Sundiata’s Traits as an Epic Hero, Essay Example

Sundiata is one of the epic heroes that the world lives to remember, because of their outstanding achievements in their countries. Sundiata, born from a poor family, grew up with many health complications. At one time, he was unable to walk and used an iron rod for support. Despite all these shortcomings, He did not give up in his dream of releasing the people of Mali from captivity.

The first epic trait in Sundiata is bravery. During his childhood, the king of the Ghana Empire conquered Sundiata’s home clan, the Mandikas. Sundiata, out of bravery, decided to devote his whole life in constituting an army in order to release his people from captivity. Despite his army being smaller than the Ghanaian army is, he was not afraid of what lied ahead of him. In the end, he liberated the Mandikas from captivity. The other character trait of Sundiata is his ability to defeat magic. He knew extremely well that he had to counter the magical power of the enemy’s empire to win this battle. Sundiata’s sister, Nana Triban, get married to Soumaoro, the leader of the Ghanaian empire. Griot and Balla, who were close allies to Sundiata, manage to escape from Sossa. These two were able to get the secret of Sossa’s magical power. This helps Sundiata in his quest to liberate the Mandikas.

Another trait of Sundieta that shows him as an epic hero is his determination. We can see this in the way his childhood health complications do not stop his quest of liberating his people. He goes ahead to come back with one half of the army, including Calvary. Even as, Sossa tries to stop him from approaching Tabon, he attacks Sossa’s army, closely missing on his son. The other trait of an epic hero is his heroic return home after conquering the Ghanaian empire and establishing the Mali Empire.