Cuchulainn said that he had not slept for almost six months,
while defending Ulster from the four provinces of Ireland. The entire time
Cuchulainn was defending, Ulster did not produce any sort of army. Except, the
boy troop that charged in while Cuchulainn was sleeping for three days. Why did
Ulster not send forth the men they could, to help Cuchulainn fight? The pangs
only lasted for four days and five nights? So how could Ulster not have not one
man, to help Cuchulainn?
Was Ulster taking advantage of the honorable Cuchulainn? Letting
him fight their entire battle for them, without bringing anyone, except all of
the younger generation of boys. I think that Ulster was being a little greedy,
letting their “hound” do all of the work in order to keep them safe.
I don't know if this is right or not, but I always thought the Pangs of Ulster always happened on the exact day Macha cursed Ulster. I believe that it is a once a year type of event. It would have been interesting if Macha cursed Ulster with labor Pangs once a month. Just imagine the people of Ulster having those kind of "time of month" pains but much more severe. That just sounds painful.
ReplyDeleteI think Ulster didn't send men to help Cuchulainn fight since for one, he is the only one that is immune to the Pangs of Ulster. If all the men (assuming they are all from Ulster) were out in battle and the Pangs occurred out of nowhere, Cuchulainn would still be undefeatable, given how overpowered he is. Maybe the men of Ulster feared Cuchulainn from how intimidating and powerful he was.
I think Ulster definitely took advantage of Cuchulainn and the Boy Troup being the only men to battle for Ulster since they believed that Cuchulainn was this powerful when he was just a boy, that they would believe that they would be victorious no matter what. I think it was an over-confidence to the people of Ulster of Cuchulainn defeating Ailill and Medb.
I honestly do not know what else to add here, these were my thoughts in a nutshell. I too assumed it was a once a year type of event and that it occurred the same day Macha cursed Ulster. I too believe Ulster took advantage of Cuchulainn for the same reasons you said, Cali. Nice thoughts!
DeleteThat would be hilarious, if it was like once a month. I see what you mean by the pangs coming out of nowhere and leaving them helpless. I didn't think of it in a way of them being over confident of Cuchualainn.
DeleteI agree with Cali about Ulster taking advantage of Cuchulainn and the boy troop. It was obvious how loyal and close the boy troop was to Cuchulainn and that was sort of taken advantage of in this entire battle. Everyone knew that the boy troop would do anything for Cuchulainn. It is almost admirable to see such a loyal and close-knit group as the boy troop. That really reminds me of football or basketball teams. The best and usually most successful teams rely and have each other's backs the way the boy troop had Cuchulainn's in The Tain.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of how close of a relationship resembled a modern day football team or basketball team. It was a shame the boy troop wasn't able to fight along side their hero.
DeleteI'm pretty sure that the pangs happened once a year, so obviously the Ulsters were victims of poor timing. As you said, these pangs last only a few days, but Cuchulainn fought alone for much longer than that. I was trying to run through possible explanations for the Ulsters to take so long to return to battle, but none seem to fit. There is a recovery period for women after giving birth, but it is really not that long, and they are not that limited. Plus, I do not think the pangs last any longer than the few day period specified. Perhaps the Ulsters had some other domestic concern to take care, yet if they had I feel as though the text would have specified that. They may have simply been worn and tired of fighting, causing them to entrust the fight to Cuchulainn. It seems that Cuchulainn handles himself pretty well; if he had been struggling, perhaps they would have sent more reinforcements sooner.
ReplyDeleteI never thought to consider that the people would have to recover from the pangs. Along, with the domestic problems, they could have been aiding people who were still enduring the pangs.
DeleteInteresting point! I think that they've seen Cuchulainn do so much cool stuff during his life they thought "He's Cuchulainn, he'll be fine! Look at him go!" and were congratulating themselves for cheering on Cuchulainn because they assumed he had it all under control. Also, I think Cuchulainn is hardly the type of person to say "Can I take a break please? I need a nap." and not wanting to show any sign of being tired. I think the rest of Ulster took his abilities for granted and forgot that as much of a superhero he was, he is also part human.
ReplyDeleteThe point of Cuchulainn being able to handle himself, is the best explanation I can think of. From what you said, they have seen so many accomplishments from him just in his boyhood, that now when he is a little older he should have no problem with this task.
DeleteI agree with the crowd here. Even though the curse was made out of spite to prove that everyone was heartless to a woman in labor, the woman who made the curse was not heartless herself. Maybe instead of a yearly thing it happened every nine months, like the term of a pregnancy? There is no contextual proof of that, but I think it would be a very interesting attribute to the curse, especially because it would not happen at the same time every year and could even double up in some unfortunate years.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post, James. I hadn't realized this issue might be such puzzle for people, but clearly it was. The Pangs of Ulster afflicted all adult men of Ulster once a year (on the anniversary of Macha's death and curse) for a period of 5 days of incapacitating pain. Medb times her army's attack to coincide with the Pangs, knowing Ulster will be unable to defend itself.
ReplyDeleteThough it seems that Cú Chulainn holds off Medb's armies for months, that's only in dramatically elongated "epic time". In reality, the warriors of Ulster aren't just malingering, letting Cu. take the brunt of the onslaught; they are suffering and recovering and then mobilizing THEIR army for action.
The boy troop, being too young to be afflicted, does nobly march to the rescue while C. himself lies in a healing sleep, but are hopelessly overmatched and sadly destroyed. Had the men of Ulster been cognizant of their headstrong yet doomed gesture, they would surely have put a stop to it...