Bad Human Traits In Genesis example essay topic

The concept of the 'perfect' man or woman has always existed throughout the history of humankind. In the three classical texts of the Iliad, Genesis and Meno, there are portrayals of the ideal human qualities, as reflections on their specific culture and times. It would be of great interest to examine what exactly these qualities are, and in what respects they differ or are similar. If there is a single concept of human perfection then there must be a definite set of qualities which define it. It is the goal of this paper to discover whether such an ideal exists, and if it does, then to ultimately reveal what constitutes it. But how can we tell in each of these texts what is held as the human ideal?

In the case of the Iliad it is that which is portrayed as glorious and magnificent, such as a victory scene after battle, or a warrior gloating over the body of his fallen opponent. In Meno it is whatever Socrates and Meno agree to be 'virtue'. For Genesis it is slightly more complicated, due to the unique relationship between God and the humans over which he has supreme dominion. Since God "created man in his own image" (Genesis. 1: 27) he obviously wants humans to resemble him in everyway. Thus it can be said that the qualities shown by the characters upon whom god looks favorably are those which constitute human excellence in this text.

A brief overview of the three texts is in order. The Iliad has a central theme of war and human conflict, with the concept of the war hero being prevalent. Genesis takes place in a primeval world of essentially naive humans being watched over by God. In Meno, the setting is an ancient, yet civilised, society in which there are sophisticated citizens and institutions.

These different backgrounds, as expected, nurture different opinions on the human ideal. In the Iliad it is highly regarded to be skillful in combat and to be able to subjugate a foe by force, whereas in Genesis there is no mention of any organised fighting at all. In Meno the only reference to combat is made only in passing when Socrates mentions that the Thessalians "were admired for their horsemanship" (Meno, 70 b). It is inevitable that when such an emphasis is placed on the ability to fight, the role of woman is significantly marginalised. Women, being the physically weaker sex, were naturally not expected to contribute directly to fighting. (Athena and Hera do not count as they are goddesses, not normal women.) Consequently, the female ideal differs totally from the male ideal; she is expected to be a good wife and mother, and bear her husband many sons, presumably to keep alive the honour of the father on the battlefield long after he is gone.

The women in the Iliad derive their sense of worth from their relation to the warrior in their lives - son, husband or father - since they have no separate identity of their own. The women in Genesis appear to fulfill much the same role - as mothers and wives - although they are given greater prominence. Sarah, perhaps the closest to the ideal, embodied the few most important qualities of womanhood; she was obedient, utterly faithful, and loved her husband. There is a a slight change of emphasis from spiritual to practical in the Meno, where the model woman "must manage the home well, preserve its possessions, and be submissive to her husband" (Meno, 71 e). On the topic of gender it is beyond dispute that in each of the three texts the plot revolves around male characters. Thus in the search for human excellence in these texts it is assumed that that the qualities ascribed as such are without reference to female characters, unless specifically mentioned, as in the above paragraphs.

Returning to the topic of primary (male) characteristics, courage in battle is of also great importance in the context of the Iliad. It is a prerequisite for a warrior as without courage it would not be possible to face the enemy, much less possible death. Hektor exemplifies this ideal when he choses to remain outside the walls of Troy to front Achilleus, despite his premonition that he is certain to die. But the trait of bravery is not necessarily restricted to the battlefield - it has applications to a wide range of human endeveours. When god orders Abram to depart for the 'promised land' Abram shows courage to face to the unknown. Joseph must have had great bravery and resolve to have survived the emotional trauma of being betrayed by his brothers and then sold as a slave.

In Meno courage is mentioned, but appears to be of little significance, perhaps because of the lack of circumstances in a relatively civilized society which would require the possession of such a quality. The warriors of the Iliad fight to obtain honor or fame, which is very important to them. Social standing is based chiefly on ability in battle, the number of soldiers commanded, family reputation, and past record of battle successes or failures. A warrior's goal in life is the quest for enduring fame. This is illustrated when Hektor, before he rides out to battle, cradles his infant son and his foremost wish is for him to one day be a great warrior. In this scene Hektor is fitted in his mighty armor, a sight which scares the innocent child, and readers are reminded of how much the warriors' ideal is distorted from what is natural and beautiful.

In Meno the pursuit of fame is notably less stressed. Meno says that "virtue consists of being able to manage public affairs" (Meno. 71 e), which implies that carrying out one's duty is more important than individual success. Genesis appears to completely disregard fame, and there is emphasis on duty as well. The duty of a father to provide for his family, and the devotion of wife to take care of the family, are evident in the extensive familial structures portrayed. When discussing duty, Socrates and Meno talk about not only doing the task well, but doing it "moderately and justly" (Meno 73. b).

They think that fairness and honesty are important 'virtues'. In the Iliad all the warriors respect an unwritten code of conduct which governs how they are to behave both on and off the battlefield. For example they are not allowed to attack women or children, and a certain degree of mercy is expected to be shown towards wounded or defenseless participants in battle. It is rather ironic that Genesis, about the education of humankind, appears to regard such values with contempt. After Jacob tricks his brother Esau out of his father Noah's blessing, he receives no punishment from God. The fact that this event is a key part of the storyline without which the story would not be possible only adds to the significance of God's condoning of dishonest behavior.

In general the actions of God can be viewed as unfair and bully-like, and his decisions appear to be arbitrary, or in response to a whim. Much of what is taught to the characters in Genesis has to do with faith in God. He expects humans to have total faith and trust in him and his words. "Noah walked with God" (Genesis.

6: 9) because he obeyed god without question when he told him to build an ark. It appears to be one of God's main aims to make humans trust him, and therefore, by the definition set, faith is something good. In the Iliad the warriors are heavily reliant on the gods to grant them favors and help them to win battles. The fact that their trust in the gods actually yields them rewards identifies this as a favorable characteristic. Even Socrates and Meno declare piety a 'virtue'. So far faith in a divinity has been the only value to which the characters of all three texts ascribe.

Out of the three texts Meno is the most practical one in that it addresses the topic of human excellence directly. Thus it would be of use to examine come of the comments made by Socrates and Meno on the topic of virtue. Meno proposes that "virtue is to desire beautiful things and have the power to acquire them". (Meno. 77 b) He goes on to reason that since anyone can desire beautiful things but not everybody is capable of securing them, then this idea of virtue can be's implied to "the capacity to acquire good things" (Meno. 78 c).

In the context the Meno this ideal of human excellence is to be able to obtain wealth, health, honors, or respectable offices. Expanding this concept to the Iliad, it can be seen that the pursuit of 'good things' is the universal motivating force behind the actions of the characters. Agam menon desires the slave-girl Chry seis and has the power to take her away from Achilleus, so he does. The individual warriors enter battle with the desire to obtain honor and fame, but it is only those who succeed whom are portrayed in a positive light. In Genesis the essentially simple characters have their unique little desires; the woman in Eden wants to taste the fruit from the Forbidden Tree, Sarah wants to have children, and Jacob's sons want to kill their brother Joseph. As with the last example, this universal desire and ability to do things is not necessarily good.

Simply having the power to achieve one's personal goals does not require that those goals are good at all. Thus, it is the power, not what the power allows for, that is the admirable quality, courage in battle, and athletic prowess are held in high regard in the Iliad, whereas in the Genesis such an ideal is not mentioned at all. Ownership of special weapons and armor bring pride to the bearer and their importance is reflected in the detailed descriptions of the crafted beauty the artifacts, and in Achilles' armor in particular in Ch? Before commencing one-to-one combat participants list their past honors and victories and famous ancestors, to display to their opponents their worth.

The warriors in the Iliad share common value system that is unwritten, but mutually understood. Group activities allow warriors to confirm their worth. Men who do not fight in the Iliad are considered to have little value to society and consequently have little social standing and are given little attention in the book. Old men who cannot fight do to their age are also looked down upon, and surprising given very little reverence for their wisdom as in other Homeric epics such as the Odyssey. Old men who were once great warriors do, however, command more in terms of respect, but ultimately they are still second to the presently able-bodied warrior. The precedence of the warrior culture is evident when.

Behavior which is considered to be bad and unbecoming are fleeing battle, and other variations of the theme of losing face. The avoidance of shame appears to be a preoccupancy, and will be carried out to such a degree that sometimes death is preferable to it, as in when Hektor chooses to remain outside the walls of Troy and face Achilles, even though he is very certain he will die. In the Iliad there is no such relationship between the gods and humans as there is in Genesis. Although the gods are also presumably all-powerful, there are many deities, and each one appears to have different agendas. Their aim is not to protect the humans as such, nor is it to lead or teach them, but it seems as if the gods enjoy manipulating humans for their own pleasure.

Thus any traits that are shown by the gods are not important it does not represent the ideal of how the gods want humans to be. In Genesis, the definition of the ideal human being can be easily summarized as he or she who resembles god. Since "man is mad in the image of god" and god wants people to be like him, then presumably god's picture of goodness in humans is resemblance of himself. From this it can be said that in Genesis, the determination of what constitutes the ideal human being is entirely with god. So what god desires humans to be like is the model of human excellence. God seems to reward other kinds of actions; he gave Abraham a son because of his kindness to strangers, spared Lot because of his hospitality, and came to Joseph's aid because he showed himself worthy by his chastity and magnanimity.

Bad human traits in Genesis are synonymous with sin. All sins are bad in the eyes of god, and so whatever constitutes a sin is also a undesirable human quality, and is punished appropriately. The first sin was that of Adam and the woman eating the Forbidden fruit disobedience, doing against the will of god, lack of faith in god, impiety, The serpent showed cleverness and maliciousness, but because of the way he used his intelligence for evil, he is punished and characterized as bad. In contrast to Meno where wisdom or cleverness, or agility of the mine - whatever one calls it- is valued as an admirable trait. In Meno, Good: initially HE defined as being good at something which is valued by society, so HE depends on what society values/ (ie quote 70 b) -argument of virtue differing for man, woman, child (71 e) -is X a virtue or virtue? Justice, moderation, courage, munificence Bad: Traits which are common to all three texts appear to be those to do with human kindness and magnanimity towards each other.

In the Iliad pity for a heavily wounded warrior is shown by Achilles. In Genesis god favors? for his hospitality towards strangers and god himself spares Lot out of his own mercy. In Meno there is no direct mention of the desirable trait of human compassion, although appropriate behavior in the form of 'justice' or fairness is mentioned. The idea of the perfect human would not be complete without mention of human capability and skill.

In the Iliad the emphasis is on skill and strength in battle, the ability to conquer one's foes. In Meno the differing social situation here places importance on "being able to manage public affairs and in so doing to benefit his friends and harm his enemies and to be careful that no harm come to himself" (Meno 71. e).