CLT3378 02 Ancient Mythology East and West Spring 2015 Study Guide for Final Exam II Review Questions The following questions are meant to aid you in thinking about the material for the exam 1 Compare the stories of the heroes Gilgamesh Buluqiya and Beowulf How is each hero both similar to and different from each of the other heroes Gilgamesh and Buluqiya both go on adventures where they have to cross a sea Gilgamesh has to cross sea to go see Utnapishtim to ask how he achieved immortality and Buluqiya has to cross the seven seas to try and find a ring that will give him god like powers Both use a plant that belongs to someone else Gilgamesh s plant is at bottom of Apsu this plant restores youth but is stolen by a snake which is why they shed their skin Buluqiya s plant is with yamlika underground This plant allows him to walk on water across seven seas Gilgamesh s guide friend Enkidu dies Buluqiya s guide Affan dies Buluqiya doesn t have to kill any monsters Gilgamesh kills Humbaba and the bull of heaven and Beowulf kills Grendel and Grendel s mother and also the dragon They are all on a quest for immortality What is the relationship between each of these heroes and their respective second selves Gilgamesh and Enkidu are originally enemies but then they fight and become best friends because they realize they are equals possibly lovers Gilgamesh is devastated when Enkidu dies Buluqiya s guide Affan who is a sage guides him across the seven seas Beowulf has Wiglaf who is his relative and follower who is the only man out of the party of 13 who stays to help Beowulf fight the dragon 2 3 What happens to the hero and what happens to the second self in each story In Gilgamesh The fact that Gilgamesh and Enkidu killed Humbaba and The Bull of Heaven is going too far in the eyes of the gods So Enkidu has a prophetic dream where there is a divine counsel myth when it is decided that one of them has to die It is decided that Enkidu has to die and so he does Gilgamesh is devastated so he puts on animal skins and roams the wilderness and makes his city of Uruk build huge statues in Enkidu s honor In Buluqiya Buluqiya and his guide Affan are warned by Yamlika to not go after this magical ring They disregard her orders and Affan tries to get it when they are at the tomb of Suliaman A magical spell is supposed to be said to protect Affan but it is said backwards and Affan turns to dust Buluqiya is lost without his guide In Beowulf the second self does not die Wiglaf helps Beowulf fight the dragon and kill him but Beowulf gets poisoned by the dragon and dies 4 What is each hero seeking Gilgamesh is on a heroic quest myth so he is trying to attain glory and a title for himself by killing Humbaba Then Gilgamesh wants to achieve immortality so he goes in search of Utnapishtim to find out how to get it Buluqiya is after a ring that he read about on a piece of parchment that was left to him in a box by his father This ring will allow him to drink from the fountain of life and gives him god like power Beowulf is for lof or glory in the afterlife Aka if people still talk about you then you are immortal His third battle was just to protect his people 5 What is the personality of each hero Gilgamesh is an awful person rapes women and beats up men He is arrogant and out of control But he is kind of special in the eyes of the gods because he is so beautiful he has two birth stories Buluqiya doesn t really listen too well to words of the gods Kind of greedy about the ring Beowulf is valiant wants fame and to be remembered and when he grows older he is very loyal about protecting his people 6 What is the role of the gods in each of the hero stories Gilgamesh Buluqiya and Beowulf 7 8 In Gilgamesh the gods create Enkidu to fight him because Gilgamesh is so out of control that the people pray for someone to fight him The sun god Shamash helps Gilgamesh fight Humbaba The Gods are angry about the killing of Humbaba and The Bull of Heaven so they decide Enkidu has to die How does the monotheism Islam of the author of the Tale of Buluqiya affect the way that author portrays the involvement of the gods or lack thereof in his work Gods are not mentioned too much in the Tale of Buluqiya magical plants and rings do most of the magical things that happen in the story rather than gods How does the monotheism Christianity of the author of Beowulf affect the way that author portrays the involvement of the gods or lack thereof in his work The gods are not really mentioned in Beowulf they don t really have any impact on the story Beowulf has magical weapons Hrunting instead of being helped by gods 3 Distinguish between the events of the Tale of Buluqiya which we did read and the events of the frame narrative of the Thousand and One Nights which we did NOT read the frame narrative features Shahriar and Scheherazade The Tale of Buluqiya is a story inside of the Thousand and One Nights There is an evil Sultan names Shahriar who kills a virgin every night after he sleeps with her So the Herion of the story Scheherazade volunteers to marry the evil sultan She tells him a bit of a very long and suspenseful story every night so that he will keep her alive to hear the next part of the story the next night This goes on for 1001 nights The Tale of Buluqiya is jus part of this very long story told by Scheherazade Imbedded narrative 4 Compare the beginning of creation in Vedic Norse and Egyptian accounts What is the first element of the cosmos water or something else in these accounts What is its significance Vedic starts with primordial waters then creation is initiated the author asks what stirred and that one breathed indicating that the universe is alive and moving Norse in the beginning there is just a void called the Ginnungagap Next comes two realms muspell fiery in south and Niefhelm cold in north Egyptian Heliopolitan creation myth in the beginning Nu Nun is a god that is the waters of chaos What are the different processes that are used to bring about the creation of the world Vedic a Golden Embryo who is an unnamed creator god with the title Hiranyagarbha arises from the primordial waters and then creates the waters Then it separates the earth and sky then creates the earth and sky Then Purusha who is a cosmic giants is sacrificed and his body is used to make the universe Then the female creative force Aditi gives birth …
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