Student Question
What makes Rama in The Ramayana and Odysseus in The Odyssey epic heroes and how does their journey shape their characters?
Quick answer:
Rama and Odysseus exemplify epic heroes through noble lineage, leadership, and courage. Rama, a spiritual hero in Hindu culture, embodies dharma and divine purpose, faithfully confronting challenges but ultimately losing his wife due to mistrust. Odysseus, from Greek tradition, is cunning and deceptive, using trickery to achieve goals, as seen with the Trojan Horse. His hubris leads to troubles, yet he remains a resourceful leader. Their journeys highlight cultural values, shaping their characters and outcomes.
Rama and Odysseus share key character traits that make them classic epic heroes. They are both natural leaders of noble lineage. Rama is heir to his father's throne and Odysseus is King of Ithaca. They both show courage in the face of danger. Interestingly, they both possess extraordinary strength in drawing a bow. In Hindu tradition, the principal reason why Rama is a hero is because of his perfect adherence to the rules of dharma (duty, just actions). Rama is a spiritual hero, and Odysseus is not. This has to do with their different cultures of origin.
As the seventh incarnation (avatar) of the god Vishnu, Rama comes into the world for a divine purpose—to restore balance by defeating the demon-king Ravana. As a human, however, he does not know the ultimate purpose of his life but deals with challenges as they arise—and he does so honorably. Rama is a...
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just and honest person, though he erroneously mistrusts his wife's marital fidelity in the end, and he loses her forever.
Odysseus is a very different kind of hero than Rama. He is cunning and has an exceptional capacity for deception. While this serves him and his followers well in situations of duress, Odysseus is not a consistently trustworthy or ethical character. Unlike Rama, Odysseus is not above using trickery to avoid duty, as when he feigns madness in The Iliad in an attempt to avoid the draft for the Trojan War.
His deceptive nature, combined with great intelligence, allowed the Achaeans to defeat the Trojans by entering the city inside a giant wooden horse presented as a gift. The old saying, "All is fair in love and war" certainly applies to Odysseus—and to the Greek gods, for that matter. The fact that he is married does not keep him from having dalliances with other women while away from home, and no one seems to mind. Odysseus is favored and assisted by the great goddess Athena who does not object to his deceptive nature.
The tragic flaw of Odysseus involves hubris: excessive pride. Hubris brings a great deal of trouble his way. In The Odyssey, when he blinds the cyclops Polyphemus in order to allow his men to escape, Odysseus is so proud of himself that he is unable to resist telling the monster his name. This arrogant act brings a heap of trouble as Polyphemus's father, Poseidon, then takes every opportunity to make life difficult for him.
Both heroes encounter the unfamiliar and have their courage tested throughout their journeys, but what they gain from the experiences appears to be different and reflects the values of two different cultures. Rama relies on honor and bravery, moving ever toward the accomplishment of his divine purpose. In the end, the loss of his wife brings him deep sorrow on a personal level, but he has served humanity and has succeeded in restoring balance to the world.
Odysseus, on the other hand, seems to play by the rule that the ends justify the means. Odysseus does not have a self-sacrificing nature and is good at making sure that his own personal needs come first—though once he is placed in the role of a leader, his ability to think quickly helps his followers to survive. Odysseus is an exceptional leader and a valuable ally.
In terms of love, heroes of the Greek epics existed in a culture that made it perfectly acceptable for them to kidnap women as spoils of war and to take on temporary lovers while away from home, as Odysseus did. While he does return home after two decades (not all the delays were his fault), the love of Odysseus for his wife, Penelope, seems more perfunctory and less intense than Rama's love for Sita. This portrayal of the heroes and how they express love is likely due to the cultural differences between their two respective ancient societies.