Ramayana

The Ramayana is probably the most difficult text so far, in that it's origins lie in the East, and isn't a traditional western tale, and uses a number of terms that obviously don't have easy English translations. Despite this, the actual narrative is fairly intriguing, featuring a pantheon that was new and fresh to me, as well as the actual tale. Rama seemed to be flawed as a person, but as a leader single handedly won the hearts and the minds of all his populace. Despite the difficulties with comprehending the text itself, the story was well told enough for me to enjoy it.

The Ramayana

After I found out more about The Ramayana I began to enjoy the story more because I understood what was happening a little bit better. I enjoyed how the translation made it so easy to flow through the story, and how it made it much more natural to read, even if I didn’t know entirely what was happening the whole time. Cantos 47-49 of Book 3 were particularly interesting and I enjoyed reading Sita’s defense of Ram. I think that, even if she played the subservient wife to Ram, that she is still a very strong female character and that it is admirable how she resisted Ravan during the time of her capture.

Ramayana

This translation of the Ramayana is done well because the verses rhyme in english, so it is easy to understand that rhythm, however it is hard to understand what is going on. The video is class was really helpful. It was interesting seeing it preformed. The story about how Ram is exiled seems crazy! He is supposed to be King, but because his father's youngest wife got his father to promise to give her anything she wanted, she asked for her son to be King. Ram agrees to go into exile to keep his father's word honest, but you think the good of the country matters more than his father's reputation. Instead of doing what was best for the country and claiming the throne like he was supposed to, he left the country to unknown and possibly incapable hands, just so his father, who isn't even King anymore, doesn't look like a fool. I Think either was his father seems kind of dumb, why would he promise to give his wife anything she asked for? I think that's obviously a very dangerous thing to promise.

The Ramayana

As I read the Ramayana I notice distinct differences from this and the Illiad. When The Ramayana describes its hero, you can see which traits are considered worthy. Every epic boasts of a great man who will lead his people into ruling a land or saving a people. The epic will speak of his courage, skills in battle, strength, and leadership ability. However, in the Ramayana many other skills are spoke of as well. These other skills are considered worthy of high praise and there you can see what qualities are important for the people who wrote it, and for the culture it belongs to. These skills are having high virtues, knowing the law, having a strong conscience, eloquent, obedient, and pure.

The Ramayana

Ramayana was an interesting read because it is quite different from the epics we’ve already been presented with in class. Ramayana includes the Hindu religion; speaks of the religion’s ideal figures and ideology. One underlying theme was the challenge of being a good leader and a good husband; this was evident as Ram struggled to believe his wife over his subjects when they doubted her chastity, he sided with them. For this reason, he is an ideal ruler being that a ruler cannot allow his private life to affect the public, but the reverse is acceptable. Ramayana is repetitive, one example being the repeated phrases of what a good person Ram is, and for this reason is a very didactic epic. Presented is the idea that Ram is a good person, an ideal figure in Hinduism and for that he must prevail over the evil Ravan; good prevails over evil. Both Ramayana and The Illiad consisted of protagonists who were depicted as ideal figures in society; Ram was an ideal leader, while Achilles was an ideal man and warrior.

The Ramayana / Illiad

The Ramayana was quite an interesting, but difficult literary piece to read. It is one of the two Hindu epics, although it does not follow the traditional structure that most epics do. The poem does not start in medias res, which is uncommonly seen in epics. When comparing the Ramayana to the Illiad, one similar idea comes to mind, didactic verse. The epics are both aiming to teach a moral lesson to its readers, such as the consequences of fighting in a war. Another parallel seen between the two epics is the abduction of a women, or “prizes”, to then men who captured them. I found it interesting that the people in the poem were meant to represent the ideal type of person they were. The two epics were both enjoyable to read, somewhat confusing, but enjoyable nonetheless. However, I’m finding it a bit difficult to see any obvious comparable and contrasting themes between the Illiad and the Ramayana.

William Chiu

The Ramayana was very similar to the Iliad but didn't live up to the expectations I had for this poem. I was looking forward to a poem with a completely different form and characterization than that of the Iliad. However despite the similarities, the starting of war because of the kidnapping of Rita and Helen was the most surprising. I immediately thought that one of the authors of the poems must have imitated the other in the plot of the story. The second similarity that struck me as too similar would be the heroes of the story. Ram resembles Achilles in every way as a warrior and war ideal except for his nobleness as a human being. This is probably the greatest distinction between the stories. The Ramayana has a deep focus of morality and the way people should function in society as opposed to Iliad which seems to lack such objectives. Ram is almost the Noah of Genesis in the way one man serves to lead by example. Perhaps the authors attempted to achieve the same effect through different ways of teaching. The similarities of the stories makes me wonder if Iliad attempts to be a moral story by teaching its readers through it's depiction of a hero's anger and flaws as an example of the sinful way of living which should be avoided.

Ramayana

The Ramayana was a more challenging read. I enjoyed the rhyme of the translation, but there was a lot of repetition that made it easy to lose sight of what was being said to begin with. That was one parallel that the Ramayana had with the Iliad - since both are in the epic style, there are many descriptions of the might or valor of the heroes. Both Ram and Achilles represent certain values ideal to their respective cultures. With Ram, he represents the ideal Hindu man. He is intelligent, wise, does whatever is right, listens to his people, and is a good man, ruler, and husband in general. Achilles, on the other hand, is brave, adventurous, and a good warrior as he searches for eternal glory. While he does have the tragic flaw of hubris, he still represents the ideal physical man of the time period the Iliad was written in. The major difference I found in reading both is the tone of the works. The Iliad is very much about Achilles' wrath and the consequences of Achilles' hubris. The Ramayana has a much more didactic tone where it is discussing how because Ram is good and kind and wise, he will overcome the evil Ravan. There are common themes of abduction and war in each, but the Ramayana seems to be a more stark good-and-evil tale intent on conveying the values and lifestyle the reader should follow. This is why it works well as a religious text and reference.

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an unique text, simply because it deals with material not otherwise covered in this class so far. The differences include the focus on the Hindu religion, the differences between being a good person and being a good leader, and the necessity of various roles and the equality these various classes need. The idea of a rigid caste system could be interpreted as the original socialism or communism, since these same ideas are toted in these two forms of government.

Despite the differences from the text we have read, there are still a number of similarities to other texts. The idea of this book being the foundation of a religion is like the bible, and the moral teachings are in line with the Iliad, although the teachings do vary.

Ramayana

This was very first time I ever read or heard about the Ramayana which is one of the two epic Hundu poems. It was really hard to understand because of the way it was written and how it was translated (hardest of all the literatures we read in class). The Ramayana is a poem that tells about the life of Rama who is the main hero in the story and his great characteristics as a leader. Intriguingly, in both the Iliad and the Ramayana contains the story of abductions and both resulted in major wars. In the Iliad, Agamemnon abducts Chryseis and it led to a war just as Raven kidnaps Sita, Rama’s lover, and ended up in a war between two characters. It made me wonder, what important role does abduction plays in ancient epics that both of the famous literature contains the stories about it? Sita, in other hand, is very virtuous character who exemplifies how woman should behave as a wife. And also Rama does not let his love affair interfere with his responsibility as a ruler although he loves Sita. There are some similarities between the Iliad and the Ramayana but their details were developed very differently.

Courtney Lum

I enjoy reading the Ramayana not for the conventional purposes, but because I find it so interesting how the text isn’t just an epic tale of capture, war, and a tragic hero, but that it actually is a text that provides spiritual guidance and moral values. The Ramayana is an extremely complex and terribly long text that doesn’t fit the structures of an epic (for it doesn’t start in medias res, but actually starts from the birth of Rama and the death of him), but since it’s one of a kind is placed into that category. The fact that this is a spiritual foundation for the religion of Hinduism, there is a lot of information regarding how to live your live (dharma) and how to achieve spiritual means in this life. Even though the Ramayana tells the story of a man making a journey, it also explains how to live your life in accordance to Hinduism.

The Ramayana

The Ramayana is one of the two epics that express the corn values of Hinduism around 1000 BCE. The epic created typical role models such like Rama, Sita, Bharata and so forth. Rama was created to be a perfect man without any blemish. He is a righteous ruler, an obedient son and a loyalty husband. Not only Prince Rama, but also his wife, Sita, was created to be a perfect woman. When Sita heard Rama was to be banished, she begged to accompany him to his forest retreat.because she thought that it was the wife's dharma to be at her husband's side. I think Sita's behavior sounds incredible in today's society because women are no longer the accessories of men. Later in the story, Ravana, the ten-headed evil king of Lanka traps Sita. He sends a magical golden deer and thus let Rama and Lakshman be away from Sita. Before Rama left, he drew a protective circle around Sita and warned her not to step outside the circle. However, Sita does not realize that Ravana will appear to be a beggar, she finally steps outside the circle and then be grabbed by Ravana. This plot is very similar to a Chinese legend, which called the Journey to the West. I think that the main character, Sun Wukong in the Journey to the West adopts a lot of characteristics from Hanuman in Ramayana such as the magic power.

Willie Ho

After reading Ramayana and comparing it to the Iliad, I have noticed a few generally similar themes in the two epics. There are general themes of war, ethics, and abduction. In the Iliad, Chryseis was abducted by Agamemnon just as Sita is abducted by Ravan. This is when the theme of ethics are seen. Ravan was willing to let Lanka burn for his one desire for one woman: Sita. Ram and Ravan have a battle/war over Sita. It was more of a "save the damsel" situation. After Lord Ram wins the war, with Sita by his side, he questions Sita of her chastity and loses her willingly for the betterment of his rule. He wasn't willing to take a risk that would affect his rule and for that, Sita rejects him. This makes him the better ruler though because he did not let his love for a woman get in the affairs of his job as a ruler.

the end of the Illiad and The Ramayana

I enjoyed discussing the Illiad in class. It was a simple reading and I enjoy the story. I had forgotten how Hector died in the book. I was, I instead, remember the fight scene from the movie, which is quite different. So, when reading of Hectors’ death it was almost surprising to find how much of a coward he was depicted as. It disappointed me that he ran and that he was so easy to kill, I suppose that my expectations were high from remembering the movie. I guess I was expecting this grand, epic battle. Instead, I found Hector running, then being tricked into fighting, and then being brought down with a single stroke.
I found The Ramayana very difficult to read, due to the way it is written. It is extremely confusing to me. Going on the background information that was given in class, though, I think that it’s interesting that the characters are meant to be perfect examples of certain stations, such as a wife or a ruler. I also think that, if I were to completely understand the text, it would be a great source for cultural information. I find the parallels between the Ramayana and the Illiad, such as the abduction theme, to be intriguing.

The Ramayana

The Ramayana is a very great literary work. It was both interesting/entertaining and provided readers with an insight into the great culture of India. The Ramayana is basically about the life of Rama, how his throne was taken from him by his brother and how his wife (Sita) was also abducted from him by the Raven. He is the central hero in the story and exhibits the qualities of a true leader. Sita also exihibits the qualities of an ideal wife because she still loved her husband and would not deny him even with all the good things that were promised to her by the Raven. The Raven is the antogonist in this story and is seen as the opposite of Rama. Lastly The Ramayana and The Iliad were great stories to read but i think it would be a bit hard to find significant differences/similarities between both stories.

Margaret Yoon

The Ramayana was difficult to understand at first, but once I acquired background knowledge about the epic, I found the different cantos from the books a pleasure to read. It is interesting that Rama and Sita are perfect figures; they serve as sources of ideals and wisdom for common life. Her abduction by Rakshasa, or the king of Lanka, is comparable to the Achaean’s abduction of Chryseis and Briseis in The Iliad. However, Sita, being the ideal wife, puts up a much stronger and angrier response to the abduction. She wishes to remain with Rama at all costs because they are incomplete without each other. I was not sure if Ravan actually rapes Sita, for it does not explicitly state so, but there are literary implications to the deed, such as the connotations of being Rama’s “ravished dame.”

Felicia Ooi; The Ramayana

The Ramayana is a smriti text which means it is a remembrance of an event and it is attributed to Valniki, who could be either a single author, or a person who compiled the works of many authors into a single text. The main character in the Ramayana is Ram; hence the name Ramayana, which literally means the "voyage of Ram" or the life of Ram.

Ram is portrayed as a very wise scholar who is the epitome of wisdom and intelligence. He is widely believed to be the reincarnation of Vishnu, one of the 3 main deities in Hinduism. He is shown to be the ideal man as the system in India at this time was one that valued knowledge above all things. The Ramayana is basically about Ram's life, and the cantos that we focused on involved the kidnapping of Sita (Ram's wife; the ideal wife) by Ravan (Ram's enemy) and about how Ram finally rescued her.

I did not really find it easy reading the Ramayana, it was slightly confusing even, perhaps because I had no idea about the many characters who were referred to occasionally throughout the cantos. Whereas in the Iliad, I had a little bit of background knowledge on the Greek gods/goddesses and the Greek heroes, which made me enjoy reading the Iliad.