Heroism, and the notion of what it means to be a hero has been subjected to numerous changes, especially with regard to changes over time and also in the manner at which different cultures perceive heroism. In literature, heroic deeds and significant events are usually captured in an epic. Valmiki’s Ramayana and Homer’s Odyssey, are both ancient epics, therefore, they are the products of the oral traditions that have adopted an array of literary devices. The Odyssey dates back to around 8th to 6th BCE while the Ramayana proximately was recorded in the 5th century. In these two heroic literature, which were recorded at the same period of civilization, many things therefore appears to be similar. In both context, their heroism is preceded by different tales of war; the Mahabharata war for Ramayana and the lliad for the case of Odyssey, while both the heroes were more focused on their journey to save their wives. In this paper, I will seek to compare the role of the hero odyssey and Rama from their respective ancient literatures and how they gain their heroic status in relation to their distinct communities.
In both context, Odyssey and Ramayana feature a hero who has undergone a series of misfortunes. They are both separated from their wives due to war and risk losing them to other interested suitors. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is portrayed to be wandering after the 10-year Trojan War. In his quest to make his way back to Ithaca, he is captured in the island of Calypso while at this time he way away, Suitors were flocking to his house after his wife’s, Penelope, hands in marriage since they believed that Odysseus must have been killed in the fierce battle or could not survive on his way back home. Nonetheless, by the grace of the gods especially Zeus; the god of skies and thunder, Odysseus manages to escapes the island of calypso and amidst numerous challenges such as the wrath of Poseidon, Odysseus reaches Ithaca and killed all the greedy suitors who were seeking his wife’s hand in marriage while enjoying her generosity and eating up on his wealth. On the other hand, Ramayana narrates the story of a young man who acquires heroic status in the ancient Hindu civilization after he was exiled into the Dandaka forest and the numerous challenges that he faced during this 14-year exile. Notably, his biggest conquest occurs when his wife, Sita, was abducted Ravana the demon king and his desire to secure her freedom. Therefore, in comparison, both epics describes a man’s journey from war to ultimately rescuing their wives from varied situations.
As part of the initial comparison of these two epics, their titles appears to hold some sort of similarity. Literally, Ramayana means the journey of Rama in Hindu (Schein, 2011, p.78) while the Odyssey, according to the article Neoanalysis and the interpretation of oral poetry by Montanari & Tsagalis, refers to a very long voyage. Therefore, comparing the two title, one gets the impression that the reader of both stories will be accompanying the protagonist into a journey or an expedition which may be mental, physical or spiritual. In addition, the main heroes in the stories are of noble lineage. For instance Rama hails from the great kingdom of Kosala and was the Prince of Ayodha. In the case of Odysseus he was the ruler of the Ithaca Island Kingdom. Thus the reader of both epics familiarise themselves with these heroes upbringing, for instance, Rama belonged to the Kshatriya Class which comprised of only kings and warriors. In this social class that Rama belonged to, duty and honour superseded all other values. This is one of the key things that creates the fabric on why Rama is portrayed as very courageous warrior. Odysseus on the other hand conforms to his kingly duties and therefore it was imperative for him to show an immense level of courage during the decade long Trojan war.
In order to answer the question on how these two heroes relates or were perceived by their communities, it is important for one to expound on the Greek and Hindu mythology and how these different communities viewed and paid tribute to their heroes. In the Hindu, Rama is considered to being the key contributor to their mythology. In fact, Rama is himself a god in this community. He is regarded as the son of Dasharath and the god who was incarcerated in order to destroy Ravana the evil king. Therefore, in his community, Rama acts as beacon of bravery, righteousness and exuding good morals among the Hindu community during his times. He manages to exhibit exemplary behaviour throughout the epic with the exemption of just a few judgement lapses, which the Hindu communities believes were intentional so as to be able to accomplish his mission of destroying Ravana. Among these lapses that are further explained in this mythology is the questionable affection towards Sita, especially with regard to the golden deer; Rama blindly agrees to such an absurd request of capturing such a rare animal. Goldman, & Sutherland states that, Rama exaggerated his love for Sita and the length that he was willing to go just to please her. Another situation where Rama’s judgement becomes questionable is after he rescues Sita from captivity, she start describing her as a “lady with a dubious virtue, and her presence is unbearable.just as a bright lamp to a man with an eye disease “(Goldman, & Sutherland, 2011, p.378).
On the other hand the community in Odyssey did not give Odysseus the status of a god or a divine origin as was the case in Ramayana, but instead, he was a loved leader who was being aided by the gods of ancient Greece. His community greatly believed in him to the point of forcing him to go to war against the Trojans because he was the only leader that they believed had all the necessary skills, bravery and his strategy against Hector. It is evident from his relationship with his community as their hero that Odysseus encompasses all the human nature facets ranging from integrity of a real hero to the deceit of an unscrupulous individual. Arguably, it is in light of such facets of an individual that illuminates the particular journey of a person’s life. In fact, Odysseus also acknowledges himself as the greatest hero of his community. For instance, when Odysseus arrived in Sicily, Polyphemus immediately ate two of his men alive while others were captured. However, later on, through one of his witty plans, he tricked Polyphemus by getting him drunk and thereafter blinding him in one eye so as to help out his men to escape. While they were escaping, Odysseus is quoted boasting to Polyphemus that “never forget that the person that tricked you is Odysseus of Ithaca, the greatest hero” (Levine, 2011, p.278).
Another aspect that can used to compare the two heroes in these epics is through their interactions with other people. The hero’s interaction with other people and their communities at large is very important to their definition of their specific individual characters. In Ramayana, Rama’s purpose in the story is to act as the hero who largely focuses on rescuing his wife from the clutches of the evil king Ravana. This is also the case with Odysseus in his journey returning home to his wife. His wife, Penelope, is the main reason why Odysseus is longing to go back home after he received information about the current state of affairs at his home. In essence, the mission of these two heroes lies squarely on their relationship with their wives and the level of devotion that are community expects a man to portray to a woman. It is also evident that the women in this community have been represented to being virtuous and faithful. Penelope completely refused to marry or lie the numerous suitors who tried to woo her in Odysseus absence. Instead she decided to wait for her husband despite the fact that rumours were going round that he most probably was killed in the great Trojan battle. In the case of Sita, after she was abducted by Ravana, she also refused any advances made by him and all the luxuries that Ravana tried to woo her with and had confined her to in the Asoka grove. She also decided to wait patiently for her husband Rama to come and rescue her form the hands of this evil king. Therefore, Sita and Penelope are the portraits of an ideal wife.
In conclusion, it is evident that, when comparing Odysseus and Rama, despite the fact that their situations can be largely superimposed, their specific characters are varied in many aspects. Rama is simply the embodiment of Dharma, therefore perfectly depicting how an ideal husband, brother and son out to be. Odysseus on the other hand has numerous flaws, he is illustrated by Homer as a very cunning individual. Thus, excluding the fact that the two epics were staged from places of different cultural identities, nonetheless, Rama is regarded to be the ideal man who has mastered emotions and can therefore act as a model that can be emulated by other men. Conversely, Odysseus appears to me as a very realistic individual. He is a person who displays, to a large extent, uncontrolled emotions which the reader or the layman can easily associate with. For instance his infidelity conveys to the reader a person of double standards, while his wife keeps herself pure and faithful for a decade waiting for him to return, he knowingly commits adultery, but is angered by the maidens in his house who had laid down with his wife’s suitors to the point of killing them all. However, although Odysseus may not have been an exemplary figure like Rama, his witty and cunning nature is highly celebrated, if not immortalized while at the same time his infidelities are downplayed. In general the two heroes have great significance to their respective mythologies.
References
Goldman, R. P., Nooten, B. A. V., & Sutherland, S. J. (2011). The Ramayana of Valmiki: An
Epic of Ancient India (Volume 6 Yuddhakanda in 2 Parts).
Levine, D. B. (2011). Heirs of Homer: A Recent Study of Odysseus’ Recurring Returns.
International Journal of the Classical Tradition, 18(2), 270-280.
Montanari, F., Rengakos, A., & Tsagalis, C. (2012). Homeric contexts: Neoanalysis and the
interpretation of oral poetry. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Schein, S. L. (2011). Odysseus and Polyphemus in the Odyssey. Greek, Roman, and
Byzantine Studies, 11(2), 73-83.
