Heroes in Mythology & Religious Texts Essay

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Heroes

The author of this report will be discussing the conception of heroism when it comes to several notable tales throughout history. The author of this report has been asked to choose three from the list of four that includes Gilgamesh, the Book of Exodus, the Odyssey and the Bhagavad-Gita. Of those four, the author of this report will focus on all but the Odyssey. The stories and accounts of Gilgamesh, Exodus and the Bhagavad-Gita all share some strong parallels but they are different in many ways as well. The author of this report will cover each one individually and discuss the aspects and conception of heroism in each one. While heroes manifest and mean different things to different people, there are common threads that are easy to spot and describe.

Analysis

The most widely known, at least in the United States, of the three hero stories being covered in this report is that of the Book of Exodus. The reason the author of this report presumes this is that much (but not all, of course) of the United States is Christian and this has been true basically since the inception of the country. Of course, the Book of Exodus and its hero is all about Moses. Indeed, Moses was the man who help rescue and save the Israelites. The story of Moses is not limited to the Book of Exodus but the proverbial "meat" of what happened with him and his story is absolutely in Exodus, the second book of the Christian Bible. Even though he was a hero, there are many aspects of his story that are rather atypical or odd when it comes to heroes. For example, it is clearly explained in the Bible that Moses had a speech problem of some sort. When one thinks of a leader or a hero, one might think that they would be able to communicate and speak well. Even if the speech problem on Moses' part was not of his own lack of motivation and so forth, it does sort of undermine the hero ethos that one might expect. Further, the fate that Moses ends up meeting at the end of his life is rather sad as compared to what one might expect. He ends up delivering the Israelites to where they wanted to be. However, he himself was denied this haven and ended up dying alone. Another thing that comes up when it comes to Moses is that his wife, that being Zipporah, is not an Israelite. Indeed, she was a Midianite and was from Sinai, as described in the second chapter of Exodus. Beyond that, criticism about this fact came from unlikely sources as Moses' family was rather critical of her area of origin. Another vexing mention in the book of Exodus is that he does talk to God during his travels throughout Exodus but he does not get to see his face. In more than one way, Moses is treated as an outsider and a foreigner despite his many sacrifices and efforts to help the Israelites. He faces slings and arrows from his own people, his family and even God in some ways. It comes to the point that he is not able to be buried in the land he delivered his people and followers to. Even his own mother had to reject him and send him away. Indeed, he was born to a Jewish slave in Egypt and his mother did not want her son slain or otherwise harmed. In short, Moses led a life of sacrifice and was treated rather poorly before, during and to the very end of his time of leadership and his life (Holy Bible 2009).

The second tale of heroism to be discussed in this report is the Bhagavad-Gita. When it comes to historical texts and stories, the story of Bhagavad-Gita is even more dated the times of Exodus and the Bible. Indeed, it is part of the Indian poem that is otherwise known as the Mahabharata. Of course, the hero in the Bhagavad-Gita is Krishna. A big part of the Bhagavad-Gita is the discussion between Arjuna and Krishna. Arjuna is about to engage in a battle but hesitates when he sees his former friends and other people he knows across the battlefield. This gives him pause and he is unsure about whether he should proceed and/or whether he has the privilege to engage in the battle to begin with. Krishna clearly rebukes and criticizes Arjuna for this stance because the battle is something that cannot be wished away or ignored.

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However, Krishna is careful to write a path that is about love and not engaging in war. Krishna enlightens and educates Arjuna using the different yogas. These include the karma yoga, the Sankhya yoga and a few others. Rather than being a traditional war or similar hero, Krishna reveals himself to be a wise teacher that inspires Arjuna to the right path through what the latter perceives to be insurmountable and with no simple solution, if any solution exists at all. Krishna talks on a number of important subjects but ethics and the belief in the divine are obviously the focus of what is being taught to Arjuna and through the text of the Bhagavad-Gita itself. Not unlike many of the lessons taught in the Bible (the source of the Book of Exodus), there is much talk about avoiding certain vices and attaining a level of virtue. The sins and misdeeds described include avarice, anger and lusting after the wrong things. Rather than Krishna himself being a prototypical hero, he instead teaches Arjuna (and the reader) in what he feels is right. The portrayal of a hero as defined and discussed in the Bhagavad-Gita would include a focus on courage, duty and sacrifice. Rather than being selfish and self-centered, Krishna asserts that courage and honor are supreme when it comes to living and acting in the right way. The use of war and/or a battlefield is absolutely different from what is portrayed in the Book of Exodus or in the story of Gilgamesh. While the other two talk about escaping diversity in a literal or proverbial sense, the Bhagavad-Gita uses a much more assertive and poignant paradigm and prism to tell its story. It is to the point that the story directly and unquestionably asserts that bending to the will of others is not allowed for permissible. On the other hand, the Bible in particular is rather opposite to this idea and this is also true of many other historical or proverb collections that have been published throughout history. In short, selflessness and courage are the true definition of virtue when it comes to the Bhagavad-Gita (Easwaran 2007).

The final story to be covered in this report is that of Gilgamesh. As told in the story, Gilgamesh was a god and human hybrid that becomes a hero in the form of saving his people. However, his story very much mirrors Moses in that he had some bad qualities for much or all of his life. Indeed, there are parts of the Gilgamesh epic that assert that he was rather cruel and punitive at some parts of his story. He apparently used slaves and other punishing means to get things done. Much like the Bhagavad-Gita, a secondary person comes into the picture and puts Gilgamesh in check. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Arjuna turned to Krishna for guidance. With the story of Gilgamesh, the person to intercedes is Enkidu. He first interacts with Gilgamesh when the latter is trying to force himself into a woman's room. The two argue and tussle but they end up becoming friends. Like Moses, the pair are pursued by an evil force. When it comes to Gilgamesh, that force is an actual demon by the name of Humbaba. With the assistance of another god, the pair prevails against the demon, also much like the story of Moses and the assistance that he and his followers got from God.

Things get complicated when Gilgamesh returns and received overtures from Ishtar. He turns her away and he becomes a target. A Bull of Heaven comes after him but he and his friend Enkidu prevail yet again as a par. The gods decide that this is a sinful and terrible thing and decide that one of them must die. The selected victim is Enkidu. Gilgamesh is terribly stricken and affected by what happens and he also worries greatly about his own fate. He happens upon a way to find eternal life and this sends him on a journey. Following this, Gilgamesh engages in his own heroic journey, not unlike that of Moses. He persuades some scorpion creatures to let him pass so that he can see Utnapishtim, a person who was granted eternal life after the last great flood so that the humans of earth would not be wiped out. He ultimately fails a test given to him by Utnapishtim but returns to his city to realize that the legacy left….....

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