The Rubaiyat Of Omar Khayam and The Book of Ecclesiastes
An Overture to AP English 12, in which Common Themes are Presented and Considered
Both The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam, translated by Edward Fitzgerald, and the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes (attributed to Solomon, but almost certainly assembled from scattered texts that were circulating several centuries after his death) examine similar questions: what is the role of suffering? if God (or something similar) really does exist, then why do we suffer--is God good? wicked? indifferent? and finally, how responsible are we for our actions when we live in a flawed world, one where temptations and inequities exist all around us? While Solomon asks these questions from a standpoint of belief in one faith, Omar is much less faithful (or, more accurately, he knows the general outlines of several different faiths, so he's hard put to settle on just one) and given to doubt. Both authors offer answers, but their answers are very different. This raises a further question: just how can anyone be sure they're right?
Omar Khayyam and Edward Fitzgerald
Considering that he lived about a thousand years ago, we have a lot of information about Omar Khayyam. There are several web sites dedicated to his work, which included treatises on astronomy/astrology, mathematics and agriculture as well as to his rubai, the four-line verses collected in The Rubaiyat . Complicating things more than slightly, Edward Fitzgerald, the Victorian English writer who translated our edition of the works (his is by far the most famous translation in English), took considerable liberties with Khayyam's text. So what did the author really believe--and who's the real author here?
Solomon, the Biblical Wise Man
For a man reputed to have 300 wives and 600 concubines, Solomon still had enough time on his hands to ask the big questions--if we're to believe that he's actually the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Actually, he's almost certanly not the author in the sense that we understand that term, since sayings are often attributed to people reknowned for their wisdom. (As Yogi Berra put it, "I didn't actually say everything I said.") Be that as it may, both Solomon and Khayyam are men of wealth and privilige, and yet they're not happy. In fact, we can argue that these two are unhappy--and asking the questions they do--because they're so well-off.
