Topic Brainstorm

Death Stories: This topic is the first that stood out to me, from the list of potential ideas. I really appreciate books and television shows -- a la Game of Thrones, The 100, and Battle Royale -- which aren't afraid of killing characters (but only in plot- or character-arc-relevant ways). Other than birth, death is the singular uniting constant in the human experience, and consequently, the most universal theme in literature and life. To write about death is to write about life -- about what it means to be alive, because life is predicated on the looming certainty of death. All that said, I think that looking into ways that ancient Indian culture viewed and dealt with death, especially in their epic poetry, is incredibly interesting. I will also be able to contrast this view with that of the ancient Greeks, whose epics the Iliad and the Odyssey I read in May.

Epic Heroes: The second topic that caught my eye is incredibly related to the first. If epic heroes in Indian epic poetry are anything like the heroes of the Greek epics -- Achilles and Hector in the Iliad, most notably -- the Indian heroes will be doing lots of killing, and likely lots of dying as well. With that in mind, it begs the questions: What makes a hero? Body count? Morality? Ferocity? Compassion? Just as Achilles and Hector represent opposites in the Iliad, the presentation of the hero-villain dichotomy in the Indian epic poems will be incredibly intriguing, I'm sure. And the inclusion of a much different worldview surrounding death of heroes -- in the Iliad they died and that was that; in the Mahabharata and Ramayana (I'm assuming), the belief in Reincarnation alters the view of the finality of the death of a hero -- is sure to challenge the conception of a hero and his/her motivations, for what makes a hero in a culture where death is not the end and the 'valiant, heroic death' becomes de-emphasized through differing religious belief?

Karma: The next topic that caught my eye is that on Karma. The idea of Karma surfaces in most cultures (that I know of -- "What goes around, comes around" was a common saying in my house when I was growing up) and is an important understanding to have when writing literature. From my limited, pre-research knowledge, Karma ensures balance, and the opposing forces of wrongdoing and justice feature heavily in almost every literary work ever written; every story, to be a story, needs a central conflict. This conflict-resolving agent interests me a lot, and to know the underlying religious origins of Karma would really help me as a writer.

Weapons of the Gods: This topic just sounds really cool. Weapons can be heavily metaphorical and revelatory about those who wield them -- the heaviness of Mjölnir and its requirement of worthiness speak volumes about Thor. Beyond the literary, highbrow examination of potential thematic material, this topic sounds like a lot of fun to investigate.

Mjölnir helped reveal the worthiness of other characters, as well. Source.