1) The god Indra is frist introduced on page 19.
2) Indra is described as the "great Indra" who's body is "studded with a thousand eyes" (19). He also described as "the highest god among gods" (19).
3) Indra can be compared to both Gilgamesh and Odysseus, they all have brought hardships upon themsevels due to beautiful women. Gilgamesh rejected a goddess's courtship and in sulted her, and Odysseus let the nymphs delay his journey home. Indra, on the other hand, fell for the beauty of another man's wife, Ahalya. He "was convinced that he alone was worthy of claiming her hand" (19). Indra failed to get over Ahalya after she was wed and tricked her into bed; he "assumed the sage's form... and made love to Ahalya" (20). It was when he was caught that he was crused to be covered with "a thousand female marks" (20). His sexual desire for what wasn't his ended up causing him a great many years of hardships.
4) Indra is the opposite of a hero. He is arrogant and unable to control himself. He puts his own desires before others and uses his power to trick innocent Ahalya into bed. A hero wouldn't have assumed he was the only one worthy of such a beauty, he would have left Ahalya to be happy with her husband, and wouldn't have tricked her into sex.
1 comment:
I agree that Indra is not a hero. He brings the hardships upon himself because he can't control his desires, "[he] decided to attain the woman of his heart by subterfuge," (20) he couldn't let go of the fact that Ahalya was married. Because he had decided to trick Ahalya into bed, he caused hardships among himself and caused Ahalya to be turned to stone. Indra is not a hero because he created difficult times on not only himself but also others because of his lack of being able to control himself
Post a Comment