Legends, Heroes, and Immortality
Alice Dove
A famous story in the search for immortality that comes to mind is the story of Qin Shi Huang, The First Emperor of China. Qin Shi Huang reigned from 221 BC-210 BC. As he grew older his fear of death grew greater by each passing day. In a desperate attempt to slip away from death’s grips he sought out the elixir of life, an elixir that granted a person immortality. His fear and desperation to escape became an obsession. He sent ships carrying hundreds of young men and women to find Anqi Sheng a 1,000 year old magician. These people did not return, because they knew that if they returned without the elixir they would be executed.
It has been speculated the book burning Qin Shi Haung ordered was to focus all the minds of the Emperor’s best scholars on his conquest for eternal life. The executed scholars could have been the many that had failed to provide any useful information to his desperate schemes to escape death. It may have been the ultimate test in order to see which scholars were blessed by magic. Qin Shi Huang’s logic was if any of these scholars had been blessed by magic surely they could surely revive themselves.
Qin Shi Huang’s desperate attempts to cling to life came to a close while on one of his tours of Eastern China. On September 10th, 210 BC he died by ingesting pills filled with mercury. It was reported these pills were crafted by his court scientists and doctors. The mercury pills were meant to give Qin Shi Haung immortality. Ironically these pills did not give him what he sought out.
It has been speculated the book burning Qin Shi Haung ordered was to focus all the minds of the Emperor’s best scholars on his conquest for eternal life. The executed scholars could have been the many that had failed to provide any useful information to his desperate schemes to escape death. It may have been the ultimate test in order to see which scholars were blessed by magic. Qin Shi Huang’s logic was if any of these scholars had been blessed by magic surely they could surely revive themselves.
Qin Shi Huang’s desperate attempts to cling to life came to a close while on one of his tours of Eastern China. On September 10th, 210 BC he died by ingesting pills filled with mercury. It was reported these pills were crafted by his court scientists and doctors. The mercury pills were meant to give Qin Shi Haung immortality. Ironically these pills did not give him what he sought out.
Althea Steele
Just like Wei Po-Yang who was talked about in the lesson, Gilgamesh was another famous mythical hero who searched for immortality. He was endowed with superhuman strength, courage and power. Gilgamesh was a Sumerian king who appeared in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Some believe that while the epics her featured were myths, that some were based off a real life hero. He was also believed to be the son of the goddess Ninsun and either a Uruk king or high priest of Kullab. However, both myth and historical books, account that his greatest accomplishment was building walls around Uruk. TheEpic of Gilgamesh was a series of 12 tablets that are the complete accounts of his adventrues. After one of his companions, Enkidu, passed away; Gilgamesh went out on a mission to discover immortality. He heard rumors of a man named Utnapishtim, who was granted the gift of immortality. After much ridicule from others, who told him to give up his search and accept fate, he arrived at Utnapishtim’s house. After telling Gilgamesh the story of the Great Flood he presented him with a challenge. Should Gilgamesh be able to stay awake for seven straight days, he will be granted immortality. However he soon falls asleep. He woke up several days later he realizes that immortality is beyond his reach. Utnapishtim tells him to not be sorrowful because he was granted with other gifts; such as, courage and strength. Consequently due to Gilgamesh’s courage to find him, he gifted the man with a flower that could restore youth. Accepting the flower, Gilgamesh made his way home, stopping to take a bath. However the flower was soon stolen by a snake. Disappointed and wiser Gilgamesh returned home, accepting of his mortality.
Amy Lupin
Qin Shi Huang, one of the rulers of Qin, sought the elixir of life as a means of defying death. It is possible that he learned of it when he came across Anqi Sheng, a Chinese immortal, during his travels years earlier. The elixir of life was believed to have been located on Mt. Penglai. The problem however, was that the whereabouts of the island where this particular mountain was situated, remained something of a mystery. As a result, Qin Shi Huang ordered not one but three expeditions to be undertaken on different occasions.
The first two expeditions were led by Xu Fu, an alchemist whom Qin Shi Huang felt he could entrust with the task of retrieving the elixir of life. Xu Fu had been sent with either 500 or 3,000 young girls and boys during the first expedition, which proved unsuccessful. He had sailed for a number of years but was unable to find Mt. Penglai. Upon his return, he had claimed that the path was blocked by a giant sea creature. He then requested for Qin Shi Huang to send archers in order to slay the creature. However, Xu Fu did not return from the second expedition. It was belied that he went on to discover Japan and settled there. According to some sources however, Xu Fu only ever undertook the first expedition and did not return after that one.
In addition, Qin Shi Huang also consumed various potions administered to him by his court alchemists. Some of them contained mercury, which at the time was believed to help a person achieve immortality. However, the ingestion of mercury is actually lethal and, as such, most likely contributed to his death.
As a result, Qin Shi Huang was unable to achieve immortality despite his best efforts to do so.
The first two expeditions were led by Xu Fu, an alchemist whom Qin Shi Huang felt he could entrust with the task of retrieving the elixir of life. Xu Fu had been sent with either 500 or 3,000 young girls and boys during the first expedition, which proved unsuccessful. He had sailed for a number of years but was unable to find Mt. Penglai. Upon his return, he had claimed that the path was blocked by a giant sea creature. He then requested for Qin Shi Huang to send archers in order to slay the creature. However, Xu Fu did not return from the second expedition. It was belied that he went on to discover Japan and settled there. According to some sources however, Xu Fu only ever undertook the first expedition and did not return after that one.
In addition, Qin Shi Huang also consumed various potions administered to him by his court alchemists. Some of them contained mercury, which at the time was believed to help a person achieve immortality. However, the ingestion of mercury is actually lethal and, as such, most likely contributed to his death.
As a result, Qin Shi Huang was unable to achieve immortality despite his best efforts to do so.
Benjamin Fraser
There is one story that is really famous in the wizarding world. It is about an evil wizard called Voldemort who, even as a teenager, tried to find ways to defy death. He did not care about his methods as long as they worked. Among some of the darkest magic is that of creating a Horcrux - to split your soul and deposit part of it in another object or being. He managed it the first time while still being a student at Hogwarts and didn't stop there. The more Horcruxes someone creates, the more difficult it becomes to kill them as all the Horcruxes need to be destroyed first. As far as I know, nobody before and after Voldemort has even so much as tried to create more than one Horcrux which shows us something of his determination to defy death but also of his evilness.
One has to admit that he was quite creative in his attempts to stay alive. When something went wrong with the famous killing curse that bounced of Harry Potter he stayed alive because of his Horcruxes but had to start looking for new ways to get his life (with a body) back. He attached himself to another wizard and tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone. This is a rather famous object that supposedly helps to create the elixir of life that makes the drinker immortal. When Voldemort couldn't get the stone, he seemingly disappeared again until he found a way to get his body back a few years later. To summarize, Voldemort stayed alive for a very high price and in the end it did not help him all that much. He did not reach immortality.
One has to admit that he was quite creative in his attempts to stay alive. When something went wrong with the famous killing curse that bounced of Harry Potter he stayed alive because of his Horcruxes but had to start looking for new ways to get his life (with a body) back. He attached himself to another wizard and tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone. This is a rather famous object that supposedly helps to create the elixir of life that makes the drinker immortal. When Voldemort couldn't get the stone, he seemingly disappeared again until he found a way to get his body back a few years later. To summarize, Voldemort stayed alive for a very high price and in the end it did not help him all that much. He did not reach immortality.
Diandra Mordecai
Sisyphus, founder and king of Corinth, was renowned as the most cunning of men, something proven in myth. At the time of Sisyphus’ death, Hades came for his soul, equipped with manacles. Sisyphus quickly saw opportunity in the novelty of the item and schemed to convince Hades to demonstrate their use—on Hades himself. Hades, evidently impressed with his own tools, agreed to the display, and quickly found himself bound and unable to perform his duties as the keeper of souls.
This, of course, posed a problem. If souls were not being retrieved from the bodies of the fallen, there could be no death, and so they continued to walk the earth. Hades was thus released, and Sisyphus was ordered to report to the underworld as was his initial fate.
He still, however, had some cunning in him, and as such he concocted yet another plan. He ordered his wife to cast his body into some public domain, and to abstain from his burial. Thus, when he entered the underworld, he came before Persephone and expressed outrage that his wife had not buried him, and pled for a time of reprieve from death in order to admonish his wife. Besides, he said, as he hadn’t been buried, he hadn’t the coin for the ferryman and shouldn’t be crossing the river anyway.
Persephone granted him his wish, and Sisyphus returned to his kingdom where he dwelled for a time, ignoring his fate. His evasion was short-lived, however, and he was soon dragged to the underworld and sentenced, for his many transgressions, to an eternity of rolling a boulder uphill. Each time he reached the top of the hill, the boulder was doomed to roll back down to the bottom, and thus his toil was never-ending.
This, of course, posed a problem. If souls were not being retrieved from the bodies of the fallen, there could be no death, and so they continued to walk the earth. Hades was thus released, and Sisyphus was ordered to report to the underworld as was his initial fate.
He still, however, had some cunning in him, and as such he concocted yet another plan. He ordered his wife to cast his body into some public domain, and to abstain from his burial. Thus, when he entered the underworld, he came before Persephone and expressed outrage that his wife had not buried him, and pled for a time of reprieve from death in order to admonish his wife. Besides, he said, as he hadn’t been buried, he hadn’t the coin for the ferryman and shouldn’t be crossing the river anyway.
Persephone granted him his wish, and Sisyphus returned to his kingdom where he dwelled for a time, ignoring his fate. His evasion was short-lived, however, and he was soon dragged to the underworld and sentenced, for his many transgressions, to an eternity of rolling a boulder uphill. Each time he reached the top of the hill, the boulder was doomed to roll back down to the bottom, and thus his toil was never-ending.
Edmund Smethwyck
For this part of the extra credit, I chose to tell the story of one of my favourite characters in a story ever - Jean Grey! Telekinesis has always appealed to me as an ability, so she's naturally one of my top choices of characters.
The beginning of Jean Grey's immortality story is that of a spaceship/shuttle crash. In this situation, Jean Grey was piloting the shuttle, and she was bound and determined to get her crew, the X-Men, back to Earth safely. Due to her strong desires, she willingly exposed herself to fatal levels of radiation in order to pilot the ship safely back to Earth (which she did manage). However, while she was being exposed to the radiation and knowing she was going to die, she was essentially radiating huge amounts of "LOVE POWER" for Cyclops, even though he's pretty much a loser, and she deserves someone much better than him. (Although Wolverine is no better hrmph.) A magical flying fiery deity of the universe and the cosmos was like "OOOH LOVE POWER" and decided to bargain with Jean in order to save her life. Needless to say, she accepted the agreement, and took on a portion of the Phoenix Force's psyche, making her both immortal and ridiculously OP stronk.
I suppose that Jean Grey wasn't necessarily searching for immortality for a great portion of her life, but once she realized that her life would be ended to save her love (LOVE POWER), she was more than happy to search out and accept help from a random alien stranger, something every parent of a child would scream "DON"T TAKE CANDY FROM STRANGERS" at.
However, this immortality certainly has led Jean to dying like 29384y8237426384 times. Theoretically, I believe she's currently "dead dead" according to the writers, but there's a red-haired, green-eyed, extraordinarily strong psychic/telekinetic mutant named Hope who basically is Jean in a new body. But eh, that's fairly typical of Marvel!
The beginning of Jean Grey's immortality story is that of a spaceship/shuttle crash. In this situation, Jean Grey was piloting the shuttle, and she was bound and determined to get her crew, the X-Men, back to Earth safely. Due to her strong desires, she willingly exposed herself to fatal levels of radiation in order to pilot the ship safely back to Earth (which she did manage). However, while she was being exposed to the radiation and knowing she was going to die, she was essentially radiating huge amounts of "LOVE POWER" for Cyclops, even though he's pretty much a loser, and she deserves someone much better than him. (Although Wolverine is no better hrmph.) A magical flying fiery deity of the universe and the cosmos was like "OOOH LOVE POWER" and decided to bargain with Jean in order to save her life. Needless to say, she accepted the agreement, and took on a portion of the Phoenix Force's psyche, making her both immortal and ridiculously OP stronk.
I suppose that Jean Grey wasn't necessarily searching for immortality for a great portion of her life, but once she realized that her life would be ended to save her love (LOVE POWER), she was more than happy to search out and accept help from a random alien stranger, something every parent of a child would scream "DON"T TAKE CANDY FROM STRANGERS" at.
However, this immortality certainly has led Jean to dying like 29384y8237426384 times. Theoretically, I believe she's currently "dead dead" according to the writers, but there's a red-haired, green-eyed, extraordinarily strong psychic/telekinetic mutant named Hope who basically is Jean in a new body. But eh, that's fairly typical of Marvel!
Kynthia Near
Tithonus and Eos
Eos -or Aurora as referred to by the Romans- was a greek Titan, goddess of the Dawn. Each day, she would rise from the Ocean and announce her brother's Helios (the Sun) arrival. She was also the mother of the Winds, Zephyrus, Boreas, Notus, and the Morning Star Eosphorus all fathered by the Titan Astraeus. As with all gods and goddesses, Eos was described to be very beautiful -her fingers the rosy colour of the dawn, wearing a saffron coloured robe and a tiara and a set of big white wings.
She was also cursed. The Goddess of Love Aphrodite, angry that Ares consorted with Eos, cursed her to have an insatiable desire for handsome mortal men. Because of this, Eos had a habit of abducting mortals of her liking and taking them as lovers. Tithonus and his brother Ganymede, Princes of Troy were two of them. But this time, Eos fell in love with Tithonus. As time passed and the two of them lived in happiness, Tithonus started to realise that while Eos would forever be young and strong, he would age and finally die. Wanting to share immortality with her, he asked Eos if she would make him immortal like she had done for Cleitus another mortal that had been her lover.
Eos agreed, but she herself did not posses the power to grant immortality. Instead she turned to the powerful Zeus, King of the Gods, who readily agreed to grant her loved one eternal life. Soon Eos would come to realise that she had commited a most grave mistake, one that Tithonus would pay for dearly. For Eos had forgotten to also ask for youth. Soon, Tithonus started to become an old man. Not bearing to see her love in such a state any longer, Eos made sure he was comfortable in a room of her house and left. She finally decided to turn him into a cicada, so she can hear his song every morning that she rises and be reminded by her great love Tithonus and the time they spent together. Tithonus and Eos had two children together, Memnon and Emathion.
Eos -or Aurora as referred to by the Romans- was a greek Titan, goddess of the Dawn. Each day, she would rise from the Ocean and announce her brother's Helios (the Sun) arrival. She was also the mother of the Winds, Zephyrus, Boreas, Notus, and the Morning Star Eosphorus all fathered by the Titan Astraeus. As with all gods and goddesses, Eos was described to be very beautiful -her fingers the rosy colour of the dawn, wearing a saffron coloured robe and a tiara and a set of big white wings.
She was also cursed. The Goddess of Love Aphrodite, angry that Ares consorted with Eos, cursed her to have an insatiable desire for handsome mortal men. Because of this, Eos had a habit of abducting mortals of her liking and taking them as lovers. Tithonus and his brother Ganymede, Princes of Troy were two of them. But this time, Eos fell in love with Tithonus. As time passed and the two of them lived in happiness, Tithonus started to realise that while Eos would forever be young and strong, he would age and finally die. Wanting to share immortality with her, he asked Eos if she would make him immortal like she had done for Cleitus another mortal that had been her lover.
Eos agreed, but she herself did not posses the power to grant immortality. Instead she turned to the powerful Zeus, King of the Gods, who readily agreed to grant her loved one eternal life. Soon Eos would come to realise that she had commited a most grave mistake, one that Tithonus would pay for dearly. For Eos had forgotten to also ask for youth. Soon, Tithonus started to become an old man. Not bearing to see her love in such a state any longer, Eos made sure he was comfortable in a room of her house and left. She finally decided to turn him into a cicada, so she can hear his song every morning that she rises and be reminded by her great love Tithonus and the time they spent together. Tithonus and Eos had two children together, Memnon and Emathion.
Lenore Spiaggi
There was once a young man who had no idea what to do with his life. Instead of working with his brothers, he spent his time daydreaming, much to the distress of his parents, who reminded him that he would not live forever and he needed to make something of his time.
Eventually, one day he announced that he was going away to find a land where he could live forever. And off he went, without any plan, taking the road he fancied most and occasionally asking the people who met if they knew where the land of the undying was. Nobody knew, and everybody mocked him.
He had wandered far from home and come into another country, where he met a man breaking stones off a mountain and carting them to a gorge with a wheelbarrow. When the man heard the lad's question, he replied, 'Stay with me, then, for nobody here will die until I have levelled the mountain and filled up the gorge. It will take at least 100 years.' 'No, thanks,' said the lad, 'I'll go on and find a land where one never dies.'
Later he came to a lake that stretched almost to the horizon, and there was another man drawing water with a bucket and pouring it down a dry well. When he heard the lad's question, he replied, 'Stay with me, then, for nobody here will die until I have emptied this lake. It will take at least 200 years.' 'No, thanks,' said the lad, 'I'll go on and find a land where one never dies.'
Along the way, he came to a city, and when the people heard his question, they took him to their princess. She was sitting in her palace, in a room all carpeted with needles. 'Stay with me,' she said, 'for nobody in the city will die until I have worn out all these needles in sewing. It will take at least 400 years.' 'No, thanks,' said the lad, 'I'll go on and find a land where one never dies.'
Beyond the city there was a forest, and at the other end of the forest the land dipped into a valley, lovelier than any land the lad had seen before. A golden-haired girl in white stood at the bridge that led into the valley and confirmed that it was, indeed, the land of the undying. 'Enter and live forever,' she said, 'but know that you can never leave this land again.'
The lad accepted, and lived there several years happy, without having to do anything for a living. Eventually, though, he decided he missed his parents and wanted to see them again. The girl reminded him that he could not leave, but when he insisted, she gave him her own horse and warned him not to alight for a moment, or death would catch up with him.
The lad rode away and found all the lands he had visited deserted - the princess' needle room bare, the lake dry, the mountain levelled - and felt lucky he hadn't stayed with them. Finally he reached his own land, but there nobody recognised him, nor remembered his parents. They had been very long dead, and his brothers too, the old house ruined, the fields swallowed up by the woods.
As he turned around to get on his way back, a wizened old man in rags with a wheelbarrow stuck in the mud implored him for help. Without thinking, the lad jumped off the horse, and the moment he touched the ground, he collapsed into a little pile of bones and dust. Death picked them up, put them in the wheelbarrow, and went away humming to himself, over another job well finished.
Eventually, one day he announced that he was going away to find a land where he could live forever. And off he went, without any plan, taking the road he fancied most and occasionally asking the people who met if they knew where the land of the undying was. Nobody knew, and everybody mocked him.
He had wandered far from home and come into another country, where he met a man breaking stones off a mountain and carting them to a gorge with a wheelbarrow. When the man heard the lad's question, he replied, 'Stay with me, then, for nobody here will die until I have levelled the mountain and filled up the gorge. It will take at least 100 years.' 'No, thanks,' said the lad, 'I'll go on and find a land where one never dies.'
Later he came to a lake that stretched almost to the horizon, and there was another man drawing water with a bucket and pouring it down a dry well. When he heard the lad's question, he replied, 'Stay with me, then, for nobody here will die until I have emptied this lake. It will take at least 200 years.' 'No, thanks,' said the lad, 'I'll go on and find a land where one never dies.'
Along the way, he came to a city, and when the people heard his question, they took him to their princess. She was sitting in her palace, in a room all carpeted with needles. 'Stay with me,' she said, 'for nobody in the city will die until I have worn out all these needles in sewing. It will take at least 400 years.' 'No, thanks,' said the lad, 'I'll go on and find a land where one never dies.'
Beyond the city there was a forest, and at the other end of the forest the land dipped into a valley, lovelier than any land the lad had seen before. A golden-haired girl in white stood at the bridge that led into the valley and confirmed that it was, indeed, the land of the undying. 'Enter and live forever,' she said, 'but know that you can never leave this land again.'
The lad accepted, and lived there several years happy, without having to do anything for a living. Eventually, though, he decided he missed his parents and wanted to see them again. The girl reminded him that he could not leave, but when he insisted, she gave him her own horse and warned him not to alight for a moment, or death would catch up with him.
The lad rode away and found all the lands he had visited deserted - the princess' needle room bare, the lake dry, the mountain levelled - and felt lucky he hadn't stayed with them. Finally he reached his own land, but there nobody recognised him, nor remembered his parents. They had been very long dead, and his brothers too, the old house ruined, the fields swallowed up by the woods.
As he turned around to get on his way back, a wizened old man in rags with a wheelbarrow stuck in the mud implored him for help. Without thinking, the lad jumped off the horse, and the moment he touched the ground, he collapsed into a little pile of bones and dust. Death picked them up, put them in the wheelbarrow, and went away humming to himself, over another job well finished.
