Rama and Odysseus the Ancient

Rama and Odysseus

The ancient Greeks had two renowned epics i.e. Odyssey and Iliad; the ancient Indians had the Ramayana and the Mahabharata as their acclaimed epics. The Ramayana discussed the 'wanderings of Prince Rama banished from his kingdom', the similar situation was experienced by Odysseus. The Indian idols i.e. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata have been focus of the epic literature on the ancient Indian history and religion. The Rama, in particular, reflected 'most graphic and life-like picture of the civilization and culture, customs and traditions, the social and political life, the religious and spiritual thoughts of ancient India'.

The Odyssey has been an epic of Greek-based idol, which was written in Greece, whereas the Rama has been Northern India-based epic. The time lapse between both the epics is not more than six hundred years. The author of the Rama has been anonymous, whereas the Odyssey was written by Homer (Charles, 1994).

Discussion

The focus of the epics has been the heroic events that were experienced by the respective legends of their time and religion. The character commanded several raids against Troy, renowned Greek hero, and attempted to destabilize his political and authoritarian regime. The Rama never leaded any army battalion against tribal leader for the sake of political gain and regional supremacy, rather the focus of the Rama has been to ensure that the spiritual bliss is aimed by all the members of the his community, and the physical and political gains shall be denounced, and no compromise shall be sought in this regard.

The Odysseus and Rama have been the cultural ideals for their respective communities. The characters experienced such critical situation where they were placed for years in the wilderness, thousands of kilometers away from their homes. The Odysseus and Rama has been the savior of their respective cultures, and have displayed a valued characteristic. The Odysseus was praised for his determination, forethought, and strategic analysis; such attributes were never associated with the Rama. Rama never set any example where he had resisted impulses; or has developed alternatives towards possible outcomes; the application of the resourceful methods and rhetorical ability never emerged in the period of Rama (George, 2004).

The Rama adopted several techniques and attempted to persuade others to apply and practice moral and ethical values in their regular life. The focus of the Rama had been to ensure that the spiritual happiness is attained by the members of his community. The Odysseus sacrificed his life towards application of logic, and supported the concept of right reasons. The practices of both the Odysseus and Rama has several features in common, primarily both the personalities tried to influence the mentality of the locals, and attempted to develop and enhance the perspective of their respective communities. Illusion has been the important phenomenon in the history and services of both the characters. There have been numbers of incidents when the Odysseus has referred to the past evidences and cases to predict and foresee the future consequences, irrespective of the severity of the consequences and the choices (Catherine, 1999).

The traces of the existence of the common idea of service and responsibility of the community towards the respective objectives of Odysseus and Rama have been visible. The focus of the Odysseus was mainly towards the worldly services, whereas the Rama claimed that spiritual and physical services shall be sacrificed by his community towards him and his cause. Odyssey stressed over the need to follow and adopt the responsibilities i.e. 'service', one of the kind of services has been obligatory i.e. The Law of Hospitality, which stressed over the utilization of the expertise and support services towards an individual or community, which has experienced critical and crucial time, similarly, the services and obligations between the master and servant towards each other has been the focused of his teachings and practices (Steven, 2006).

The Odyssey attempted several times to return to his kingdom in Ithaca, whereas the exiled Rama never planned any political or military outrage against the ruling authority to ensure his return. The major difference in both the epics has been the deep involvement and influence of the Rama's family in his life. Sita, the wife of Rama, contributed deeply towards the spiritual objectives of her spouse, their children were equally involved in the quest marked by their parents. The Sita was forcibly victimized by the associates of the Rama, and she was alleged for malpractices which eventually resulted in the separation of the Rama and Sita. The Odyssey however has either no or limited influence of the family on his conquests and expedition (Kirk, 1973).

The war of the Rama has been against evil i.e. The forces of darkness, whereas the expeditions of the Odyssey were against any particular legend i.e. capable military or political authority. The concept of military and politics have been of no major significance in the case of the Rama, who led consecutive battles against the forces of evil, and sacrificed his family and friends for the survival of the Truth. The difference of objective has been demonstrated, the objective of the Rama was to combat the forces of evil, and however the Odyssey planned physical assault against the Greek Emperors (Steven, 2006).