Tuesday, February 18, 2020, 11:30 AM – 1 PM EST

Paul Courtright, Professor Emeritus of Religion

“The Arrogant King and his Dutiful Daughter: A Cautionary Tale from Ancient India”

Currently in the final year of the work on Indian history and religion that his recent Heilbrun grant has helped to support, Paul will offer an illustrated talk on a “Cautionary Tale” he examined in the course of his research. It features a number of Hindu gods as well as the king and daughter referenced in the title of the tale. Hating the god whom his daughter opts to marry, the king refuses to let them participate in a fire sacrifice, the ritual meant to sustain the world. We won’t spoil the suspense about what ensues here (Paul will let us know during our gathering, of course). We’ll only say, as he does, that the tale might be compared with Greek or Shakespearean tragedies and, though deeply Indian, resonates as they do with universal themes of power, loyalty, violence, love, and “the ultimate order of things.”