the ramayana term paper
History 110 A; Term Paper Assignment
Mythology in The Ramayana
Ancient civilizations found their sense of identity and source of understanding of the world around them through their mythical folk tales. The narrative epics that these civilizations developed reflected important aspects of their overall world view. By reading these folktales you get a better understanding of how it was like to live in these ancient times. The characters of the stories go through and experience life in a sense that reflects greatly the way of life during those times. The Ramayana reflects common, fundamental aspects of real life world civilizations; nevertheless it displays unique aspects of the Indian civilization. As a result we have a better idea and many examples of how life was lived in these ancient times. In the epic, The Ramayana women play important roles in the story. In the book we can see how Kaikeyi and Kausalya, wives of Dasharatha, ruled Kosala beside their husband. At one point of the story the queen Kaikeyi even caused the exile of Rama, Dasharatha’s most beloved son and heir to the throne. Dasharatha was completely opposed to this decision but found himself cornered, due to his adherence Dasharatha had to comply with Kaikeyi’s demand. If women were to be seen as unimportant, insignificant beings Kaikeyi’s demands would have been automatically discarded. Since Kaikeyi knew the role she played as the queen of Lanka, she had the courage to go ahead and demand Rama’s exile and the crowning of her son, Bharat. This caused the story to take an unexpected turn of events but most of all it critically gave the story its plot. The woman in this case of The Ramayana, was such an important factor that if she had not made her selfish demands there would not have been a story to tell at all. The rest of the book is about Rama’s adventures during the exile. The way women were socially organized in The Ramayana is a reflection of how women were placed in ancient Egypt. In
Mythology in The Ramayana
Ancient civilizations found their sense of identity and source of understanding of the world around them through their mythical folk tales. The narrative epics that these civilizations developed reflected important aspects of their overall world view. By reading these folktales you get a better understanding of how it was like to live in these ancient times. The characters of the stories go through and experience life in a sense that reflects greatly the way of life during those times. The Ramayana reflects common, fundamental aspects of real life world civilizations; nevertheless it displays unique aspects of the Indian civilization. As a result we have a better idea and many examples of how life was lived in these ancient times. In the epic, The Ramayana women play important roles in the story. In the book we can see how Kaikeyi and Kausalya, wives of Dasharatha, ruled Kosala beside their husband. At one point of the story the queen Kaikeyi even caused the exile of Rama, Dasharatha’s most beloved son and heir to the throne. Dasharatha was completely opposed to this decision but found himself cornered, due to his adherence Dasharatha had to comply with Kaikeyi’s demand. If women were to be seen as unimportant, insignificant beings Kaikeyi’s demands would have been automatically discarded. Since Kaikeyi knew the role she played as the queen of Lanka, she had the courage to go ahead and demand Rama’s exile and the crowning of her son, Bharat. This caused the story to take an unexpected turn of events but most of all it critically gave the story its plot. The woman in this case of The Ramayana, was such an important factor that if she had not made her selfish demands there would not have been a story to tell at all. The rest of the book is about Rama’s adventures during the exile. The way women were socially organized in The Ramayana is a reflection of how women were placed in ancient Egypt. In