Shahnameh teaches us the universal and timeless fact, the fragility of human life through the story of the prosperous Persian King, Sekandar. He first witnessed the fragility of man’s life in youth. His sibling, Dara – the “rival for the crown of Persia” was attacked and died. “I who never injured anyone, who had such armor and such armies, such splendid horses, such crowns and thrones, who had such sons and relatives, and so many allies whose hearts bore my brand.” Dara was killed only because he had happened to be born into the powerful loyal family. “Earth and time were [Dara’s] slaves,” but “the earth has turned dark for [him].” He had enjoyed the time having control over the earth, but, he was now laying on the earth while his death was approaching. “Greatness too must pass: it is the prey, and its hunter is death.” Any “greatness” remains short, and death always finishes it.

Like Dara and the other great kings in other empires, the greatest King, Sekandar also faced the same fate. He eventually died of illness. And, the people and his wife mourned for him and witnessed “the fragility of human life” again. “Where are your intelligence, knowledge, and foresight, now that a narrow coffin is your resting place?” One’s great abilities also disappear upon death. “All those other lords who put their trust in battle and were dragged down to the dust?” The ambitions of other kings only brought them death eventually. “One comes like the wind and departs as a breath.” A man is born with powerfully and dies with weakness. “He founded ten prosperous cities, and those cities are now reed beds.” Any prosperous city will be in ruins. “But one must act well, with valor and chivalry, and one must eat well and rejoice.” We have to live our short life with diligence and joy.

شاهنامه‎ “Shahnameh”

Note: Responses to other posts will be made by the next class.

In the epic poem Beowulf, the protagonist of the same name is first described to the reader as a valiant warrior. Beowulf is smart, super strong and skilled in combat. He exemplifies Germanic ideals and heroic codes including loyalty, courtesy and pride. Beowulf is everything a young man should be, despite his sometimes arrogant attitude. His image is enforced with tales of a high-stakes swimming match against Breca and the slaying of Grendel as well as Grendel’s mother. Establishing himself as a hero, Beowulf attains the fame he desires.

“When I was younger I had great triumphs… every[one] supported my resolve to come here to you .. because they all knew of my awesome strength (416-418).”
– Beowulf

Post fame, Beowulf is ready to transition into a more mature role. The narrative illustrates a fifty year gap in Beowulf’s life and upon return, the reader is introduced to a different man. Beowulf is often separated into two “acts” or the the two different phases of Beowulf’s life: young and old. While Beowulf has retained his strength and bravery from act one, he has transitioned into a wise and reliable king in act two.

The protagonist is now described as a selfless king who acts for the good of the people instead of for his own greatness as he may have when he was younger. He no longer seeks fame and the battles he does fight are carefully chosen. He rises to kingship after proving himself trustworthy, supporting a heir to a throne instead of rushing to power himself. He leads his nation well, and in turn he is completely praised.

Unfortunately, at the end of the epic the reader is left confused. An aged Beowulf dies upon the venomous bite of an enemy dragon. Beowulf retrogresses in maturity, his decision to fight the dragon rash and a way to proclaim greatness for a final time. Completely disregarding the security of his people, Beowulf reverts to his premature warrior ways. While the epic poem illustrates the perfect man as warrior and leader in different times of his life, the ending is ambiguous and the message of the story is left uncertain.

• What elements of the Epic genre (as you are so far familiar with them) are present in Beowulf? How does this English Epic differ from the Homeric or other epic forms you’ve read?
• What elements of oral performance survive in the printed text? Give specific examples.
• There are several embedded narratives in Beowulf (e.g. Sigemund and the dragon, ll. 883-914; and the Fight at Finnsburg, ll. 1070-1157). What is their function in the narrative and, considering their placement, in the action of the story?
• Who and what are Grendel and his mother? What is the source of their animosity toward the Danes?
• While the events of Beowulf take place in a pre-Christian Europe, the narrator has a distinct Christian perspective. Find some examples of both “pagan” and Christian elements in the poem and analyze how they compliment or contradict each other. (Hint: Look at Grendel’s attack on Heorot in lines 86-188.)

I chose this picture because it shows the strength and courage of the protagonist of this epic poem, Beowulf.

The reading of the Epic of Beowulf lines 1251-3182, is the story of a young brave Geat warrior, Beowulf, and is based on the intrinsic virtue and  the high esteem people had placed on him. He seems to be the balancing factor between the disparities in thought of his time. Although he boasts about his distinguished life and valiant deeds, his valor matches up to his undue vanity on the battlefield, so his tales are of no fabrication. I found this story quite intriguing. He had saved many lives by successfully slaying three remorseless malicious creatures, in three significant battles.

In the second battle, Beowulf battles Grendel’s mother, who is portrayed as a monster and as the primordial of evil. He unreluctantly agreed to help the king seek vengeance for Aeschere, who was taken away by Grendel’s mother when she sought to wreak havoc at the Heorot in a frenzy of grief and rage, in her desire for vengeance for Grendel’s death. As summoned by the king, Beowulf ventures out to the dark swampy wood to find the creature. Although the territory is unfamilar to him, Beowulf reassured King Hrothgar that Grendel’s mother won’t get away. Beowulf assumes a high level of confidence.

In the third battle, an old Beowulf is out to kill a wrathful treasure hoarding dragon, which would turn out to be successful but ultimately lead to his death. The tone of the poem in this third part is very gloomy- we get a vibe of death and doom. There are repeated hints Beowulf will not survive this encounter as he senses his end is near because of his old age. He is retrospective and nostalgic as he tells stories of his glory old days.

This poem seems to have a two-part structure than a three part structure. In Beowulf’s first two fights(his fight against Grendel and Grendel’s mother), we see a warrior who is confident in his indestructibility. But in Beowulf’s last fight against the treasure hoarding dragon, we see a warrior aware of his mortality.

“He had been poorly regarded for a long time, was taken by the Geats for less than he was worth: and their lord too had never much esteemed him in the mead-hall. They firmly believed that he lacked force, that the prince was a weakling; but presently every affront to his deserving was reversed.” (2183-2189)

This quote stood out to me because I was extremely surprised that Beowulf’s explicit display of vigor and valor was ever overlooked. He spent his life performing heroic deeds and proving himself to be a wise and steadfast leader. Beowulf’s fearlessness and extreme courage had acted as a effective bulwark. He had impacted the lives of many by providing a sense of security to his people and by causing intimidation to his marauding enemies.

All in all, in Beowulf’s journey of life, from the transformation from courageous warrior to honorable and heroic king, it all comes to an end. For every hero, reminiscences of glorious days and the approach of old age reinforces the reality that every life, ends in total destruction.

Beowulf – The Three Evil and Powerful Monsters

The Epic of Beowulf is probably the most important epic in the World of the old English Literature. As a person who has limited skills of modern English and completely ignorant of the old English language, I found this epic not rhythmical enough for me to read and follow. Below is a video showing the written language and the audio of the original old English version, which sounds totally like a different language from English to me. I hope we can have more discussion about this in class. However, I love the language and word choices in Heaney’s translation of Beowulf very much, particularly in those parts he was introducing the three monsters – Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the Dragon, which I will discuss in detail below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYsD4DPg4ls

Video from YouTube: The Epic of Beowulf – Original Text and Audio

As we start reading the Epic of Beowulf, a glorious world of Danes dated back to more than a thousand years ago is revealed to us. Such flourishing nation deserve her people to have parties and celebrations all the time, however, a monster named Grendel disrupted everything. Here comes the portray of Grendel – a prefect use of metaphors to compare between the people of Danes singing and celebrating happily as angels in paradise and Grendel coming as a “grim demon, haunting the marches, marauding round the heath and the desolate fens”, as well as the metaphor of the unforgiveable Cain from Genesis (114). This metaphor and comparison is very lively to help put the people of Danes and Beowulf in the camp of righteousness and effectively increased Beowulf’s heroic image later on.

The second monster is Grendel’s mother. She was a “monstrous hell-bride, brooded on her wrongs” (142). Here in this part, the epic also mentioned Cain to echo with the description of Grendel above. Both Grendel and his mother came from hell – they are evils. Grendel’s mother is also a more powerful monster than Grendel, as Beowulf’s sword can defeat Grendel but not Grendel’s mother. Eventually, the sword Beowulf used to defeat the female monster “wilt into gory icicles to slather and thaw” (149) – the huge and evil power of the monster’s blood was not described directly, instead it is revealed in this way.

The last one is the dragon. It is the ultimate monster which caused Beowulf’s death. First of all the dragon is also described as evil as a “convention” in this epic to contrast Beowulf’s justice. The dragon’s power is described in several ways: first, the dragon is able to blow out fire to destroy everything; second, Beowulf’s fellows fleeted during the war with the dragon; third, the kind’s most powerful sword is broken during the battle. Throughout all these battles Beowulf is effectively contrasted as the genuine hero who is equipped with wisdom, power and braveness, standing at the front line of justice until he dies.

Beowulf is the oldest epic poem in English literature , that was written in Old English, the language of Saxons.  In 19th century the poem was name of its Scandinavian Hero, who perform his adventures. Poem contain historical elements but the hero and the story are fiction.

I found the interesting fact about origin of monster . Grendel is descendant of the biblical Cain, the son Adam and Eve, who killed his brother Adel out of jealously . In Hebrew “Cain” means “creature” and monsters are descendants  of Cain. The monster became angry about humans, because they enjoy their life by having music, light and fun.  Grendel attacks at night by coming to the mead-hall.

One of the first thing that Beowulf shows is loyalty to Lord Danes. For 12 years Grendel, huge man-like ogre attacks king Heorot and killing his warriors . Beowulf decides to help kill the monster.  He has own motives because one time Hrothgar sheltered Beowulfs father during a deadly feud. He seems as the  perfect warrior: brave and strong. He brings with him 14 best warriors to defeat the king and his people. Next lines are showing his loyalty Shielding country : ” I come to proffer my wholehearted help and counsel.  I can show the wise Hrothgar a way to defeat his enemy…” . Beowulf kill Grendel in the great battle , he seized monster in grip and dont let him go. Beowulfs warriors were trying to help him bit their weapons had no effect on Grendel. Beowulf then ripped off his arm, but monster escapes and the dies in h underwater lair. At that time Beowulf  was a young warrior  and is representing a heroism but later he matures and becomes a wise king who is defending own people from dragon.

The thing I found most interesting about the Qur’an was it’s ability to make me fear God and his wrath if I do anything wrong. Many times it references doing wrong will sentence you to the “fire” and if you repent for your wrongdoings God will forgive you. The language it uses is strong, absolute and scary in order for the readers to absorb and listen to what it says.

One Example of the Qur’an using words to make us fear would be on page 77 when it explains non-believers deciding to believe on the Day of Resurrection. It says, “If the disbelievers possessed all that is in the earth on the Day of Resurrection, it would not be accepted from them-they will have a painful torment. they will wish to come out of the Fire but they will be unable to do so: theirs will be a lasting torment.” The use of the word “torment” is terrifying. No one wants to suffer therefore they will remember this saying and live by the rules of the Qur’an.  We see an example of this again of page 81, “Those who reject the truth and deny Our messages will be the inhabitants of Hellfire.” In this case, however; the use of the word “hellfire” gives the fear to believe.

I can’t help but fear the wrath of god as well. “… do not fear people, fear Me… those for do not judge according to what God has sent down are rejecting God’s teachings… we prescribe for them a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, an equal wound for and equal wound.” This shows that if you do nmot respect God and his teachings you shall perish. God shows no mercy for those who mock or ignore him. “Those who wage war against God and His Messenger and strive to spread corruption in the land should be punished by death, crucifixion, the amputation of an alternate hand and foot, or banishment from the land: a disgrace for them in his world and then a terrible punishment in the Hereafter.” This on page 76, is the reading that scared me the most. If you go against God, not only will you get the worst punishment on earth but you’ll suffer for all eternity in the afterlife. This may seem harsh, but it causes you to stop and think about your actions and how God is perceiving them.

Words in literature do a great job reinforcing your thoughts and ideas. I believe the Qur’an does and excellent job with this because fear is a feeling and emotion you don’t easily forget. Maybe the purpose wasn’t to instil fear, but then it would have to change many of it’s words. Another reason you need to chose your words carefully.

In both, Christianity and Islam, God is considered the divine creator of the universe, whose absolute attributes have been revealed to us through his messengers, his chosen prophets. The islamic doctrine seems to be a hybrid of both Christian and Judaic beliefs based on the fact that people should live their lives by the moral teachings of the prophets. Because Islam took roots after Christianity and Judaism, its book, the Qur’an chants criticism regarding the truths presented in those two sacred scriptures.

In the Gospel, John 1 , the word “word” is enigmatic, being personified with life. Reading it you almost visualize a speaking God, humanized by his act of creation: creating LIFE from the primordial WORD. His spoken words were preserved in the Bible and Tora and “The people of The Book” were guided by those divine words. The word was unquestionable for those people.  Qur’an doesn’t put much emphasis on the word since this divine book is a revelation of a never-illustrated -God-in-books, is a product of those believers’ minds. The repetition of words such as “mind”, “mindful”, and “our revelations”  outlines the visionary imagery of God that surpasses the impact of words on their absolute beliefs. On top of that, Jesus Christ is identified with the spoken word in the Bible. In the Christian Book, God is portrayed as a “shepherd” who watches over his “children” while in the Qur’an he doesn’t resemble his creations; the imagery of God is obscure.

The tone of the book is extremely strong, authoritarian, confrontational, almost forcing your mind to believe everything that’s been said there. The array of repetitions and rhetorical questions are great persuasive tools used as their last words that seal our minds’ questions about God.  For instance, this rhetorical question sounds derogatory, criticizing the Trinity in Christianity: “Can any of your partner-gods show the way to the Truth?” (84 )

Islam rejects the doctrine of the Trinity and Allah is considered a unitary God. In “The Feast”, there is an allusion to the number three: “Your true allies are God, His Messenger, and the believers” (78). The “believers” mentioned many times through “we” and “us” are so deeply involved in revealing the truth about God that they feel blessed with enough knowledge about that unity.

• The Muslim faith prescribes 5 articles of faith, or “pillars” of Islam: 1) daily prayer, 2) charity, 3) fasting, 4) pilgrimage, and 5) profession of faith. Where do you find examples of or injunctions to these acts in the selections you read?
• The Qur’an retells several episodes from both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Gospels. What facts differ in the Islamic telling and how do this differences change the emphasis?
• It what ways does the Qur’an proclaim a new “covenant” with the “People of the Book”?
• Why do you think the Qur’an emphasizes both the singular (unitarian) nature of God and the humanity of Jesus?
• Come up with one additional questions form your reading to pose to the class.

The classic of poetry contains 305 poems and consists of three parts the “Airs of the Domains”, the “Odes/ elegances” and the “Hymns. Confucius thought highly of the classic of Poetry. He advised his own son to study the Classic of Poetry to enhance his ability to express his opinions. “The Classic of poetry can provide you with stimulation and with observation, with a capacity for communion, and with vehicle of grief (pg1320-1321). Confucius High opinion of the Classic of Poetry led to it inclusion in the canon of the “Confucian Classics.” Confucius strongly believed that the political order depended on the ability of individuals in society to cultivate their moral virtue and thus contribute to social order.

These poems are unique in using repetition with variation; they consist of three rhyming stanzas of four or six lines with four syllables each. They use evocative Image which means stimulus or excitement for comparison/simile of a person or a situation. For example in Boat of Cypress (pg1325 XXVI) the protagonist is expressing his feeling and sorrow throughout the poem, comparing his heart to objects such as a mirror, stone and Mat. These poems were a means of communication, expression and away to give the people a voice helping them keep bad rulers in check and allowing rules to install virtuous behavior. The Classic of poetry plays a great part in shaping the literacy cultures of East Asia and the modern era.

It is still remain unclear of when exactly the Chinese Scripture began to be developed but it appears to have a fully functional writing system during the late period of Shang Dynasty, where there writing was part of ritual practice that guided political decision making and harmonized the relation between human beings and the world of unpredictable spiritual forces in the cosmos (pg1313). It wasn’t until the rise and decline of the Eastern Zhou arose the age of china Philosophical Masters. Confucius and the philosophical maters join together and formulated vision on how to govern and live in a corrupt world. Chinese called this period “a hundred schools of thought bloomed.” Chines maters traveled between states in search for employment and patronage.

Throughout the Chinese Long history, its territories, ruling classes, capitals, religions, and customs kept changing with the rise and fall or ruling dynasties. Following the decline of the eastern Zhou came the foundation of imperial China: the Qin and the Han. With Qin unification china was finally an empire but it was a short lived dynasty with a reputation of ruthlessness and untrustworthy. Han Dynasty was when Chinese dynasty was able to adapt set patterns. During this period china was able to expand their boundaries to central Asia, modern Korea, and Vietnam. It was not until Emperor Wu was the privilege Confucian scholars established, founding a state academy for the education of government officials and setting up positions for professors to teach the so called five classics, which included the classic of poetry.