Rama’s tale is from the Indian tale of Ramayana Of Valmiki, a story about India’s ideal prince that is an incarnation of Vishnu, who follows his dharma. It’s an adventurous tale of how Rama goes off to look for his lover, Sita who has been kidnapped. In the story, the dharma is referenced throughout Ramayana of Valmiki. The Dharma is one of India’s important rules to follow in Hinduism. It is what the people believed in as their cosmic order of life, if they are good, then they would follow the path for good. As for the villains, if their dharma is to be the best villain, then they follow their dharma as the best villain. As for Rama, he is the perfect example of a person who follows their dharma for good. Since Rama followed his dharma, he …show more content…
Rama may have a different reason and belief about how a person should act. For the most part, he did follow his dharma and still maintained the title of being a hero by saving his wife and defeating Ravana. As for Achilles, he presented himself as being a noble warrior when he finally went out to the battlefield and avenged his friend and defeated Hector. Achilles also made the right choice by setting his pride to the side and finally going out to battle. What those two did after the enemy is killed is acknowledge how they lived. Rama mentioned, “Victory is the monopoly of none: a hero is either slain in battle or he kills his opponent,” meaning to be a hero there will be a sacrifice to themselves or to the enemy (1227). The quote also fits how Achilles’ standpoint of being a hero during the battle. What Rama also does is acknowledge that Ravana has taken care of his people in the demon world, and for that, Rama agreed with Vibhishana to perform a funeral for his enemy (1228). As the hero of his story, he has shown that he does care about the people around him, and even showing some kind of generosity towards his enemy. Similarly, Achilles also performed a funeral for his enemy, Hector, as well. Achilles has called over the women to wash Hector's body to prepare for the funeral (326). It is Achilles way of showing his own mourning for another warrior that has fought on the battlefield despite Hector being his enemy. Achilles was nice enough to return Hector’s body to Hector’s father and talked to him. This shows that Achilles’s heroism is being a noble person by giving back the body of the enemy to his
His mother, Thetis, portends "that [Achilles] is destined for both an early death and misery beyond compare." (Homer, Book I, 438-439) Achilles fights to achieve eternal glory and to be remembered in history for his warrior efforts. Achilles knows that "If I stay here and fight, I 'll never return home, but my glory will be undying forever. If I return home to my dear fatherland my glory is lost but my life will be long and death that ends all will not catch me soon." (Homer Book IX 425-429) This is reflective of the Greek motivation; making it a personal quest. Fueled by his own desire to kill Hector and avenge the death of Patroclus, Achilles tells Hector that" [t]here are no binding oaths between men and lions- wolves and lambs can enjoy no meeting of the minds- they are all bent on hating each other to the death. So with you and me. No love between us. No truce till one or the other falls and gluts with blood." (Homer Book XXII, 309-314) This type of hero would more appeal to the Greeks hearing or reading the
This pagan ideology affects Achilles’ sense of moral code and values because it was the “religion” at that time period which determined between right and wrong. From this pagan belief he separates even more from Sir Gawain in his representation of the warrior-like masculinity. Achilles is described as the ultimate warrior that shows no mercy on the battlefield, which gives him the credit of his high achieving alpha male status. His merciless attitude is shown when he kills the Trojan Hector and drags his body around to display is to the public going against all signs of respect for the deceased. The Greek gets his masculinity from acting almost as a savage off the battlegrounds as well. He plunders and pillages villages while taking any woman that he wants. His ultimate male achievement is also through his strong sexual will that no one can stop. Achilles seems to feel that with sex he can assert his dominance as a man over all. This warrior masculinity is also a look into the tribal mentality of the past. Achilles’ main purpose for fighting is for
First of all, the ransom for Hectors’ defaced body shows the compassion in The Iliad. Hector is portrayed as the “hero of sacred Troy” (24.213) so instead of defacing his body even more, Achilles demonstrates compassion and returns his sacred body back to Troy. Moreover, loyalty is
Anyway, this was the main reason Homer wrote the Iliad. The specific story of the Death of Hector shows tells the story of Hector, who wants to fight Achilles outside the city gates. He refuses his father’s request to come inside and be protected. In the end he is killed. This entire episode shows the way one should act.
The Ancient Greeks admired their heroes and tried to learn from both their achievements and their mistakes. They believed that most great leaders and warriors followed a predictable behavior cycle, which often ended tragically. In Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, Achilles is a great warrior who traces the stages of the behavior cycle twice, from arete to hubris to ate and then to nemesis. Achilles is a highly skilled warrior and a great leader who becomes a narcissist and an arrogant person, which leads to selfish and childish behavior resulting in the death of his best friend. Following Patroclus’ death, Achilles repeats the behavior cycle by regaining his courage and motivation, and goes back to battle against Hector. The pride he feels in killing Hector and his overpowering hatred for him, leads Achilles to another bad decision: disrespecting the body of his enemy. This foolish choice leads directly to Achilles death. Although The Iliad is mainly known as a story about the Trojan War, it is understood as a story about Achilles and his struggle to be a hero.
Prince Rama is portrayed as exemplifying the principles of his Hindu culture. He’s a man of honor, he’s faithful, affectionate and loving. He speaks the truth, stern when needed and is willing to make sacrifices. This is exemplified when “Kaikeyi demands Rama to be exiled into the wilderness for fourteen years and that
As Hector saw the anger that burned within Achilles as he walk towards him, “Hector began to shake in fear. His courage gone, he could no longer stand there. terrified , he started running” (Homer 22. 140). Hector should be this great hero who will fight to the death in order to protect his country, but some may see his fear as a weakness that makes him unqualified to be called a hero. However Hector reflected his bravery because to chose to stand and wait for Achilles, but he also realizes when fighting will end in his demise. Hector is not a god, he is not immortal, he is human and he does not want to go into a fight where he knows he will die because he cannot protect his country if he is dead. Previously in the war, Hector broke through the mighty Greeks defences he “ jumped inside the gates, no moving out to stop him could hold him back, expect the gods. From his eyes fire blazed” Homer (83). Hectors bravery helped him push through the Greeks defences even though there were people all around him trying to kill him. After this Hector acts as a model for the rest of the Trojan soldiers, inspiring them to push forward with Hector. After making the decision to join the Marines Tillman was “not sure where this new direction will take [his] life though [he is] positive it will include its share of sacrifices and difficulty, most of which falling squarely on Marie’s shoulders.” (Tillman 2). There are many strong people in the world, but only the brave few will be willing to step up where others would not. Heros are the people who will do what most others would not do in order to protect the greater good. Just as Tillman acted as a role model for everyone Hector showed the Trojan army that they could
In the movie, Achilles kills Hector with two blows, robbing Hector of any remaining words he might have had. But in the book, when Achilles makes the fatal blow, he did not cut Hector’s windpipe, and they have another discussion. “As Hector charged in fury brilliant Achilles drove his spear/ and the point went stabbing clean through the tender neck/ but the heavy bronze weapon failed to slash the windpipe-/ Hector could still gasp out some words, some last reply…/ he crashed in the dust” (385-389). Another important aspect of the book is the conversation between Achilles and Hector as Hector is dying. Hector begs for his family and friends to receive his body which is a rational request and would be a respectable action if taken by Achilles. Achilles, though, refuses and said he would eat his body raw before he would return his body, even for a ransom. This shows how Achilles’ irrational rage controls his actions and he is not the noble hero. Omitting these from the movie took away from the characterization for Achilles and Hector and, therefore, the portrayal of the two
To begin our comparisons, we must first look at each character and recognize their separate journeys. Through summarization of the characters and their story, we will begin to see Rama's role and Sita's role. By this process, I will demonstrate how they correlate, differ and combine to form the Ramayana. Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, is a god known as Vishnu who has been reincarnated and sent to earth in mortal form. Rama must take an archetypal journey known as the "quest." During the quest, a hero must conquer obstacles to save the kingdom (Guerin et.al.154). Rama's obstacle is Ravana, an evil monster who is slowly taking over heaven and earth. Because Ravana never asked for protection from a human being, he can only be destroyed by a human being and this makes Rama's need for success especially important (Narayan 5). a the beginning of the narrative, Rama is forced into exile from his kingdom into the forest for 14 years. This exile begins his quest.
First off, Achilles has a few heroic characteristics. I don’t want to compare him to any other heroes I’ve studied because I don’t like him, but I’d say Odysseus, because they fought for the same goal in the Trojan War. But personally, I think he is a sissy for not fighting throughout the entire Trojan War until things got personal because Hector killed his friend. But hey, killing Hector in his blind rage helped the cause, and thusly his people. So he isn’t all that bad. Then, as N.S. Gill will write, Achilles does this. “An enraged Achilles kills Hector and then dishonors the body by dragging it around tied to the back of a chariot for 9 days.” So, yeah, Achilles is kind of a prick. But then again, Achilles reflects the moral codes of the culture that bore him, so in a strange way, he is the embodiment of a hero. To them at least. To me, he seems to have good ...
...battle that Achilles’ ego needed. However, Hector tried to do the right thing by offering the deceased be returned to their respective camps after the battle was over. It is at this point that Achilles is beyond the common courtesies of war and flat out denied Hector’s request. This action by Achilles shows his arrogance and the bloodlust that was truly in his heart rather than the courage that so many people claim that he had.
Throughout the text, major characters seem to be at constant battle with their different emotions. This inner conflict is mirrored by the everyday conflicts between the gods. Just as Zeus and Hera are constantly at odds with one another, so are the different sides of Achilles: his cultural responsibility, pride, honor, and revenge. No one is completely at peace with his or her conflicting emotions in The Iliad – and therefore, neither are the gods, who represent these emotions. Hector is a prime example of a human who finds himself torn between two forces: his love for his growing family, and his duty as a prince of Troy. He admits to Andromache that he worries about his own mortality, but emphasizes that “I would die of shame to face the men of Troy…if I would shrink from battle now, a coward.” (Homer 6: 523, 525). Hector’s deeply ingrained sense of honor and loyalty to home is clearly established in the beginning of the text. Therefore, when Zeus later grants Hector “power to kill and kill till you cut your way to the benched ships” (Homer 11: 241-242), it is not too much of a stretch to attribute Hector’s dodged perseverance to his upbringing and rigid sense of duty, rather than to the
Hector fights for belief and respect while Achilles fights out of rage and rashness. Achilles is not respected by his men, rather he is feared. Nobody wants to receive the blunt of the attack when Achilles randomly flies into a rage, therefore his men are terrified of him and allow him to do as he pleases. Within the first book of the poem, we read that Achilles is considered by many to be "god-like". (King Agamemnon, Book 1, line 154)
Because he embodied Greek ideals, was ‘immortalized’ through his actions and glorious death, and was courageous, Achilles was an epic hero. Honor was of the utmost importance to both him and the entire Greek society, he chose to die a hero in battle, and he avenged the death of Patroclus even through mourning; Achilles is the true hero of the Iliad.
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.