1. How do Islamic perceptions of Heaven and Hell differ from those of Christianity and Judaism?

Both Islams and Christians believe in the idea of heaven and hell but their perceptions differ a little when it comes to what they actually look like and when they came to be.  This Islamic believe that in order to get to heaven one must do an assortment of good deeds to earn the right.  Even after completing the acts of good deeds, one may still not make their way into heaven.  The Christians believe that one must accept Jesus into their life as their lord in order to get to heaven.  The Christian story is one that revolves around a theme of forgiveness much more than that of the The Koran.

2. Although Jesus was a Jew, the religious institutions created in his name proved difficult for Jews to embrace but attractive to Greeks. What elements in the Nativity and the Passion narratives seems particularly and culturally familiar to a pagan audience?

The Nativity story is revolving around December 25th or the winter equinox.  This is to  allow an easier transition from being a pagan to christian. The four stories of the Nativity in the new testament are all slightly different but non are in argument with one another.  Parts of the Nativity and Passion narratives that are close in relation to the pagan audience are the basic ideas such as the manger and wise men in the Nativity story, or the death and resurrection in the Passion story.  These types of things were used in Pagan literature especially when referring to gods.

3.  Jesus claims the redeemed sinner is more precious to God than the righteous person who never sinned. This implies a conception of God unlike that found in the Old Testament or in The Iliad. How does this emphasis on human repentance and divine mercy change human relations to God? What different aspects of the divine/human relationships were emphasized in Gilgamesh, or The Iliad?          

   Through my own journey of faith and religion I have too learned that God knows that we are of sin and he is the ultimate in forgiveness so that we may still have an opportunity to join him after our time here on earth.  I think when a human sins but then turns to God for forgiveness he is ecstatic that we have turned to him in our time of need.  I think this allows our relation to God the ability to get closer to us as people because instead of being perfect and never having to turn to him, we are now asking for his help, which is what he wants.  In the Greek religion and all their crazy/still kind of cool gods, it seems they have a more direct relationships with the people on earth and use the people for their own gain. Or vice-versa, the humans on the ground use the Gods as an excuse or rely on them for anything to happen in a major event.                                            

1.  First off, I would just like to say that Medea was a terrible person.  The fact that she made the choice to kill her two kids when she could have taken them with her should speak for itself that she is not a hero.  Also, the fact the she was always plotting revenges to kill people and full of jealousy and envy are serious negatives when it comes to traits that define a hero.  When in comparison to Achilles, no I do not think that they compare.  Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t think Achilles was a textbook good citizen, but at least he only harmed others when it was to protect people he loved and his city.  I do think Achilles was very arrogant but even he was able to work out his problems somewhat in the end.  Medea was so set on getting her revenge that it drew her to drastic actions such as killing her own children.  For this reason, I do not believe that she should be classified as a hero.

2.  Job had a very deep and meaningful faith and beliefs in God.  He was virtuous and always believed that God would carry out for him.  This is shown in the instance where he asks God for an explanation on the bad events happening in his life and he is not given an answer that he can accurately interpret.   Even though he is not able to get the new he wants, this does not alter or even really shake up Job’s faith.  He doesn’t ask for more because even though he is distraught, he still knows that God will come through.  He is satisfied about the events and how things ended up because he knows that God will provide for the for the righteous and he is given twice as much as he originally had.  I think the end of the story was satisfactory because I am a christian and I can understand this thinking.  I do not always think that I am as patient as Job was but I still try to have the same principles.  I liked that in the end, Job was rewarded for staying true to his faith.

1.The biggest similarities between Hector and Achilles are that they are both the biggest and best warriors within their respected parties.  They are both highly respected leaders within their armies and want them to be the best as well. The differences start occurring when Achilles decides to leave his army after getting in an argument with the leader of of his army. He then goes as far as wishing bad luck upon his own army because he wants to make a glorious comeback and be a big hero.  This behavior kind of went along with his attitude though, as he is a arrogant and cocky type of person.  Hector, on the other hand, just wants whats best for his army and will honestly do anything, it seems, to accomplish that goal.  Hector’s army respected him so much that they followed his every order. When he sent them behind the Trojan wall to protect Troy, he stayed out to fight Achilles one-on-one.  This is where the similarities come back together for when they started fighting, the two realized that they were equal matches for each other.  Their power and skills were equal but they realized one of them was going to have to die.

2.After Achilles killed Hector and defiled Greek laws by dragging the body around and humiliating Hectors name, Achilles found himself in quite the predicament.  He finally seemed to settle down and figure some of his stuff out. During this time he listened to his mom when she said that he had been directed to return Hector’s body to his father so that it can be given a proper burial.  I found it quite smart actually what we learned, in that the government was able to stay in control of its people simply by mentioning words from the “gods” and the people obeyed mostly out of fear and respect for the gods.

3.The Familial Code and The Warrior Code go hand in hand in this instance I believe. For instance, even though Hector would have much rather stayed home with his family, whom he loved a lot, he knew he had to go out and fight for his people.  This shows that the two codes can happen together instead of having to be “one or the other”.  Ultimately, Hector chose to leave his family out of it and chose the battle. The same scenario applied to Achilles.