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.