Similarity in the conceptions of heroic character of India’s epic Ramayana and Vietnamese’s epic Damsan

Abstract

The epic was born at the dawn of humanity, depicting great events of the era when society transformed itself from primitive communal society to a higher organizational form. Epic is a complete picture of people’s lives in the form of telling the story of a hero in the past. In epics, heroic characters play a central role in the epic art world, representing the spirit, talent, courage. Through the hero symbol in the epic, a symbol for community aspiration and dream, we understand more about the spiritual life, cultural and social activities of people in here. This article uses textual analysis, comparative and type method to study the literary works: Ramayana of India and Dam San of Vietnam to find similarities in the concept of heroic characters in epic works and similarities in culture of the two nations. The heroes in the Indian epic, Ramayana, and the Vietnamese epic, Dam San, are clearsighted kings, idealistic and perfect leaders with beauty, power, talent, courage and virtue, great desire, and lofty ideals, and their ideas represent the ideals of the ethnic community. The hero is placed in many relationships with the characters in various conflicts and events to enforce moral action under responsibility and duty. Therefore, over thousands of years of existence, the Indian epic, Ramayana and the Vietnamese epic, Dam San still has a strong attraction for readers, listeners anywhere and any era.