Ancient Western Heroism

Ancient Heroism of Western and Eastern

Have you ever thought about the differences and similarities in the heroines in two far-away lands with two totally different cultural backgrounds in ancient time? The river of history is flowing slowly; every country and every era have its own heroine who is being recognized by their own ways. In the story of the Bible, a woman named Judith in ancient Israel who made the ignominious defeat of the Assyrians, an army bent on world domination. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a story was recorded in The Collection Yuefu Poems. Ancient and war-torn China, hundreds and hundreds of men were called upon to defend their homeland. Unknown to all, there stood one female among the soldiers. Disguised
Comparing the stories of Judith and Hua Mulan, they reveal the different ideas of heroism contained in ancient Eastern and ancient Western cultures; while they are similar in their calls to adventure, they differ in the reasons they receive recognition from their communities and what their reaction
In ancient western, people valued those who had the spirit of adventure. Even though their extreme pursuit might cause them to achieve ‘by fair means or foul’, their spirit is still being recognized among their people. This is exactly Judith did to save her village. “All the people were greatly astonished, and bowed down and worshiped God…” (“The Victory of Judith” 6). After Judith succeeded in her assassination of Holofernes, everyone lived in the village was shocked since they cannot believe that a single young woman could risk her own life to deceive a lot of soldiers and get solo to Holofernes and eventually killed him. “Then all the women of Israel gathered to see her, and blessed her, and some of them performed a dance for her…”(“The Victory of Judith” 7) Everybody admired Judith’s spirit of adventure which brought them saved and quiet life again from the hand of the Assyrians. In sharpest contrast, Mulan was recognized by her community for different reasons. Although Mulan also joined in battle and killed a lot of enemies, the most important reason she was being recognized was her filial piety. There is a saying in ancient China, “Hundred good, filial first.” Every year, the emperor would give awards to those who behaved very well in filial piety. The Mulan was one of the examples of having filial piety. Later, Mulan was awarded by the Khan