In many cultures, the wind has taken on a personal identity of its own. Through storytelling the wind was given supernatural power to be used by the gods to influence or punish Earth's heroes. The supernatural power of the wind can be found in works from around the world, including the Epic of Gilgamesh and Hong Gildong. In these stories and many others, the wind plays the part of God. Although the wind holds supernatural powers, it is the way the heroes of these works deal with the wind that brings them closer to true divinity; heaven or hell. The heroes of these works follow a path of righteousness, like Hong Gildong, or a path of wickedness, like Gilgamesh. It depends on the characters' actions towards the gods and loyalty to the spiritual elements on Earth whether they will be punished by the supernatural or protected by it. In the works of Gilgamesh and Hong Gildong, the wind has three functions; a supernatural guide to the spiritual world, protector of the righteous and punisher of the wicked. Through these acts of justice, the supernatural wind entity is able to expose the heroes to a larger entity, either the gods or God himself. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. For one thing, as seen in The Epic of Gilgamesh, the wind appears to play the role of punisher. The characters in the Epic of Gilgamesh believed they could live on Earth without recognizing the power of the divine. Although these characters knew they were born of gods, the characters believed themselves to be equally divine. Gilgamesh and Ekidu set out on their journey not to become gods but to instead claim the dominion of divinity for themselves. When they turn against their gods, punishment awaits them. To assert dominion over the divine, the "heroes" decide to rob the gods, but there is a being of divinity who hinders them. When Gilgamesh and Ekidu decide to fight Humbaba, the divine guard of the enchanted forest, they are unaware of the supernatural forces that will oppose them and foreshadow the turmoil that awaits them. Before their meeting with Humbaba, says Ekidu, “we will capture Humbaba, kill him, throw his corpse onto the battlefield. And the next morning we will see a good sign from the Sun God” (George 31). Ekidu and Gilgamesh believe they are as strong as the gods and favored above all men. The crime they are willing to commit is not only murderous but also heresy. Humbaba is a supernatural being who follows the orders of the gods and recognizes their presence as well as the supernatural. Instead of living as Humbaba does, Ekidu and Gilgamesh instead wish to wipe out the supernatural being and ignore the power of the gods as greater than their own. While the Sun God honors his charges by sending the thirteen winds against Humbaba, this act does not become protection for the heroes but instead seals their punishment. Even though Ekidu and Gilgamesh thought they were above the power of the supernatural, when they fought Humbaba it seemed they had met their match. Before the heroes could be slain the protector of the divine, Shamash, the Sun God, “awakened against Humbaba the mighty storm wind: South Wind, North Wind, East Wind and West Wind, Blast, Counterblast, Typhoon, Hurricane and Tempest, Devil's Wind, Chill Wind, Gale and Tornado: Thirteen winds arose, and Humbaba's face darkened: he could not charge forward, he could not kick backward” (George 42). So the heroes, Ekidu and Gilgamesh, killed a being who had served the gods for many years. The heroes' infidelity to the gods is represented by the winds. Like the winds that lashed Humbaba and paralyzed him, the disloyalty and contempt of Ekidu andGilgamesh towards the gods made the gods useless. While the wind acted as a protector of Ekidu and Gilgamesh in this case, it foreshadows the turmoil and desolation that will befall them and their home due to their lack of spirituality. After killing a divine creature, the gods seek punishment harsher than mere wind for the heroes. Shamash honors Ekidu and Gilgamesh as worthy of divinity; however, the rest of the gods, having seen the intentions of the "heroes", to go against their rules, plan a harsh reality for the two men who use supernatural elements, such as wind, on Earth. The first supernatural event to devastate the lives of Ekidu and Gilgamesh is when the Bull of Heaven arrives to destroy the city. It was because of Gilgamesh's refusal to become the lover of a goddess that this event occurred. Gilgamesh not only refuses to accept Ishtar as a goddess but also as a lover. When Ishtar makes him her offer of love, he contemptuously rejects her, saying that she is a terrible lover and wasn't worth it. It seems like he thinks he's too good for her. After the refusal, Ishtar asks her father to send the Bull of Heaven to the heroes' home. When the bull entered the city of Uruk, “the Bull of Heaven snorted, a pit opened, and a hundred men of Uruk fell into it. The second time he snorted a pit opened and two hundred men of Uruk fell into it” (George 51). After the Bull had destroyed half the city, Ekidu and Gilgamesh managed to massacre it. The gods, seeing that their supernatural creature has been killed by the heretics, become even more angry. The dishonor of Ekidu and Gilgamesh does not end there, for when Ishtar arrives on the scene Ekidu says, "If I had taken you also, I would have treated you the same, I would have covered your arms with my guts" (George 52). Once again it is the heroes' refusal to serve the gods that hinders the course of their lives. Because of Ekidu and Gilgamesh's belief that they belong to the gods, Ekidu dies a horrible death, a sign that even he cannot escape the fate of man. Ekidu's separation from Gilgamesh is representative of the heroes' separation from spirituality and the divine. Once Gilgamesh's peer dies, he decides that he must become one of the gods because he is above humans. However, when Gilgamesh tries to become immortal, he fails and loses his only chance. If he had honored the gods, his journey to immortality could have been protected and assisted by the supernatural instead of hindered. Gilgamesh thought he could become divine without the commitment and recognition of it, but instead he is punished by the supernatural again and again. The punishments of the supernatural do not end in the Epic of Gilgamesh; once again the wind can be seen bearing down on individuals who deny the laws of the divine in Dante's Inferno. The entire work of Inferno is about divine punishment through the supernatural powers of the spiritual world. However, the wind made its appearance in the second circle of hell. Sinners who have committed the sin of lust are whipped and beaten by the wind preventing them from finding peace and rest. Strong winds symbolize the restlessness of a person driven by the desire for carnal pleasures. The craving could be for man, power, or even immortality like the heroes Ekidu and Gilgamesh. Sinners are carried ceaselessly by the merciless winds of unquenchable desire as punishment for their transgressions. As Dante observed the sinners in their turmoil, the wind “bellowed like the storm-tossed sea when contrary winds attack it from both sides. The eternal infernal storm in its fury overwhelms and drags the spirits with its breath: it whirls them around, flagellating them with punishment” (Dante 110). The infernal winds that never rest precipitate the spirits, therethey swirl and, striking them, harass them. When Dante sees these sinners he sympathizes with them, but is unable to recognize the power of the divine until he enters Hell. It seems that the wind is not an obvious supernatural entity when viewed as a punishment. Neither Dante, nor Ekidu, nor Gilgamesh were able to recognize that the wind's punishment foreshadowed final suffering. These sinners like Gilgamesh did not recognize or repent for their acts against the divine, so the winds will strike and strike them for all eternity. Subsequently, the wind takes on a role of spiritual guidance in the story of Hong Gildong. In Hong Gildong's story, Hong's struggle with his own identity only fuels his search for the divine. It says: Of all things created by Heaven, the human being is the most precious. So it is the luckiest thing to be born as a human being in this world. And being born a man is the luckiest thing to be born a man. And being born a man, it is a great fortune to be born in the capital. In addition to these three fortunes, I have inherited Your Lordship's abundant spirit and strength, and I have grown into a robust man... Yet all my life I have had to bear within me this pain that prevents me from looking at the Sky with pride. (Kang 5). Even though Hong feels as if he is now disconnected from his family, his loyalty is still to them, just like the loyalty of the divine. Hong's quest for power within his family leads him down the path of scholarship. When the High Minister denied Hong as a son, “He devoted himself to the study of military treatises, including the Six Teachings and the Three Summaries, and to the mastery of astrology, geomancy, and the magical arts of invisibility and metamorphosis. He assimilated all this knowledge so deeply into his mind that there was no task that was impossible for him” (Kang 11). This includes his study of religion and the supernatural. In his search for divinity, Hong manages to conquer the power of the wind. When faced with death he is able to use the wind to his advantage and punish the man who was sent to kill him. When the man arrives at Hong's cottage, Hong had already created a spell bound by the wind spirit. Hong using his powers, "Unleash his sorcery and attach the trigram of the south direction to the north direction, the trigram of water from the north direction to the south direction, the trigram of thunder from the east direction to the west direction, the trigram of the lake of west direction to east direction, sky trigram from northwest direction to southeast direction, wind trigram from southeast direction to northwest direction, mountain trigram from north-east direction to the south-west direction and the earth trigram of the south-west direction to the north-east direction” (Kang Hong was not only able to recognize the supernatural, but he is also able to to use it to his advantage due to his devotion to the divine and spirituality Hong was able to transform and use the supernatural to protect himself through his dedication to the divine Hong not only spares his own life with the protection of the winds, but is also able to bring others who had plotted against him and his family into his bedroom. With the help of the wind he also killed those against him. Hong's loyalty to the divine allowed him to demonstrate his loyalty to his family and his nation. After leaving his family, Hong is able to continue working alongside the wind punishing those who go against divine laws. The wind works to carry Hong Gildong and has helped hide Hong from those who are against him. When Hong finally dies, thea divine gift is given. He is made young again and eventually rides the wind to the sky. Through his devotion to the supernatural, Hong comes closer to true divinity and finds the resting place of his journey to heaven. While in Hong Gildong the wind acts as a guide to the divine, in The Golden Ass the wind takes on the role of protector of the just. The story of The Golden Ass is full of magic and the supernatural, but it is the story within the book of Cupid and Psyche that truly represents a pure relationship between man and the divine. In The Golden Ass, the story of Cupid and Psyche teaches how the wind can act as a savior. It is the wind that carries Psyche to her lover, Cupid. While she is on the ridge of a mountain, the wind called Zephyr "carrying her with his calm breath gently along the slope of the high cliff, let her sink gently and laid her on the flowering grass in the bosom of the valley that extended below" (Apuleius 76). It is in this flowery valley that he meets the divine being, Cupid. The love and devotion that Psyche has for Cupid is pure and shows the ideal path with spirituality; not being able to see the divine but yet believe in it. Cupid ultimately changes her life for the better, but her evil sisters, representing religious doubt, cause Psyche to lose her connection with the divine. Cupid warns her of her cruel and evil sisters, but she is too curious and easily influenced to disobey his commands and ultimately severs the ties between them. Her sisters' persuasion represents the freedom that they, like Gilgamesh, desired to have from the supernatural and the divine. When the sisters convince Psyche they say: Remember the Pythian oracle which declared you destined to marry a terrible and terrible monster. The inhabitants of this valley say that your husband is a terrible and monstrous serpent, who feeds you delicacies for a while so that he can devour you little by little. Follow our advice. Get yourself a lamp and a sharp knife; keep them hidden so that your husband will not discover them, and when he has slept soundly, get out of bed, take your lamp, and see for yourself whether what they say is true or not. If it is, do not hesitate to cut off the monster's head and thus regain your freedom. (Apuleius 86) The words of her sisters tempted Psyche as the serpent tempted Eve. Psyche, unable to resist, betrays her devotion and promise to the divine and looks at Cupid, wounding him with burning wax. When Psyche accidentally hurts Cupid and ruins their relationship, Cupid's mother tests his devotion to the gods. To demonstrate her devotion to Cupid, a divine element, Psyche must complete a list of tasks for the goddess Venus. However, she did not complete them alone. While going to talk to Venus Psyche comes across a mess of corn and decides to clean it up. Through this action of separating grains, his pious nature contributed to honoring the other gods as well. The holy Ceres, whose temple it was, finding her thus religiously employed, thus spoke to her: "O Psyche, truly worthy of our pity, though I cannot protect you from the frowns of Venus, yet I can teach you how best to allay her displeasure. Go ' therefore and voluntarily surrender yourself to your lady and sovereign, and seek with modesty and submission to obtain her forgiveness, and perhaps her favor will restore to you the husband you have lost” (Apuleius 95). punishment for her infidelity, supernatural powers protect her thanks to her devotion and piety. After seeing the first task assigned by Venus, Psyche believes that she will never see her husband again undertaken the first task of separating the grains, the magical ants came to Psyche's aid Venus told Psyche thathis next task would be to retrieve a sample of the Golden Fleece. Psyche obediently followed her goddess' instructions, but it is the river god who came to her aid. Through the murmur of the river reeds the god said: "O maiden, sorely tried, do not attempt the dangerous current, and do not venture among the formidable rams on the other bank, for while they are under the influence of the rising sun, they burn with cruel rage to destroy mortals with their sharp horns or their rough teeth when the midday sun has driven the cattle into the shade, and the serene spirit of the flood has made them rest, you will then be able to cross safely, and you will find. the woolly gold attached to the bushes and tree trunks” (Apuleius 99). Following his instructions, Psyche returned to Venus with an arm full of golden fleece. The last task that Venus had assigned to Psyche was to travel to the Underworld to recover the beauty from Proserpine. Psyche knew that this task would kill her, but nevertheless she left of her own accord. When she looks into the beauty box, her body goes into a coma. It is Cupid who revives her in the end he gives her immortality. Her selfless actions during her duties as a human being are similar to those of Christ, who dies for her loved ones but returns again as a savior. Through these tasks Psyche is not only able to find redemption in faith, but is instead able to become an element of the divine due to her purity and devotion to the divine, just like Hong Gildong. Both characters were pure of heart and were able to rise to the divine level with the help of the wind and supernatural elements during their stay on earth. However, not all the characters in these works followed the straight and narrow path. Once again we see retribution through the supernatural of the wind in The Golden Ass. Because of Psyche's connection with the divine, the gods, she is able to escape death by jumping off a cliff and is carried by the wind, Zephyr, to the safety of her lover's home. However, Psyche's sisters were greedy and tried to cheat their way into the divine's grace. The sisters, having ruined their sister's relationship with the divine, believe they now control the supernatural. They believe that, given Psyche's lack of devotion to Cupid, they now have a chance to be loved by the deity. The sisters rejoice that their sister's act of heresy has condemned her to a religious life. With this idea, each of the sisters climbed the sacred mountain, home of Cupid, and invited Zephyr to take them to divinity. Each sister took a leap of faith, but neither was supported by Zephyr's power. The sisters desire a perfect life but due to their imperfections and wickedness they cannot find it even in death. After learning of Psyche's betrayal, the following events occurred: There, although the wind blew from a completely different direction, yet, mad with blind hope, [the elder sister] cried out: "Receive me, Cupid, a wife worthy of you, and you "Zephyr, bear with your mistress", and with a mighty leap he threw himself to the ground not even in death did he reach the place he was looking for: in fact, falling from one cliff to another he tore himself limb from limb, and died offering himself to the birds. a feast of his torn flesh, as he had richly deserved, of prey and wild beasts. In fact, Psyche, in her wanderings, arrived again in another city, where her second sister also lived she was no less easily deceived by her sister's stratagem, and desiring to supplant her in an impious marriage she rushed towards the rock and fell to a similar death (Apuleius 91) Because of their cruelty and unfaithfulness, when the sisters.