The Journeys of Pilgrims and Heroes - Coursework Example

The Journeys of Pilgrims and Heroes The classical epics, such as The Odyssey, The Aeneid, and The Epic of Gilgamesh are often used to show what the cultures that produced them valued the most. Many Medieval texts, such as Everyman and The Canterbury Tales can also be examined to learn about the values of the times. The classical hero and medieval pilgrim, however, are vastly contrasting in their values. Through the examination of fictional and historical figures from both of these eras, we can discern that the hero figures were conquerors, usually seeking their own glory and gain, while the life of a medieval pilgrim tended to be self-sacrificing in the pursuit of worshipping and honoring God. Pericles and Alexander the Great are two historical figures that are exemplary of the culture from which they came. Pericles was an influential statesman, speaker, and general during the Persian and Peloponnesian war. Much of the reputation of Athens for being a place of learning and culture came from Pericles’ promotion of the arts and literature. Though he did not record his speeches himself, the Greek historian Thucydides recreated many of them in his works. In Pericles’ funeral oration, he uses the occasion to not only praise those that died in the war, but to “celebrate Athens and its democratic ideas” (Western 865). He was such a prominent figure that this time period was referred to as the “Age of Pericles.” Being the prominent figure that he was, his main interest was in promoting the society of the Greeks: “Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favours the many instead of the few; this is why it is called democracy” (867). As we can see, Pericles takes pride in his country and the ideals which he believes in and is trying to instill in other people. Alexander the Great was more ambitious than his fellow Greek Pericles. Indeed, he went undefeated in battle and conquered most of the world that was known to the Greeks by the age of thirty-two. Alexander also did not record his own life; once again the fellow Greek Plutarch took that task upon himself. As was often the case in the ancient world, if someone was to accomplish an amazing feat, then it was considered that the gods must be somehow involved and favoring the individual. This idea is present in Plutarch’s history: By this means, as it would seem, it was suggested to Dareius from Heaven that the exploits of the Macedonians would be conspicuous and brilliant, that Alexander would be master of Asia, just as Dareius became its master when he was made king instead of royal courier, and would speedily end his life with glory. This is often the case in either the classical or medieval world. In order to make sense of the world, the gods were used to explain when something good or bad happened. Alexander represents extreme ambition; there are few who would consider undertaking the task of conquering the known world. There would be even fewer who had the capability of actually doing so. However, it is difficult to get a real sense of Alexander the Great. While in his home country of Greece he was considered a hero, in the countries that he conquered he would have been considered the enemy. Whatever the final impression that we draw from the life of Alexander, there is no doubt that he was either a great hero or a great enemy. As far as fictional heroes of the classical world, perhaps Odysseus and Aeneas are the two best known. Another interesting aspect of these two heroes is how they show two differing sides of the same story. For Homer and the Greek culture he represented, Odysseus’ intelligence was greatly praised. Through the use of the Trojan horse, the Greeks were finally able to defeat the Trojans, end the war, and return home. He stood out from the rest of the warriors in the battle; Achilles is probably the only person that can rival Odysseus as far as his fame. Odysseus also represents the aspect of what happens to people that fall out of favor with a particular god. In attempting to escape from the Cyclops, Odysseus finally shouts out his name as he is escaping, wanting to take credit for his outwitting of the Cyclops. However, this was the reason that he ended up taking such a long time in returning home: “He prayed to lord Poseidon…if I’m indeed your son/ and you declare yourself my father, then/ don’t let this ravager of towns, Odysseus…return to his own land” (603-610). Individual accomplishment might set these heroes apart, but it is when they become prideful that they suffered the wrath of gods. From Odysseus, we can gather that the Greeks favored intelligence and would praise men for their individual efforts, but they looked down upon those that would let this go to their heads and become prideful. Aeneas, on the other hand, shows vastly different character traits from Odysseus. Virgil, the author of this work, was a Roman citizen, and they considered themselves to be descended from the Trojans. Aeneas is on the other side of the Trojan war in regards to Odysseus; the characters that were heroes to Homer are now villainous when considered by Virgil: “but Ulysses’ craft and hate/ (You know them!) sent him from this world of men” (90-91). Similar to this reversal is the way that Alexander was considered a hero by his own people and a villain by those he conquered. Aeneas was not considered to be a great hero because he possessed great intelligence; he is considered great because of his duty to his state and his people. His own personal pleasures have to be put aside, such as was the case with Dido. He had fallen in love with the Carthaginian queen, but could not stay with her there because his destiny was to go to Italy to found the beginning of the Roman empire: “The price of greatness, Virgil seems to tell us, is the surrender of our ordinary standards of moral conduct and our perpetual separation from those we love” (Western 557). Indeed, it is difficult to consider how much Aeneas should be blamed for the suicide of the heart-broken Dido. To the Romans reading the epic during their time, they surely must have felt that he had no choice in the matter, and that the duty to found what would eventually become Rome obviously took precedence over one’s personal interests. There are several parallels between the historical and fictional figures. Odysseus and Alexander were both heroes in their own countries and villains by those they conquered. This distorts our perception of these figures. How are we to know what to really make of them when both sides can obviously show valid arguments to back their views? Also, both Pericles and Aeneas showed a deference to their own country above all else. Pericles told the widows at the funeral oration to take comfort for their husbands sacrifice was for the betterment of the state. Aeneas also had to sacrifice any of his own self-interests in order to become the hero and founder of Rome. Though there might have been slight differences in perceptions of these heroes, they all fought for either the glory of their country or themselves; the medieval pilgrim, on the other hand, worked only towards the glory of God. By this time the polytheism of the classical world had been replaced by the monotheism of Christianity. There was now only one way to achieve longevity after one’s death, and that was through a continued afterlife in Heaven with God. There was no more seeking glory and doing the will of the state so one would be remembered for all time. Hildegard von Bingen and Christine de Pisan are two historical figures that show this contrast if compared to Pericles and Alexander the Great. Hildegard von Bingen is an example of a person that suffered greatly in order to bring the message of God to a wide audience of people. She was an abbess, author, and composer, among many other things. It is noted that she would take serious bouts of illness, during which she says that she was spoken to by voices. After such an incident, she would take to writing and recording what she had been told. This is a literal example of a person that suffered, but she rationalized her suffering with the idea that she was spreading the word of God and that she would be rewarded greatly in heaven. This is an idea that is inherent in the belief of the time that life in the earthly realm was only temporary, and though it was filled with suffering, it was a kind of test that had to be passed before entering paradise. In her own words, she states that ‘It is reported that, exalted, you see many things in the heavens and record them in your writing, and that you bring forth the melody of a new song, although you have studied nothing of such things.” She also traveled widely, which was unusual for a woman at the time. These journeys to speak and preach could not have been easy for her, considering she was in her sixties when she began them. Of course, her journeys are just another example of the sacrifices that must be made in service to God. Christine de Pisan’s work contrasts with von Bingen in content, but in the end she was still working for the greater good as she saw it and never sought to raise herself to the level of hero such as Aeneas. Her work was the work of elevating females to the level of respectability, as opposed to the misogynistic attacks that women were subject to in most of the literature at the time. Consider Jean de Meun’s attitude towards women in his work Romance of the Rose: “All women are, have been, and e’er will be/ In thought if not in deed, unvirtuous,/ Though some may hesitate to do the act,/ None can restrain their wish” (Western 1360). De Pisan sought to counter this attitude with her work The Book of the City of the Ladies. In it, her narrator has absorbed the misgynistic attitudes of the authors she has read and asks why God would create such creatures as women. Then three figures appear to her, Reason, Rectitude, and Justice, and inspire her to write her work defending women: “My lady, I truly believe what you are saying, and I am certain that there are plenty of beautiful women who are virtuous and chaste” (Western 1370). Her work is not to elevate herself, but she is selflessly defending her entire gender. Since her attitudes were in such sharp contrast to her times, she would have suffered the opinions of people that disagreed with her. This did not matter, as she felt that her intent was a noble one and was it was for the greater good of all people if women were to be treated fairly. Chaucer’s character the wife of Bath shows characteristics of both von Bingen and de Pisan. She is a pilgrim on a journey to worship, but her tale also reflects the attitude that the misogynist texts of the time were unjust. Chaucer created this figure in specific to attempt to contradict the hateful attitudes towards women of the time. In the prologue to her tale, she mentions how she met with disapproving attitudes for having had five husbands. She counters this by saying “Lo, here the wise king daun Salomon:/ I trowe he hadde wives many oon,/ As wolde God it levelful were to me/ To be refreshed half so ofte as he” (35-39). Solomon, she points out, had even hundred wives and three hundred concubines, yet he is still considered to be a righteous man. This character was not created to be a hero in any sense; her creation was used to present the idea that women should be treated equally and fairly. We should not forget that this also was a character that was on a pilgrimage, a self-sacrificing journey in and of itself. The wife of Bath is a defense of women, showing that this person making a pilgrimage to Canterbury could also demonstrate the unfairness in the attitudes that were expressed towards women. While she might not have been solely created to spread the word of God, her creation was not an attempt to create a character that would be remembered for her own personal acts and for serving her country. Everyman, by an anonymous author, has been one single purpose, to spread to word of God and to show people how to reach heaven. All of the characters of the play are allegorical in nature. Everyman goes on a sort of pilgrimage, and journey through life, and finds that nothing in this world mattered in the end except for his actions and beliefs. The beginning of the play states its intention quite clearly: “That of our lives and ending shows/ How transitory we be all day” (5-6). Everyman meets character with names such as Fellowship, Knowledge, Strength, and Five-Wits, among others, and finds that each of these characters abandons him through his journey, all except for Good Deeds. It is obvious that the author is stating that this life is transitory, and that people really should be concentrating on glorifying God because that is the only thing that will help them get into heaven. This work most of all is trying to instill an attitude of selflessness in its audience. It paints the everything but the good a person does as meaningless and pointless and a distraction form what people should really be doing. Everyman finds no worth in attempting to be a great hero and being remembered for his deeds. The only thing that matters is that he enter heaven when his life is over. The viewpoints of the classical figures sharply contrasted with those of the medieval figures. The classical figures were about self-promotion and preservation of their country. Without a Christian-like heaven to go to, this was the only way that they could, in a sense, live on, by either having their name preserved as a hero or by helping their country to continue on. The medieval figures, however, did have a chance to live on by going to heaven. Since this was the case, the life on earth went from being all a person had to merely an obstacle to pass before the final reward. As this was the case, they were supposed to act in a way that promoted God and equality and fairness for all people, not just themselves or their state. Works Cited Anonymous, Everyman. Norton Anthology of English Literature, Ed. M.H. Abrams, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1993. Homer, The Odyssey. Western Literature in a World Context. Eds. Paul Davis, Gary Harrison, David Johnson, Patricia Clark Smith, John Crawford, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1995. Mather, Olivia Cater, “The Music of Hildegard von Bingen.” Available from Pisan, Christine de, The Book of the City of the Ladies. Western Literature in a World Context. Eds. Paul Davis, Gary Harrison, David Johnson, Patricia Clark Smith, John Crawford, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1995. Plutarch, The Parallel Lives: The Life of Alexander. Available online from Thucydides, “Pericles’ Funeral Oration.” Western Literature in a World Context. Eds. Paul Davis, Gary Harrison, David Johnson, Patricia Clark Smith, John Crawford, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1995. Virgil, The Aeneid. Western Literature in a World Context. Eds. Paul Davis, Gary Harrison, David Johnson, Patricia Clark Smith, John Crawford, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1995. Western Literature in a World Context. Eds. Paul Davis, Gary Harrison, David Johnson, Patricia Clark Smith, John Crawford, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1995. Read More