbaba, a giant beast who is the guardian of the Cedar Forest. While Odysseus lands in the island of the Cyclopes and is trapped in a cave with a giant.

Dating back from B.C.E. (Before Common Era) to the 21st century there has always been debates over the ancient culture philosophies such as gender role ideologies between men and women. The accuracy of The Hebrew Bible and The Epic of Gilgamesh are relevant to our culture today because the truth lies somewhere in between the two texts. Both samples have a valid argument about the importance of gender ideologies. Men are almost always seen as superior or heroic heroes in ancient stories because of their strength and masculinity. Women on the other hand are usually seen as weak, low class, vulnerable and caregivers because of their femininity.

The Characteristics of Epic Heros Homer’s Odyssey is an epic poem that centers around the travels of Odysseus and his men on their prolonged journey home, against Poseidon’s will. In The Hunger Games, the protagonist Katniss Everdeen sacrifices herself in order to protect her family and to enter a land of great dangers. The most basic perception of an epic hero is a person who embodies kindness at its finest and out of the goodness of their heart. However, if one were to delve deeper into the meaning of an epic hero, they would find that a hero also expresses compassion for their friends and their enemies.

In this argument essay, it consists of three texts: The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, and Beowulf. During each of the characters ' journey, they face challenges such as fighting with monsters and with that they either develop a greater sense of mortality or a greater sense of identity. Mortality and identity are common themes in an epic that portrays the importance of character development from the effects of their heroic actions. Some epics result in mortality which means they know that they live to die, while others result in identity which is when they live to discover their own identity. Mortality is developed more effectively in The Epic of Gilgamesh and Beowulf, and identity is shown in The Odyssey. Monsters in these epics that

Humans’ ideal image of divinity and their perception of the role divine power plays shift when looking at divinity through different perspectives. The Bible, the Epic of Gilgamesh, both written by multiple authors, and the “Rap Guide to Religion,” written by Baba Brinkman, are perfect examples of how humans’ notion of God differs. God and other divine powers are both prevalent in the Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh; in fact, the gods often interfere with the humans. On the other hand, Brinkman’s performance illustrates atheists’ lack of trust in God. Brinkman argues that God is a human by-product and thus, with today’s technology, even a surveillance camera can replace the duties of the divine. When putting the authors’ viewpoint in a line,

The Sunjiata Epic when compared with some of our readings such as Beowulf and Odyssey, the story starts at childhood where he is born in a royal family in unimaginable circumstances. The Epic explains how his mother carried him in her belly for eight long years. At one time the king is visited by a magical jinni that tells him how his soon to be boon son will be. The jinni explains that the son will be a strong, extraordinary, humble, and loved king (Gries, 2016). Sunjata is Epic in that he would in his wishes be able to transform himself into a lion, tame wild animals to help the society, was wiser than anybody else, and could help witches to bring back to life a recently dead child.

In today’s society, many humans define themselves by various means. How others perceive them, personality traits, profession, and tangible assets often define individuals. Others use intangible characteristics and their believe system in God or a god/gods. As we age and experience life, many people change the way they define themselves. Throughout the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, “Oedipus the King”, “The Odyssey”, and “Beowulf”, the readers notice how society defines each main character by their heroic characteristics, the relationship between the humans and the divine, and the differences of how each hero’s journey ends.

Sexism. Misogyny. Gender discrimination. You know this atrocity by many names but here is the naked truth of it’s real face. The unjust neglect towards the feelings and ideas of women is not something that could be considered as a problem of the modern age, in contrast, it’s something that has been going on since there era of the Lord Rama. It could perhaps be argued as the start of this suffocating, judgemental society we live in today.

Greek mythology are stories in which the Ancient Greeks revolved their life around. By studying these myths in the modern world, one can learn much about their society. When reading these myths, one can easily notice that women were not treated as an equal. Despite the fact that women were looked upon as inferior to men, the myths about Athena, Artemis and Hera show the modern reader that these goddesses had both power and influence over the mortal and immortal world.

An analysis of example can be derived from the aforementioned discriminatory sexist roles in India that prior to globalization highly favored the male population verses the female population. The female population in India has previously been less than second class citizens. Indian women's cultural roles have been previously defined by traditional customs that are centuries old and no longer apply in this day and age. Previous to globalization, Indian women were to take total domestic responsibility. They were not allowed formal education as the majority of teachers and pupils were male, and the chances of a female remaining chaste was slim in those settings, and related to tradition, females

In The Táin and the Mahābhārata, brothers slaughter and mourn over brothers, parents are separated from their children, and husbands and wives quarrel and grow apart; the ideals of these epics seem to suggest that avoiding desires and violence will resolve such familial conflict. However, it is difficult to generalize from these dramatic epics since they do not necessarily resolve conflicts within families or settle disputes realistically. Nonetheless, the texts offer explanations as to why dysfunctional relationships exist, in that The Táin points to materialistic desires as the root causes of familial disputes, while the Mahābhārata focuses on the conflicts between relative and absolute dharmas in forcing individuals to turn against one

The story opens as Sauti, a storyteller returning from the snake sacrifice of King Janamejaya, approaches several wise men, or rishis, in the forest of Naimisha. He relates to them the Mahabharata as he has heard it from Vaisampayana, a disciple of the poet Vyasa. Sauti begins by recounting the death of King Parikshit of the Bharatas at the hands of Takshaka, aNaga, or snake-man. King Janamejaya, Parikshit's son and successor, had held the snake sacrifice in order to avenge the death of his father, but the ceremony was stopped by the intervention of the learned Naga, Astika. Sauti then recounts the origins of the Bharatas (also known as the Kurus), a race descended from the great King