Samurai Warriors Behavior

From the Kamakura Period of the late twelfth century to the Meiji Restoration in the nineteenth century, the samurai have held prominent positions as noble warriors in Japanese society. They have come to be famous in modern, Western pop culture as the fierce, stoic guards of feudal Japan, but their practices and rituals extended beyond wielding katanas and donning impressive armor. Samurai practices were rich and complex, with strict codes, ritual suicide, and a history of influencing culture and politics (“Samurai”). Samurai code was influenced by traditional Japanese culture, Zen Buddhism, and Confucianism. Bushido, or “Way of the Warrior,” was the code of conduct the samurai class were expected to uphold.

The samurais were in the warrior class. Their job was to protect Japanese including the Emperor. To control the land they were paid by the Daimyo. The samurai also swore an oath (to his loyalty) to the Daimyo. Regularly, the samurais must collect taxes and run the land.

Ancient Rome is recognized for strength in war and battles, so the ideal citizen would be strong and willing to fight. Hunt explains that in Rome “one man’s loss was another man’s gain” (177). The culture of Ancient Rome was aggressive, as the men were trained to fight and be devoted to their country. “Male elites had to be on guard to defend against and avenge any slights to their personal, family, and state honor” (Hunt 177). In The Aeneid, Virgil writes “Roman, remember by your strength to rule // Earth’s peoples-for your arts are to be these: // To pacify, to impose the rule of the law, // To spare the conquered, battle down the proud.” As Aeneas is looking at the fate of Rome in the underworld (1151-1154).

In the Tokugawa period the Shogun was a title granted to the country’s top military commander. They gradually became more powerful than the emperor and took control of the government and they imposed a strict caste system and controlled many of the other castes. To a large extent the rule of the shoguns shaped Japanese society and daily life through their rigid values, expectations of behaviour from others and the amount of power they held during that time. The Shoguns commanded and army of Samurai(Bushi). Samurai were warriors of premodern Japan (Samurai - Japanese Warriors, 2016) who served a lord(Daimyo) and gave power and authority to the Shoguns in return Daimyo gave the Samurai land and shelter.

Both these stories talk about courage and heroism as a necessity, multiple times. The way they celebrate heroism, makes me recall the story “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”; and how in Arthurian times it was better to die in battle then to survive as a coward. Both stories clearly share the same ideas when it comes to courage and heroism.Somehow I think that the ideology is related to the fact that both stories are about soldiers and that soldiers should always fight until their dying breath, because that's what it is to be a

When Beowulf proceeds to fight Grendel he portrays bravery by sacrificing his own men before fighting Beowulf himself. This shows Beowulf is brave not only in the sense that he is willing to let his own men die, but he is willing to wait for all his men to die to fight Grendel himself instead of taking on Grendel with the help of his men. In addition Beowulf shows cunning in battle by not giving up and having the determination to do what needs to be done, which does go hand in hand with bravery. In the Illiad Achilles shows bravery by refusing to make a pact with Hector.

To demonstrate, in the genesis of the siege of Arras, Cyrano communicates to his fellow officers his sentiment pertaining death: “I hope that when death comes to me it will find me fighting for a good cause and making a clever remark! I want to be struck down by the only noble weapon, the sword, wielded by an adversary worthy of me, and to die not in a sickbed but on the field of glory, with sharp steel in my heart and a flash of wit on my lips” (Cyrano. IV. 2. 148).

Katana (long sword), 2. Wakizashi (short sword), 3. Bow and arrow, and 4. Armor A katana was a long curved sword made by a master craftsman and was carried by the samurai . The samurai’s primary weapon was a katana of self-dispense.

In the fight with Grendel’s mother, the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf culture values physical strength above all else. During the fight with grendel 's mother, Beowulf was giving a sword that was suppose to protect him from the wrath of the beast but the sword had failed him. However, that could not stop him. To Beowulf, “If weapons were useless he’d use his hands” (506-507). This shows Beowulf 's strength and want for frame and glory empowered him.

This basically meant that the opposite sides chose the time and the battle location of their war. Moreover, this battle strategy was probably the fairest strategy all together. The other strategy they used was a siege battle. Furthermore, this often meant that the opposite team would seal of the enemy building, for example a castle. When they did, they made the people inside the buildings to surrender.