Essay 7
In all literature, the most archetypal tragic hero is probably Hamlet. Hamlet possesses the characteristics of the typical hero, but with a tragic flaw, his indecisiveness. In contrast, a typical epic hero may have flaws, but not such that they prevent him from succeeding in his ultimate quest. The African oral epic Son-Jara tells the tale of a lowly born boy, Son-Jara, who rises to become the most powerful ruler of Mali, after an epic battle against a rival, Sumamuru. Although both Hamlet and Son-Jara are heroes, sharing the basic characteristics of a hero, they are truly different types.
Both Hamlet and Son-Jara have the characteristics of a hero. They each have their own personal attributes and strengths within the context of the heroic archetype. Both share a measure of determination to do what they perceive should be done to fulfill their quest, whether it is Hamlet’s revenge or Son-Jara’s battle against Sumamuru. Hamlet’s incessant deliberation impedes his revenge for a long time, but ultimately he does achieve his goal of killing Claudius. Son-Jara’s battle against Sumamuru takes a long time to win, but eventually he is able to overcome, with some intelligent maneuvering. The two heroes’ intelligence is another common trait. Hamlet is well known for his intelligence, as he is highly educated at the university, and from his speech in some of Shakespeare’s more famous soliloquies. While Son-Jara obviously cannot be said to have “university” education out in the savannah of Mali, he does have a measure of craft and common sense one would expect from an epic hero. As he tricks Sumamuru into revealing his weakness to Son-Jara’s sister, Son-Jara gains the advantage he needs to defeat the Mountain once and for all. Indeed, Hamlet and Son-Jara fit the heroic form, even as they come from disparate cultural backgrounds.
However, as many traits as they have in common, certain differences set these two apart. Hamlet can by no means be said to be a man of action, while Son-Jara’s actions win him acclaim. Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his inability to follow through on a plan of action. He repeatedly chastises himself for not completing his father’s revenge, but is unable to finally succeed until his very last moments of life, in which he slays Claudius in a last effort with Laertes’ sword. Contrastingly, Son-Jara takes action from the moment he gains the use of his legs. The episode in which he uproots all the nut trees and brings them to his mother shows his willingness to act, even if in excess. Furthermore, Son-Jara’s actions in fulfilling his quest to overthrow Sumamuru show repeated examples of perseverance of action. Fighting several battles to a draw, Son-Jara does not give up, but instead pursues Sumamuru’s weakness and exploits it, in the end delivering victory to his people. Son-Jara foils Hamlet nicely when considering action versus inaction.
While Hamlet is a man of thought and Son-Jara is a man of action, both are heroic. Through varying in degrees of action, inaction, resolution, perseverance, and determination, Hamlet and Son-Jara both fit the billing of a hero. Not all heroes must fall directly under the pattern established by Homer and Virgil, a Hamlet and Son-Jara illustrate.
Essay 6
An epic poem generally reveals significant traits about the culture from which it originates. Among these traits are the cultural expectations of a good person. From reading three epics, Son-Jara, Paradise Lost, and The Lay of Igor’s Campaign, an insight into the three corresponding cultures allows a determination that the basic makeup of a good person is universal, while specific cultures expect certain traits more than would other societies. For example, tribal Mali society might praise someone able to physically function normally, as opposed to making fun of a lame person. Renaissance Europe would require a person to be strictly Christian in order to be considered “good.” Medieval Russia would respect a person willing to fight for the nation. Although each of these examples reveal a more specific requirement in each of these societies, overall the requirements of a person to be considered “good” is relatively constant.
In Son-Jara, the epic opens with a ten-year-old boy unable to walk who is generally considered worthless by many of his peers. This prevailing discriminatory attitude against the lame boy plainly exhibits the cultural significance of someone able to function normally, as the physical demands of life on the African savannah are quite rigorous. Later, however, when Son-Jara gains the use of his legs and becomes a powerful warrior, the people praise him.
Paradise Lost is somewhat different in that it is an account of a religiously important time, in the Christian Garden of Eden. In contemporary Europe, John Milton lived in a society led predominantly by the Roman-Catholic Church, but was for the first time facing true resistance, in the form of the uprising Reformation. In this era of change, the effort was to get back to the true essence of Christianity, and it is of this essence that Milton writes. Before the Fall of Man, Milton’s Adam and Eve are obviously “good” people, as they are the embodiment of the image of God. As God’s chosen ones, Adam and Eve have to obey God’s commands and do His will. Milton’s poem allows a parallel to his contemporary society, in which under the rubric of Christianity, the basic rules of life have not changed. A person must still obey God’s commands to be considered a good person.
Medieval Russia falls somewhere between the paganism of Son-Jara and the Christianity of Paradise Lost. As Vladimir I had only recently begun the transition from the old pagan religions to Christianity, a mixture of the two persisted in the time of the writing of The Lay of Igor’s Campaign. Nevertheless, Kievan Rus had its own cultural conception of the makeup of a good person. From Igor, one could cite Igor’s willingness to attack the Kuman invaders in an effort to defend his homeland. Igor’s courage is plain enough when he attacks with his outmatched force. Although the event ultimately becomes viewed as a mistake and a political blunder, it does reveal Igor’s willingness to try to do what he thought best for his homeland. Certainly, this concept remains relevant in the ethos of most cultures.
While each culture may place particular priority or perspective on a different aspect of goodliness, certain themes tend to be universal. Societies expect exemplary people to behave in an exemplary manner, possessing sufficient measures of care for the people, like Son-Jara’s “Spear-of-Access,” a tendency toward piety, as imported by Paradise Lost, and strength to face unfavorable odds to the very end, as in Igor. The expectations of these cultures upon outstanding individuals reveal the inherency of human nature to look to the best people as leaders and, perhaps, even as role models. Just as a culture can tend to expect certain qualities out of a “good” person, such expectations seem to bridge the expanse separating any culture, connecting with the whole of human nature. It is not so much that a particular culture holds particular attributes essential to a good person, rather that human nature as a whole tends to accept the essentialness of those attributes to a good person, or a leader.