Finnabair

Am I the only one who thinks it is weird that Finnabair dies twice in The Tain? The first time is when Ailill and Medb offer her to Cu Chulainn and he kills her and the fool that she is with (Finnabairs Stone) then she magically shows up alive later on when Medb tries to convince Fer Diad to fight Cu Chulainn. Finnabair would be given to Fer Diad if he goes and beats Cu Chulainn, seeing as which Fer Diad dies Finnabair does not marry him and fades into the background, that is until Rochad Mac Faithemain comes around. Evidently, Finnabair had been in love with Rochad and they lay together well because Medb had used Finnabair as a tool one to many times the upset men went to attack Ailill and Medb which led to seven hundred men dying. When Finnabair heard about this she was so filled with shame that she dropped dead (Finnabair Sleibe, Finnabair of the Mountain). Does anyone else find it interesting that Finnabair is the only person in The Tain that has managed to die twice on two separate occasions?

Fate

There are many cases that in the Mahabharata when a person does something that they know is a bad decision but do it anyway because that is "what fate dictates" for example Yudhisthira is quoted saying, "All creatures receive good or evil at the command of the Creator. If I have to play once more, it is inevitable. I know that this command of the king, this fresh invitation to a game of dice, will cause desolation all round. But even so, I am not able to disregard it." Why do you think that even knowing what will come he still decides to do it? This is very different from the Greek idea, that when one receives a prophecy they do everything in their power to avoid it but by their avoidance actions it occurs. Which, in your personnel opinion works better, the Hindu idea of just facing something head on or the Greek idea when you try to avoid the situation but it occurs anyway?

Virtuous?

A man is supposed to be virtuous, why is it then that the Pandavas brothers when escaping from the house that they set on fire to avoid the fate that Purocana had in store for them did they let a innocent woman and her five sons die? How is that act virtuous?

Man's Nature

I figured I would post this in both my Blog and the Open Forum

In The Iliad I have found that Homer uses many references to nature and the animal kingdom in describing the actions of the men, especially the war aspects. "But the two Aeantes blazing in battle-fury saw to Imbrius now...as two lions seizing a goat.....in their big grinding jaws,(Homer. 348. 235-239)" "Hector careering breakneck on like a deadly rolling boulder...it rolls no more for all its wild rush,(Homer. 346. 164-170" and "Think how a lion, mauling the soft weak...leaping clear of the big cat's pounce, (Homer. 300. 132-140)" and there are so many others. My question is why does Homer make so many references to natures forces and animalistic behaviors? Is is just so that people can get an image in their heads as to what was going on during the battles? Or was it to show that it's human nature to be violent and destructive, that not only can we not go against the gods who control our lives but that we can't go against our human instincts.

Three Goddesses

Greek mythology still has an effect on today's society; often, any series that contains the paranormal will have a episode based on Greek gods/goddesses, mainly goddesses, shows such as Charmed and Eastwick depict three main goddesses the first is an enterpertation of Athena, she would obviously be the character in the show that is the most intellegent of the three and she is typically the quitest, I believe that she is the quiet one because Athena is dipicted as being wise and there is a saying that those who are wise need not speak. The next goddess that is chosen is Aphrodite, this is played by the character in the show that is most associated with love, she is typically the single one in the show and may be portrayed as a bit of a loose woman. The third goddess that is chosen is actually a mixture of both Hera and Gaia, the resulting character will be the mother of the three and be married, therefore representing the aspects associated with Hera but the character typically is able to control nature they can make earthquakes, floods, and even send lightning. The question that I have though is why these three goddesses? Why not choose Artemis or Demeter?

Role of Women

We know that women in Ancient Greece were not treated very well, even royalty, and they were for the most part ushered away to spend most of their time in isolation with other women, why then does Homer have the women in the Iliad be outspoken and around the men?