The Heroes !!

In the three texts that we have read so far, we came across many brave and legendary heroes. For example, there was the brave Arjuna and the very strong Bhima. Also, Hector and Achilles was just as great. In The Tain, Cuchulainn was the ultimate hero. He kills a very strong hound when he was a boy. He fights in a great war to protect his men and the honor of his land. He also ends up sacrificing his son for this reason. He was a very strong man. He has been a hero from the beginning to end. Not only did he live like a hero, but he also died like one. His death was one filled with honor and glory. Taking everything into account, which person from one of the three myths do you think is the best hero? Why is this person your favorite?

All About Women !!

Every time I see powerful women, it makes me very happy. For example, Draupadi having five husbands shows her strength as a woman. It was nice to see women having more than one husband for a change, as opposed to guys having more than one wife. Also, Helen was a powerful woman. The whole Trojan was started because both Prince Paris and King Menalaus wanted her. And now, coming to the Tain, no need to mention how powerful Queen Medb is. The Irish society is actually matrilineal, unlike the Indian and Greek society. So not just this queen, but other women also enjoyed high status. And as much as i love seeing women with power, this time however, I do think Queen Medb took things a little too far by starting a war over a bull. Although the war started because of something small, it ended disastrously. How do you guys feel about this war? Was it right for Queen Medb to go to a war over a bull only because she knew she had the power to do so?

Being Surrounded By Gods !!

As I was reading the course document for The Tain, a quote that really caught my eye was "The Celts viewed their history as mythological, as opposed to mythology being historical". In Mahabharata and The Iliad, the Gods have their own special places to live in, far from the mortals. But in The Tain, the divine and the mortals live in the same place, side by side with one another. While this was a bit surprising to me, I also liked the the idea very much. It's great just thinking that I'm being surrounded by Gods. If you had the choice of bringing God(s) down to this earth, would you do it? What do you think would be some of the advantages and/or disadvantages of being around the divines everyday of your life?

Answering my own question: Although the idea of living with Gods sounds really fun and interesting to me, I think I would leave God out of this world. The divine should have a separate place to watch over the humans from, rather than interfering at every little thing.

Hector vs. Achilles

In Iliad, Hector was my absolute favorite character. There are countless likable qualities about him. He is very selfless and fights for the honor of his father and to protect the citizens. Achilles on the other hand, turned out to be the complete opposite of Hector. He never bothered about anyone else but himself. Even when his people were dying he stood still. The only reason he wanted to fight was for glory and he actually fought for personal revenge rather than fighting to protect his people. But as I was watching Troy, by the end I actually started perceiving Achilles differently from the book because of his involvement with Briseis. He seemed to have much more emotions than he did in the book, and that actually made me like his character. Although Hector still remained my favorite, I started liking Achilles as well. Did your perception of any of these two characters (or any other ones) change after watching the movie/reading the book? How so? Did you like them better in the book or the movie?

God or No God?

One of the major differences between Troy and Iliad is the involvement of the gods. Gods hardly had any role in the movie. The characters decided things for themselves and did whatever they thought was best to do at that situation. But in Iliad, the gods had complete control of everything and they totally manipulated the whole situation to make the results come out as they pleased. They were always fighting with one another and were very much involved in the business of the mortals. Different gods favored different people and helped them win. Not only that, they also ruined the people they didn’t like. According to me, the involvement of the gods wasn’t fair. They should’ve left the people alone and see what happens. How do you feel about the situation? Do you like it better when the gods interfere, like in Iliad, or prefer the situation that was shown in Troy where the gods aren’t involved? How do you think the situation would be different if the gods didn’t interfere? Who would win/lose and who would still be alive/dead?

Gandhari

At first when I saw Gandhari blindfolding herself for a man she has never even met before in her life, i thought it was pretty weird. I was thinking why does she have to stop seeing just because her husband can't see anything. Later on I came to realize that she blindfolded herself out of love for him. She did not want to enjoy anything that her husband couldn't. That is a very big sacrifice to make for someone. Do you think she made the right choice by blinding herself or should she have not done that and become his eyes instead and guide him?

Draupadi

Without any doubt, Draupadi is my favorite character from Mahabharata. She is very strong but also caring when she needs to be. I love the fact that she can stand up for herself when she needs to. We all definitely have heard men having more than one wife. Draupadi is a woman with 5 husbands. And that is definitely a controversial issue. Some people are completely against it. But I have to admit I do love seeing a woman with so much in her that she needs 5 men to measure up to her and to satisfy all her needs. What do you feel about Draupadi and her having 5 husbands? Do you really think she is that good that she needs 5 men? What about women in general having more than one husband?