Erich Auerbach describes a hero model from the Hebrew Bible that he believes is nearly all-encompassing. Joseph and the story of his journey through slavery and captivity to kingship exemplifies the journey from deepest humiliation to exaltation, aided by God's personal inspiration, described by Erich Auerbach's model. God seems to require absolute and unconditional faith since Joseph's life is shaped in such a way that his humiliation turns out to be decisive in his eventual exaltation. Odysseus' journey, on the other hand, follows a similar pattern but does not appear to have the same demands for humiliation or faith to which Joseph is subject. While Joseph's works and faith are a journey through hardship that leads him to save an entire civilization and become a greater man than anyone could have predicted, Odysseus simply fights his way home against the consequences of his actions . The fact that these texts served as moral and spiritual guides for the ancient Greek and Jewish cultures allows for the generalization of these teachings and moral standards as exemplary for each culture as a whole. While the stories were produced by their respective cultures; they, in turn, shaped the very cultures that generated them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Commenting on the "heroes" of the Hebrew Bible, Erich Auerbach argues that: "There is hardly any of them who does not, like Adam, suffer the deepest humiliation, and hardly anyone who is not deemed worthy of the intervention and personal inspiration of God." (Mimesis 18)Joseph fits perfectly into the model of "hero" of the Hebrew Bible outlined by Erich Auerbach. In Joseph's childhood, “his father loved him more than all his brothers” (Genesis 37:3), and because of his honesty his father trusted him to report his brother's misdeeds; consequently placing Joseph in a position of superiority. This proved detrimental to Joseph, as his brothers believed that the eldest sons should receive favor and birthright position in the family as was tradition. Later we see similar events in slavery, captivity, and service to Pharaoh as he finds favor with his overseers and his status is raised to almost the same level as that of his superiors, just as when he served as his father's eyes and ears in the fields with his children. brothers. Joseph never attributes this tendency towards favoritism to himself, his personality, his spirit or his ability and in the case of Joseph's first meeting with Pharaoh he actually denies any personal credit by saying: "It is not up to me: God will give an answer to Pharaoh. " (Genesis 41:16) This personal interest that God has in everything that Joseph does is summed up succinctly in the last verse of the thirty-ninth chapter of the book of Genesis which states: "...the Lord was with him and what he did , the Lord made him prosper." (Genesis 39:23) As we gather the story of Joseph at his first grave misfortune, it is safe to assume that at this time an average seventeen-year-old boy would wish to be left to die in the pit according to his brothers' original plan. However, there is no mention of Joseph ever complaining or asking God for any favor while being thrown into the pit or sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph's next plunge into humiliation comes when he is falsely accused of trying to sleep with Potiphar's wife and imprisoned. Yet even in prison his status is elevated beyond that of the other prisoner: “And thethe prison keeper entrusted all the prisoners who were in the prison into Joseph's hands; and whatever they did there, he was the author.” (Genesis 39:22) So we see that even in his humiliation he experiences the best situation possible in his given circumstances. Auerbach's analysis of Jewish heroes is most evident in many of these situations with Joseph. While Joseph does experience extreme humiliation, he is never abandoned by God. During Joseph's trials it seems that each consecutive misfortune sinks him deeper into a humiliation from which there seems to be little escape. However, this turns out not to be the case as each subsequent incident proves to be to Joseph's long-term benefit. For example, if Joseph had not been sold into slavery by his brothers, they would not have been able to go to Egypt to buy grain because Pharaoh would not have consulted Joseph about his dream and would not have received instructions on how to preserve food for the seven years of famine. . Furthermore, if Joseph had not served in Potiphar's house and had not been falsely accused of attempting to sleep with his wife, he would never have been thrown “into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were confined.” (Genesis 39:20) This is an important distinction as it is recognized that among Egyptian prisons this particular prison stands out from other prisons because it is where the king's prisoners are housed. If Joseph had not served such a high-ranking man as Potiphar, it is highly unlikely that he would have been sent to this particular prison. This may seem irrelevant at first, but as the story continues we see that it is actually the mention of Joseph's dream interpretation skills to Pharaoh by his chief butler and Joseph's former prison companion, that facilitates the Joseph's rise from captive leader to ruler of Egypt. There is no way Joseph could have predicted how these events would interact with his eventual exaltation, and even if he could he would not have been able to control them. He simply trusts his father's doctrinal teachings and shows absolute faith in God. This is all that God seems to require of Joseph to receive His favor and blessings. This is unique in that while other patriarchs in the Bible are asked to make a sacrifice, it appears that in the story of Joseph he is the sacrifice. He abandons a full 13 years of his life to slavery and captivity so that Egypt and his family can be saved from seven years of famine. In much of Joseph's story it seems that God rewards Joseph for his faith only with favor in the eyes of his superiors but later God's hand can be seen in every new development in Joseph's life, not just circumstances, but also related to his ability to help others with his God-given management and dream interpretation skills. He is rewarded with the ability to interpret dreams which leads to his ability to interpret the dreams of both the head baker and the head butler while in prison. Pharaoh learns of this and it is through the interpretation of Pharaoh's dream that Joseph is made ruler in Egypt and is able to store food and save the Egyptian nation from famine. He is ultimately rewarded with the opportunity to face his brothers and his childish vision of the eleven sheaves and the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing before him is realized as his brothers bow and beg for their food . The absolute dependence of the brother's survival on Joseph's actions reflects the entire cycle of Erich Auerbach's observation of a journey from humiliation to exaltation and..