The whole idea of Siddhartha as a hero is really unique in the story of the Buddha. From all my previous readings, a hero is someone who has to physically fight the evil, usually with a weapon of some sort. In Buddha, Siddhartha is a hero because of his courage to conquer old age and death. By conquering old age and death, he gives up everything in pursuit of supreme knowledge. That idea of a hero pursuing supreme knowledge to conquer death seems completely different even from the other Indian Epics I've read in class. Overall, I think the story is great, but, it seems that Buddha's attempt to shine light into the world would be overall futile as if nobody gave birth and nobody had a desire to then there would be no humans. Thus it would lead to the end of humankind. This is similar to when Paul the Apostle said that marriage is a concession and although the ideal is to be celibate, most people are not that strong. I would have to look further into Buddhist ideas to understand this.
Bibliography:
The Life of Buddha by Andre Ferdinand Herold (1922).
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