THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

Plot Overview

The epics prelude offers a general introduction to Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, who was two-thirds god and one-third man. He built magnificent ziggurats, or temple towers, surrounded his city with high walls, and laid out its orchards and fields. He was physically beautiful, immensely strong, and very wise. Although Gilgamesh was godlike in body and mind, he began his kingship as a cruel despot. He lorded over his subjects, raping any woman who struck his fancy, whether she was the wife of one of his warriors or the daughter of a nobleman. He accomplished his building projects with forced labor, and his exhausted subjects groaned under his oppression. The gods heard his subjects pleas and decided to keep Gilgamesh in check by creating a wild man named Enkidu, who was as magnificent as Gilgamesh. Enkidu became Gilgameshs great friend, and Gilgameshs heart was shattered when Enkidu died of an illness inflicted by the gods. Gilgamesh then traveled to the edge of the world and learned about the days before the deluge and other secrets of the gods, and he recorded them on stone tablets. The epic begins with Enkidu. He lives with the animals, suckling at their breasts, grazing in the meadows, and drinking at their watering places. A hunter discovers him and sends a temple prostitute into the wilderness to tame him. In that time, people considered women and sex calming forces that could domesticate wild men like Enkidu and bring them into the civilized world. When Enkidu sleeps with the woman, the animals reject him since he is no longer one of them. Now, he is part of the human world. Then the harlot teaches him everything he needs to know to be a man. Enkidu is outraged by what he hears about Gilgameshs excesses, so he travels to Uruk to challenge him. When he arrives, Gilgamesh is about to force his way into a brides wedding chamber. Enkidu steps into the doorway and blocks his passage. The two men wrestle fiercely for a long time, and Gilgamesh finally prevails. After that, they become friends and set about looking for an adventure to share. Gilgamesh and Enkidu decide to steal trees from a distant cedar forest forbidden to mortals. A terrifying demon named Humbaba, the devoted servant of Enlil, the god of earth, wind, and air, guards it. The two heroes make the perilous journey to the forest, and, standing side by side, fight with the monster. With assistance from Shamash the sun god, they kill him. Then they cut down the forbidden trees, fashion the tallest into an enormous gate, make the rest into a raft, and float on it

back to Uruk. Upon their return, Ishtar, the goddess of love, is overcome with lust for Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh spurns her. Enraged, the goddess asks her father, Anu, the god of the sky, to send the Bull of Heaven to punish him. The bull comes down from the sky, bringing with him seven years of famine. Gilgamesh and Enkidu wrestle with the bull and kill it. The gods meet in council and agree that one of the two friends must be punished for their transgression, and they decide Enkidu is going to die. He takes ill, suffers immensely, and shares his visions of the underworld with Gilgamesh. When he finally dies, Gilgamesh is heartbroken. Gilgamesh cant stop grieving for Enkidu, and he cant stop brooding about the prospect of his own death. Exchanging his kingly garments for animal skins as a way of mourning Enkidu, he sets off into the wilderness, determined to find Utnapishtim, the Mesopotamian Noah. After the flood, the gods had granted Utnapishtim eternal life, and Gilgamesh hopes that Utnapishtim can tell him how he might avoid death too. Gilgameshs journey takes him to the twin-peaked mountain called Mashu, where the sun sets into one side of the mountain at night and rises out of the other side in the morning. Utnapishtim lives beyond the mountain, but the two scorpion monsters that guard its entrance refuse to allow Gilgamesh into the tunnel that passes through it. Gilgamesh pleads with them, and they relent. After a harrowing passage through total darkness, Gilgamesh emerges into a beautiful garden by the sea. There he meets Siduri, a veiled tavern keeper, and tells her about his quest. She warns him that seeking immortality is futile and that he should be satisfied with the pleasures of this world. However, when she cant turn him away from his purpose, she directs him to Urshanabi, the ferryman. Urshanabi takes Gilgamesh on the boat journey across the sea and through the Waters of Death to Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh the story of the floodhow the gods met in council and decided to destroy humankind. Ea, the god of wisdom, warned Utnapishtim about the gods plans and told him how to fashion a gigantic boat in which his family and the seed of every living creature might escape. When the waters finally receded, the gods regretted what theyd done and agreed that they would never try to destroy humankind again. Utnapishtim was rewarded with eternal life. Men would die, but humankind would continue. When Gilgamesh insists that he be allowed to live forever, Utnapishtim gives him a test. If you think you can stay alive for eternity, he says, surely you can stay awake for a week. Gilgamesh tries and immediately fails. So Utnapishtim orders him to clean himself up, put on his royal garments again, and return to Uruk where he belongs. Just as Gilgamesh is departing, however, Utnapishtims wife convinces him to tell Gilgamesh about a miraculous plant that restores youth. Gilgamesh finds the plant and takes it with him, planning to share it with the elders of Uruk. But a snake steals the plant

one night while they are camping. As the serpent slithers away, it sheds its skin and becomes young again.

When Gilgamesh returns to Uruk, he is empty-handed but reconciled at last to his mortality. He knows that he cant live forever but that humankind will. Now he sees that the city he had repudiated in his grief and terror is a magnificent, enduring achievementthe closest thing to immortality to which a mortal can aspire. Gilgamesh - King of Uruk, the strongest of men, and the personification of all human virtues. A brave warrior, fair judge, and ambitious builder, Gilgamesh surrounds the city of Uruk with magnificent walls and erects its glorious ziggurats, or temple towers. Two-thirds god and one-third mortal, Gilgameshis undone by grief when his beloved companion Enkidu dies, and by despair at the prospect of his own extinction. He travels to the ends of the Earth in search of answers to the mysteries of life and death. Read an in-depth analysis of Gilgamesh. Enkidu - Companion and friend of Gilgamesh. Hairy-bodied and brawny, Enkidu was raised by animals. Even after he joins the civilized world, he retains many of his undomesticated characteristics. Enkidu looks much like Gilgamesh and is almost his physical equal. He aspires to be Gilgameshs rival but instead becomes his soul mate. The gods punish Gilgamesh and Enkidu by giving Enkidu a slow, painful, inglorious death for killing the demon Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. Read an in-depth analysis of Enkidu. Shamhat - The temple prostitute who tames Enkidu by seducing him away from his natural state. Though Shamhats power comes from her sexuality, it is associated with civilization rather than

nature. She represents the sensuous refinements of culturethe sophisticated pleasures of lovemaking, food, alcohol, music, clothing, architecture, agriculture, herding, and ritual. Utnapishtim - A king and priest of Shurrupak, whose name translates as He Who Saw Life. By the god Eas connivance, Utnapishtim survived the great deluge that almost destroyed all life on Earth by building a great boat that carried him, his family, and one of every living creature to safety. The gods granted eternal life to him and his wife. Read an in-depth analysis of Utnapishtim. Utnapishtims Wife - An unnamed woman who plays an important role in the story. Utnapishtims wife softens her husband toward Gilgamesh, persuading him to disclose the secret of the magic plant called How-the-Old-Man-Once-Again-Becomes-a-Young-Man. Urshanabi - The guardian of the mysterious stone things. Urshanabi pilots a small ferryboat across the Waters of Death to the Far Away place where Utnapishtim lives. He loses this privilege when he accepts Gilgamesh as a passenger, so he returns with him to Uruk.

The Hunter - Also called the Stalker. The hunter discovers Enkidu at a watering place in the wilderness and plots to tame him.

Partial List of Important Deities and Demons

Anu - The father of the gods and the god of the firmament. Aruru - A goddess of creation who fashioned Enkidu from clay and her spittle. Ea - The god of fresh water, crafts, and wisdom, a patron of humankind. Ea lives in Apsu, the primal waters below the Earth.

Humbaba - The fearsome demon who guards the Cedar Forest forbidden to mortals. Humbabas seven garments produce an aura that paralyzes with fear anyone who would withstand him. He is the personification of awesome natural power and menace. His mouth is fire, he roars like a flood, and he breathes death, much like an erupting volcano. In his very last moments he acquires personality and pathos, when he pleads cunningly for his life. Scorpion-Man - Guardian, with his wife, of the twin-peaked mountain called Mashu, which Shamash the sun god travels through every night. The upper parts of the monsters bodies are human, and the lower parts end in a scorpion tail. They are familiar figures in Mesopotamian myth. Siduri - The goddess of wine-making and brewing. Siduri is the veiled tavern keeper who comforts Gilgamesh and who, though she knows his quest is futile, helps him on his way to Utnapishtim. Read an in-depth analysis of Siduri. Tammuz - The god of vegetation and fertility, also called the Shepherd. Born a mortal, Tammuz is the husband of Ishtar. Enlil - God of earth, wind, and air. A superior deity, Enlil is not very fond of humankind. Ereshkigal - Terrifying queen of the underworld. Ishtar - The goddess of love and fertility, as well as the goddess of war. Ishtar is frequently called the Queen of Heaven. Capricious and mercurial, sometimes she is a nurturing mother figure, and other times she is spiteful and cruel. She is the patroness of Uruk, where she has a temple. Lugulbanda - Third king of Uruk after the deluge (Gilgamesh is the fifth). Lugulbanda is the hero of a cycle of Sumerian poems and a minor god. He is a protector and is sometimes called the father of Gilgamesh. Ninsun - The mother of Gilgamesh, also called the Lady Wildcow Ninsun. She is a minor goddess, noted for her wisdom. Her husband is Lugulbanda. Shamash - The sun god, brother of Ishtar, patron of Gilgamesh. Shamash is a wise judge and lawgiver.
In the Shin-eqi-unninni tablets, found in the 19th century by Austen Henry Layard, Shin-eqi-unninni is credited with writing the Epic of Gilgamesh. In Akkadian cuneiform, the twelve tablets were found damaged in the ruins of the library of Ashurbanipal of Assyria (669-633 B.C.).

One important moral value that one learns from this epic is the impact of suffering a deep lost. Gilgamesh suffered from the terrible death of his best friend Enkidu. After killing the bull of heaven, sent down by the goddess of love, Ishtar, the gods decided that Enkidu should be chosen to die because he wasn't two-third god and one third man like Gilgamesh. In the aftermath of Enkidu's death, Gilgamesh

deeply suffered from his lack of presence. It has occured to many of us to lose a very special and dear person to us. To endure life without the presence of that special person is hard, sometime almost impossible to bare. Thus, Gilgamesh who refused to live this sadness undertakes a long journey, commonly referred to as a quest, in search of eternal life in order to revive his greatest pal. Unfortunately, he fails his quest. Conclusively, we learn from this part that it is very tough to lose a person who means so much to us. Especially when we know that we will never see them again. The search for eternal life teaches a very meaningful message. In order to revive his dead friend, Gilgamesh was strongly determined to face the dangers and perils on his journey in order to find the source of eternal life. Despite his strenght of mind, Gilgamesh fails his search. By this failure, we come to know that eternal life is out of man's reach as long as he lives on earth. One learns multiple lessons from the story of The Gilgamesh. However, the central importance of the story is the portrayal of the epic hero. Epics are intended to teach a moral value through the epic hero. One learns from The Gilgamesh that death is inescapable, although many may try to break away from its bondage. Source:

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

Key Facts

F U L L T I T L E The Epic of Gilgamesh A U T H O R The ancient authors of the stories that compose the poem are anonymous. The latest

and most complete version yet found, composed no later than around 600 B . C . , was signed by a Babylonian author and editor who called himself Sin-Leqi-Unninni.
T Y P E O F W O R K Epic poem

G E N R E Heroic quest; heroic epic

L A N G U A G E Sumerian; Akkadian; Hurrian; Hittite. All these languages were written in cuneiform

script.
T I M E A N D P L A C E W R I T T E N Between 2700 B . C . and around 600 B . C . in Mesopotamia

(present-day Iraq)

D A T E O F F I R S T P U B L I C A T I O N Tablet XI of Gilgamesh was first translated into English and

published in 1872. The first comprehensive scholarly translation to be published in English was R. Campbell Thompsons in 1930.
P U B L I S H E R The Clarendon Press, Oxford

N A R R A T O R Most of the epic is related by an objective, unnamed narrator.

P O I N T O F V I E W Third person. After Enkidu appears in Tablet I, most of the story is told from

Gilgameshs point of view. Utnapishtim narrates the flood story in Tablet XI.
T O N E The narrator never explicitly criticizes Gilgamesh, who is always described in the most

heroic terms, but his portrayal of him often includes irony. In the first half of the story, Gilgamesh is heedless of death to the point of rashness, while in the second, he is obsessed by it to the point of paralysis. Gilgameshs anticlimactic meeting with Utnapishtim, for example, is quietly ironic, in that everyone involved, including Utnapishtim and his wife, knows more than Gilgamesh does.
T E N S E Past

S E T T I N G ( T I M E ) 2700 B . C .

S E T T I N G ( P L A C E ) Mesopotamia

P R O T A G O N I S T Gilgamesh, king of Uruk

M A J O R C O N F L I C T Gilgamesh struggles to avoid death.

R I S I N G A C T I O N In the first half of the poem, Gilgamesh bonds with his friend Enkidu and sets out

to make a great name for himself. In doing so, he incurs the wrath of the gods.
C L I M A X Enkidu dies.

F A L L I N G A C T I O N Bereft by the loss of his friend, Gilgamesh becomes obsessed with his own

mortality. He sets out on a quest to find Utnapishtim, the Mesopotamian Noah who received eternal life from the gods, in the hope that he will tell him how he too can avoid death.
T H E M E S Love as a motivating force; the inevitability of death; the gods are dangerous

M O T I F S Seductions; doubling and twinship; journeys; baptism

S Y M B O L S Religious symbols; doorways

F O R E S H A D O W I N G The most important instances of foreshadowing are explicit, because they

come in the form of premonitory dreams. Gilgamesh dreams about a meteor, which his mother tells him represents the companion he will soon have. Few things, however, are as ephemeral as a falling star, and already we have a hint of Enkidus eventual fate. Enkidu interprets dreams during their journey to the forbidden forest. In one a mountain falls on them, which Enkidu says represents the defeat of Humbaba. It also suggests Enkidus journey to the underworld and Gilgameshs passage through the twin-peaked mountain. In another dream, a bull attacks them. Enkidu says the bull is Humbaba, but it may also be the Bull of Heaven they fight later.

Ramayana: Summary
The Ramayana is one of the two great Indian epics,the other being the Mahabharata. The Ramayana tells about life in India around 1000 BCE and offers models in dharma. The hero, Rama, lived his whole life by the rules of dharma; in fact, that was why Indian consider him heroic. When Rama was a young boy, he was the perfect son. Later he was an ideal husband to his faithful wife, Sita, and a responsible ruler of Aydohya. "Be as Rama," young Indians have been taught for 2,000 years; "Be as Sita." The original Ramayana was a 24,000 couplet-long epic poem attributed to the Sanskrit poet Valmiki. Oral versions of Rama's story circulated for centuries, and the epic was probably first written down sometime around the start of the Common Era. It has since been told, retold, translated and transcreated throughout South and Southeast Asia, and the Ramayana continues to be performed in dance, drama, puppet shows, songs and movies all across Asia. From childhood most Indians learn the characters and incidents of these epics and they furnish the ideals and wisdom of common life. The epics help to bind together the many peoples of India, transcending caste, distance and language. Two all-Indian holidays celebrate events in the Ramayana. Dussehra, a fourteen-day festival in October, commemorates the siege of Lanka and Rama's victory over Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. Divali, the October-November festival of Lights, celebrates Rama and Sita's return home to their kingdom of Ayodhya

Prince Rama was the eldest of four sons and was to become king when his father retired from ruling. His stepmother, however, wanted to see her son Bharata, Rama's younger brother, become king. Remembering that the king had once promised to grant her any two wishes she desired, she demanded that Rama be banished and Bharata be crowned. The king had to keep his word to his wife and ordered Rama's banishment. Rama accepted the decree unquestioningly. "I gladly obey father's command," he said to his stepmother. "Why, I would go even if you ordered it." When Sita, Rama's wife, heard Rama was to be banished, she begged to accompany him to his forest retreat. "As shadow to substance, so wife to husband," she reminded Rama. "Is not the wife's dharma to be at her husband's side? Let me walk ahead of you so that I may smooth the path for your feet," she pleaded. Rama agreed, and Rama, Sita and his brother Lakshmana all went to the forest. When Bharata learned what his mother had done, he sought Rama in the forest. "The eldest must rule," he reminded Rama. "Please come back and claim your rightful place as king." Rama refused to go against his father's command, so Bharata took his brother's sandals and said, "I shall place these sandals on the throne as symbols of your authority. I shall rule only as regent in your place, and each day I shall put my offerings at the feet of my Lord. When the fourteen years of banishment are over, I shall joyously return the kingdom to you." Rama was very impressed with Bharata's selflessness. As Bharata left, Rama said to him, "I should have known that you would renounce gladly what most men work lifetimes to learn to give up." Later in the story, Ravana, the evil King of Lanka, (what is probably present-day Sri Lanka) abducted Sita. Rama mustered the aid of a money army, built a causeway across to Lanka, released Sita and brought her safely back to Aydohya. In order to set a good example, however, Rama demanded that Sita prove her purity before he could take her back as his wife. Rama, Sita and Bharata are all examples of persons following their dharma. This lesson focuses on how the Ramayana teaches Indians to perform their dharma. Encourage students to pick out examples of characters in the epic who were faithful to their dharma and those who violated their dharma. Mahatma Gandhi dreamed that one day modern India would become a Ram-rajya. Main Characters of the Ramayana Dasaratha -- King of Ayodhya (capital of Kosala), whose eldest son was Rama. Dasaratha had three wives and four sons -- Rama, Bharata, and the twins Lakshmana and Satrughna.

Rama -- Dasaratha's first-born son, and the upholder of Dharma (correct conduct and duty). Rama, along with his wife Sita, have served as role models for thousands of generations in India and elsewhere. Rama is regarded by many Hindus as an incarnation of the god Vishnu. Sita -- Rama's wife, the adopted daughter of King Janak. Sita was found in the furrows of a sacred field, and was regarded by the people of Janak's kingdom as a blessed child. Bharata -- Rama's brother by Queen Kaikeyi. When Bharata learned of his mother's scheme to banish Rama and place him on the throne, he put Rama's sandals on the throne and ruled Ayodhya in his name. Hanuman -- A leader of the monkey tribe allied with Rama against Ravana. Hanuman has many magical powers because his father was the god of the wind. Hanuman's devotion to Rama, and his supernatural feats in the battle to recapture Sita, has made him one of the most popular characters in the Ramayana. Ravana -- The 10-headed king of Lanka who abducted Sita. Kaushlaya -- Dasaratha's first wife, and the mother of Rama. Lakshmana -- Rama's younger brother by Dasaratha's third wife, Sumitra. When Rama and Sita were exiled to the forest, Lakshmana followed in order to serve. Ramayana: A Summary 1. Dasharatha, King of Aydohya, has three wives and four sons. Rama is the eldest. His mother is Kaushalya. Bharata is the son of his second and favorite wife, Queen Kaikeyi. The other two are twins, Lakshman and Shatrughna. Rama and Bharata are blue, perhaps indicating they were dark skinned or originally south Indian deities. 2) A sage takes the boys out to train them in archery. Rama has hit an apple hanging from a string. 3) In a neighboring city the ruler's daughter is named Sita. When it was time for Sita to choose her bridegroom, at a ceremony called a swayamvara, the princes were asked to string a giant bow. No one else can even lift the bow, but as Rama bends it, he not only strings it but breaks it in two. Sita indicates she has chosen Rama as her husband by putting a garland around his neck. The disappointed suitors watch.

4) King Dasharatha, Rama's father, decides it is time to give his throne to his eldest son Rama and retire to the forest to seek moksha. Everyone seems pleased. This plan fulfills the rules of dharma because an eldest son should rule and, if a son can take over one's responsibilities, one's last years may be spent in a search for moksha. In addition, everyone loves Rama. However Rama's step-mother, the king's second wife, is not pleased. She wants her son, Bharata, to rule. Because of an oath Dasharatha had made to her years before, she gets the king to agree to banish Rama for fourteen years and to crown Bharata, even though the king, on bended knee, begs her not to demand such things. Broken-hearted, the devastated king cannot face Rama with the news and Kaikeyi must tell him. 5) Rama, always obedient, is as content to go into banishment in the forest as to be crowned king. Sita convinces Rama that she belongs at his side and his brother Lakshman also begs to accompany them. Rama, Sita and Lakshman set out for the forest. Bharata, whose mother's evil plot has won him the throne, is very upset when he finds out what has happened. Not for a moment does he consider breaking the rules of dharma and becoming king in Rama's place. He goes to Rama's forest retreat and begs Rama to return and rule, but Rama refuses. "We must obey father," Rama says. Bharata then takes Rama's sandals saying, "I will put these on the throne, and every day I shall place the fruits of my work at the feet on my Lord." Embracing Rama, he takes the sandals and returns to Aydohya. 6) Years pass and Rama, Sita and Lakshman are very happy in the forest. Rama and Lakshman destroy the rakshasas (evil creatures) who disturb the sages in their meditations. One day a rakshasa princess tries to seduce Rama, and Lakshmana wounds her and drives her away. She returns to her brother Ravana, the ten-headed ruler of Lanka (Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon), and tells her brother (who has a weakness for beautiful women) about lovely Sita. Ravana devises a plan to abduct Sita. He sends a magical golden deer which Sita desires. Rama and Lakshman go off to hunt the deer, first drawing a protective circle around Sita and warning her she will be safe as long as she does not step outside the circle. As they go off, Ravana (who can change his shape) appears as a holy man begging alms. The moment Sita steps outside the circle to give him food, Ravana grabs her and carries her off the his kingdom in Lanka. 7) Rama is broken-hearted when he returns to the empty hut and cannot find Sita. A band of monkeys offer to help him find Sita. Ravana has carried Sita to his palace in Lanka, but he cannot force her to be his wife so he puts her in a grove and alternately sweet-talks her and threatens her in an

attempt to get her to agree to marry him. Sita will not even look at him but thinks only of her beloved Rama. Hanuman, the general of the monkey band can fly since his father is the wind, and Hanuman flies to Lanka and, finding Sita in the grove, comforts her and tells her Rama will soon come and save her. 8) Ravana's men capture Hanuman, and Ravana orders them to wrap Hanuman's tail in cloth and to set it on fire. With his tail burning, Hanuman hops from house-top to house-top, setting Lanka afire. He then flies back to Rama to tell him where Sita is. 9) Rama, Lakshman and the monkey army build a causeway from the tip of India to Lanka and cross over to Lanka. A might battle ensues. Rama kills several of Ravana's brothers and then Rama confronts ten-headed Ravana. (Ravana is known for his wisdom as well as for his weakness for women which may explain why he is pictured as very brainy.) Rama finally kills Ravana. 10). Rama frees Sita. After Sita proves here purity, they return to Ayodhya and Rama becomes king. His rule, Ram-rajya, is an ideal time when everyone does his or her dharma and "fathers never have to light the funeral pyres for their sons."

Quick guide to the Ramayana

Background
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic which follows Prince Rama's quest to rescue his beloved wife Sita from the clutches of Ravana with the help of an army of monkeys. It is traditionally attributed to the authorship of the sage Valmiki and dated to around 500 BCE to 100 BCE. Comprising 24,000 verses in seven cantos, the epic contains the teachings of the very ancient Hindu sages. One of the most important literary works of ancient India, it has greatly influenced art and culture in the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia, with versions of the story also appearing in the Buddhist canon from a very early date. The story of Rama has constantly been retold in poetic and dramatic versions by some of India's greatest writers and also in narrative sculptures on temple walls. It is one of the staples of later dramatic traditions, re-enacted in dancedramas, village theatre, shadow-puppet theatre and the annual Ram-lila(Rama-play).

Origins
The original five books of an oral epic of local northern significance dealing with a hero and his exile, the abduction of his wife by a rival king and her rescue became conflated into seven books in which the hero Rama became an avatar of the god Vishnu, the scene shifted to encompass the whole of India, and the struggle to recover his wife became a metaphor for the final triumph of the righteous.

A brief summary of the Ramayana

Rama, prince of Ayodhya, won the hand of the beautiful princess Sita (seen here), but was exiled with her and his brother Laksmana for 14 years through the plotting of his stepmother. In the forest Sita was abducted by Ravana, and Rama gathered an army of monkeys and bears to search for her. The allies attacked Lanka, killed Ravana, and rescued Sita. In order to prove her chastity, Sita entered fire, but was vindicated by the gods and restored to her husband. After the couple's triumphant return to Ayodhya, Rama's righteous rule (Ram-raj) inaugurated a golden age for all mankind.

Characters of the Ramayana

Rama is the hero of the Ramayana epic, an incarnation of the God Vishnu. The eldest and favourite son of Dasaratha, King of Ayodhya, he is a virtuous prince and is much loved by the people. He is exiled from Ayodhya due to the plotting of his stepmother, Kaikeyi. Sita is Rama's wife and daughter of King Janaka of Mithila. Sita is the epitome of womanly purity and virtue. Laksmana (seen here) is Rama's younger brother. Completely loyal to Rama, he chooses to go with Rama and Sita when they are exiled from Ayodhya.

Ravana is the king of Lanka and has 10 heads and 20 arms. He received a boon from the God Brahma that he cannot be killed by gods, demons or by spirits, after performing a severe penance for 10,000 years. After receiving his reward from Brahma, Ravana began to lay waste to the earth and disturbed the deeds of the good Hindu sages. Vishnu incarnates as the human Rama to defeat him, assisted by an army of monkeys and bears, thus circumventing the boon given by Brahma. Dasaratha is the King of Ayodhya, Rama's father. Kausalya is Rama's mother, Dasaratha's chief wife. Kaikeyi is Dasaratha's wife and Rama's stepmother. She demands that Rama be banished to the forest and that her son Bharata be awarded the kingdom instead. Bharata is the second son of Dasaratha. When he learns that his mother Kaikeyi had forced Rama into exile, causing Dasaratha to die broken hearted, he storms out of the palace and goes in search of Rama. When Rama refuses to return from his exile to assume the throne, Bharata obtains Rama's sandals and places them on the throne as a gesture that Rama is the true king. Sumitra is Dasharatha's wife and mother of the twins Lakshmana and Satrughna. Hanuman is the wise and resourceful monkey who helps Rama in his quest to defeat Ravana and rescue Sita. Sugriva is the ruler of the monkey kingdom. His throne was taken by his brother Bali, but Rama helps him to defeat the usurper in return for his assistance in finding Sita.

The importance of the Ramayana in Indian culture

The epic's poetic stature and marvellous story means that the story of Rama has been constantly retold by some of India's greatest writers both in Sanskrit and regional languages. It is one of the staples of various dramatic traditions, in court drama, dance-dramas, and in shadow-puppet theatres. In northern India, the annual Ram-lila or 'Rama-play'

is performed at the autumn festival of Dassehra to celebrate with Rama and Sita the eventual triumph of light over darkness. A hugely popular television series, 'Ramayan', was aired in India 1987-1988, drawing over 100 million viewers to become 'the world's most viewed mythological serial'. Dubbed 'Ramayan' fever by India Today magazine, it was reported that India came to a virtual standstill as so many people who could gain access to a television stopped whatever they were doing to watch the small screen adventures of Rama. From January 2008, a new big-budget primetime series of the Ramayana has been appearing on television screens across India.

The Ramayana manuscripts of Jagat Singh of Mewar

Rama was of a royal race descended from the Sun, and Rajput clans of the Solar dynasty, among them the rulers of Mewar or Udaipur, claimed Rama as their ancestor, making the Ramayana something of a family history. The Ramayana manuscripts commissioned by Rana Jagat Singh of Mewar (1628-52) are among the most important documents of 17th-century Indian painting. Unlike most other Ramayana manuscripts, they have not been dispersed as individual paintings into various collections but remain largely intact. The huge scale of the project (with originally over 400 paintings) allowed the artists to focus on telling an epic story on the grandest scale. The seven books of the Ramayana are illustrated in three different styles of Mewar painting, including two books by Sahib Din, the greatest Mewar artist of the 17th century. Four of the seven books and part of a fifth are in the British Library. The two remaining books are still in India. The British Library's four volumes were given by Rana Bhim Singh of Mewar to Col. James Tod, the historian of the Rajputs, who brought them back to London in 1823. Bhim Singh also gave Tod a separate manuscript of the first book of the Ramayana dated 1712. They were all acquired by the British Museum in 1844, and from there came to the British Library.

How to read a Rajput painting

Buy the print The Ramayana manuscripts commissioned by Rana Jagat Singh of Mewar (1628-1652) were illustrated on the grandest scale so that no episode or detail of importance was omitted. This necessitated the revival of the ancient narrative method of simultaneous narration used in both sculpture and painting. In European or Islamic illustration, each picture usually concentrates on depicting a single episode of the story - but in the Indian method, each picture might capture several episodes in the story so that the characters appear more than once in the same picture. In the example shown above, reading anti-clockwise, we can follow Rama, Bharata and Satrughna from the top of the hill, down to the river (in the lower right corner) and back up again to where they sit outside the hut.

Valmiki
Ramayana, Author
Description Character

Ahalya

Wife of sage Gautama, who was turned into a stone and later became free from curse by the touch of Rama

Bharat

Brother of Rama and son of Kaikeyi

Dasharatha

Rama's father and King of Kosala

Dashanan

Ten headed King of Lanka a.k.a. Ravana

Garuda

Eagel; King of winged creatures

Gautam

Sage/Rishi who cursed her wife Ahalya to be a stone for her immoral conduct

Hanuman

Son of the wind God; Devout of Rama and a leading warrior among monkey tribe

Indrajit

Ravana's son who fought with Rama with magical powers

Jambuvan

Leader of bears who found Sita with his supernatural powers

Janaka

King of Mithila; Father of Sita, who found her in a furrow

Jatayu

Great bird who was killed by Ravana while rescuing Sita

Kaikeyi

Dashartha's youngest queen and mother of Bharata who asked for Rama's exile

Kausalya

Dashratha's queen and Rama's mother

Kevat

Boatman who let Rama, Laxman and Sita cross the river in his boat and washes Rama's feet for his fee

Khar

Brother of Ravana and Shurpanakha

Kumbhkarna

Ravan's brother known for sleeping and eating

Kush

Son of Rama and Sita

Laxman

Queen Sumitra's son and Rama's brother

Lava

Son of Ram and Sita; brother of Kush

Mandavi

Bharat's wife & King Janak's daughter

Manthara

Maid servant of Keikeyi who convinced her for Bharat's thorn and exile of Rama

Maricha or Mareech

Who assumed form of suvarna mriga (golden deer) and help abduct Sita

Meghanad

Ravana's son, who made Laxman unconscious in the battlefield with his arrow

Nala - Nil

Son of great builder who helped Rama build bridge to Lanka

Ravana

Ten headed King of Lanka, who abducted Sita; brother of Vibhishana & Surpanakha; father of Indrajit; husband of Mandodari

Sampati

Brother of Jatayu

Shatrughna

Rama's younger borther

Shabari

Devotee of Ram who offered him berry fruit

Shatananda

Head Preist (kul Guru) of Mithila

Shiva

Hindu Lord, whose bow was lifted by Rama in swayamvar

Shravan

Son of blind parents; known as an idol of service to parents

Shrutkirti

Shatrughna's wife and King Janak's daughter

Shurpanakha

Ravan's sister whose ears and nose were cut by Laxman

Sita

Daughter of Janaka and wife of Rama

Sugriva

King of monkey tribe and King of Kiskindha

Sumanta

Charioteer of King Dasharatha

Sumitra

Wife of Dashratha; Mother of Laxman & Shatrughna

Sunayana

Wife of King Janak; Mother of Sita

Sushen

Lankan physician, who advised Sanjivani herbs from Kailas mountain in order to cure Laxman

Tataka

Demoness (rakshasi) killed by Rama; mother of Mareecha

Tulsidas

Sanskrit scholar and poet who created Ramcharitmanas, a version of Valmiki Ramayana in local Avadhi language

Urmila

Laxman's wife; daughter of King Janak and sister of Sita

Vali (Bali) or Vaali

Cousin of Sugriva, who occupied Kiskindha and was killed by Rama

Valmiki

Great Poet and creator of Ramayana; Sage who helped Sita and her two son Lava-Kush stay at her ashram

Vanara

Monkey; A hill tribe of Southern India

Vasistha

Head priest (kul Guru) of Ayodhya

Vibhishana

Ravana's brother who leaves Lanka to join Rama and later become king of Lanka

Vishnu

Hindu Lord; Rama is considered as eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu

Vishwamitra

Rishi, who took Rama for killing troubling demons

Description Place

Ayodhya

Capital city of Kosala which was rules by Rama's father, Dashratha

Ashoka van

A place in Lanka where Ravana kept Sita after abduction

Chitrakoot or Chitrakut

Forest place where Rama, Sita and Laxman stayed during exile

Dandakaranya

Forest where Rama, Sita and Laxman traveled during vanvas exile

Godavari

River, crossing which Rama, Sita and Laxman reached Panchavati

Kailasa

Mountain where Hanuman found sanjivani; Abode of Lord Shiva

Kiskindha

Kingdom ruled by Sugriva, leader of monkey tribe

Kosala

Kingdom ruled by Dashratha

Mithila

kingdom ruled by king Janaka, Sita's father

Lanka

Island kingdom ruled by demon king Ravana

Panchavati

Rama, Sita and Laxman's forest hut, from where Sita was abducted by Ravana Confluence of river Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati (presently known as

Prayag

Allahabad)

Sarayu

River on the banks of which Ayodhya is situated

List of Characters From "Pandora's Box"

By Frank B. Chavez III, eHow Contributor

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Beautiful Pandora was an instrument of a god's wrath.

In ancient Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman in the world. Unlike Eve and the other women found in creation myths, she was created specifically as a tool for bringing about human misery. Her story is peopled with many of the humanlike, petty and cruel gods of Greek mythology.

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1. Prometheus
o

Prometheus and Epimetheus were members of the ancient tribe of Greek gods called the Titans. Prometheus means "forethought," and he could see into the future. His brother was Epimetheus, or "hindsight." Prometheus created man from clay and water. When the gods called the Olympians denied man knowledge of fire, Prometheus stole it from them and gave it to man.

Zeus
o

Zeus was the king of the Greek gods called the Olympians.The Greeks worshiped him as a god of the sky, law, justice and morality. He ordered Pandora's creation as retribution for Prometheus's rebellious behavior. Although beautiful, she would be the bane of man's existence. He also had Prometheus bound to a stake where every morning an eagle or a vulture ate out his perpetually regenerating liver.
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Hephaestus
o

Hephaestus was the god of volcanoes, fire, blacksmiths and craftsmen, especially those who worked with metal. He sculpted Pandora out of earth and water. He also made her a golden headband decorated with etchings of all the world's monsters.

Aphrodite
o

According to the poet Hesiod, Aphrodite was born when the Titan Cronus castrated Uranus, father of the gods, and threw his genitals into the sea. Aphrodite rose from the resulting foam. Aphrodite was the goddess of love, sexuality and beauty. She granted Pandora physical beauty and grace.

Apollo
o

Apollo was the son of Zeus and the Titan Leto and twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. He is the god of light, music, prophecy, medicine, plague, dance, poetry, intellectual curiosity, herds and flocks. He granted Pandora the gift of musical talent.

Hermes
o

Hermes was the gods' messenger and the god of travelers, merchants, weights, measures, orators, literature, athletes and thieves. He is known for his shrewdness, cunning and trickery. He granted Pandora a thieving, conniving personality.

Athena
o

Athena was the goddess of wisdom, the arts, justice, skill and war. She sprang fully grown and fully armed from her father's skull. Athena became the patron goddess of Athens after a contest with Poseidon to see who could give the people the better gift. Poseidon presented sea water but it was too salty to be useful. Athena gave them the olive tree, which provided food, oil and wood. She gave Pandora the gifts of clothing, ornamentation and craft making.

Pandora
o

After the gods completed Pandora, they presented her to Epimetheus as a bride. Prometheus warned Epimetheus against taking gifts from Zeus, but the warning went unheeded. One of the wedding gifts was a sealed jar or box containing all of the world's misery. When Pandora opened the box, it released misery such as disease, poverty and war into the world. Only hope remained. "The Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman Mythology" compares Pandora to the biblical Eve for their similar roles in releasing misery into the world.
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Read more: http://www.ehow.com/info_8250078_list-characters-pandoras-box.html#ixzz2u2HdAGzN Greek writer and poet Hesiod (circa 700 B.C.) first introduced the world to Pandora, the bane of man's existence. Hesiod's epic poem, "Theogony," contains the story of Pandora---whose name means "all-

gifted," since the gods and goddesses had all bestowed her with gifts---and Zeus's use of her to afflict mortals on Earth. Source:

Read more: Who wrote the myth of Pandora's box? | Answerbag http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/2100968#ixzz2u2IsX1a0