Browsing by Author "Randiwela, R.M.D.S."

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The gods as expressed in homer and Hesiod
(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Randiwela, R.M.D.S.
Homer, a bard and an epic writer who lived in the 8th century B.C.E. Greece composed the two epics ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’ whose subject matter was the Trojan War, to entertain his aristocratic audience by referring to the heroic deeds of their Mycenaean ancestors. Hesiod, a near contemporary of Homer who was a peasant farmer in Boeotia composed ‘The Works and Days’ in order to advice his brother Perses, who by bribing the lords, secured the best and the larger part of the ancestral land. Depending on the different social backgrounds both writers are provided with, it is evident that they show different approaches in their beliefs presented through their works despite the fact that they were near contemporaries. This difference can also be identified in their presentation of ideas on the Olympian religion. The object of this research is to identify the differences distinct in each writer’s religious outlook, Homer in ‘The Iliad’ and Hesiod in ‘The Works and Days’. The research problem is to concentrate on how the different socio-political atmospheres became influential in the manner in which they presented their religious beliefs, mainly on the Olympian religion. The methodology is to examine the religious ideas presented in the works themselves along with readings on the socio-political background of the two writers.
Mythological origins of Traditional Medical systems of Ancient Greek medicine and Ayurveda medicine
(Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2023) Randiwela, R.M.D.S.
Initially, Medicine has been the Divine art or the gift in many cultures including Greek and Indian. To primitive man, the ability to heal and cure diseases seemed magical, even miraculous. From this, an awareness grew in him that diseases that ultimately cause death and suffering result from Demonic work while health and continuation of life are God related. In the identified traditional medical systems of Greek and Ayurveda, it is also noteworthy that Medicine had always been considered divinely gifted pointing out the fact that both systems have their beginnings in mythology and consequently in religion. For instance, the Greeks believed that medicine was a gift from the Olympian God Apollo while in Ayurveda it was the knowledge received from God Brahma. The objective of this paper was to analyze the mythological origins of the identified traditional medical systems of Greek and Ayurveda and identify the possible diffusions and the originality of each culture in terms of medicine and health. Thereby, the mythological origins connected with the Olympian religion for Greek medicine and Hinduism for Ayurveda medicine were analyzed along with Historical analysis and thematic analysis of primary and secondary sources under content analysis method in the light of the research objectives. The mythological origins of Greek and Ayurveda medicine suggest that both cultures had a sophisticated understanding of the human body and its healing processes, even at an early stage of their development. The divine associations of medicine in both cultures reflect the belief that healing is a sacred act and that the ability to heal is a gift from the gods. The fact that both systems have their roots in mythology and religion highlights the importance of these aspects in the early understanding and practice of medicine witnessing their individual and independent origins in the West and East free from any assimilation from either of the cultures.