Essay/Term paper: Ben-hur

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Humanities Essays

Ben-Hur was transformed from bible scripture to a movie

because it is the most read scripture in the Bible. The

scripture tells the story of a man, Judah Ben-Hur, who

trades his life as the prince of Jerusalem with the life of a

slave. The story tells of his journeys and triumphs as a slave.



The story starts with the five wise men as their journey to

find Jesus. When they arrive in Bethlehem they come bearing

gifts for the newborn king. After the birth of Jesus the movie

changes to two Roman soldiers who are in a meeting.



One of the soldiers, Tribune Musala, is an old friend of

Judah. Judah comes in and meets with Musala and invites

him to his home for dinner and to see his family. Musala tells

Judah how the Romans will conquer his people and if he

wants to save his family he can turn in the Rebels who plan

to revolt. Judah is enraged that his friend would ask him to

turn in his own people, and storms out of the meeting.



After the meeting Judah returns home to find an old

friend/slave of his there waiting for him. The slave asks

permission that his daughter be allowed to marry. Judah

gladly grants his wish and meets the young woman, Esther.

The two have a private talk in which Judah grants Esther her

freedom and says that he will wear her slavery ring until he

finds his true love.



The Romans enter Jerusalem and the entire city watched

from rooftops. As Judah and Esther watched Esther

accidentally knocks a shingle loose and scares a horse

causing it to kick and buck a general from the horse killing

the general. The Romans enter the city and arrest Judah, his

sister, and mother. His friend Musala orders Judah to be

sent to the galleys. Judah escapes from confines to find

Musala and asks him why he would do this to a friend.

Musala says, "People will fear me for persecuting my own

friend."



A chain gang of slaves traveling through the desert stop so

the Romans can get a drink of water. The guards allow the

slaves very little water, but allow their horses to drink a

plentiful amount. The guards say "No water for him" referring

to Judah. A man gives Judah water and the guard gets angry

and yells at the man. The guard and the man look at each

other and the guard cowards. The man is portrayed as

Jesus.



At the end of the desert travels Judah finds himself in the

galleys of a boat as a numbered rower. He spends over

three years in the galleys of numerous boats. Governor Arius

who puts Judah up to an endurance test rules the boat. Most

of the other slaves pass out due to the rigors of the test,

however Judah withstands the test and wins. As they are

going into battle Arius has a guard unchain Judah. The boat

is rammed and Judah escapes from the galley and sees Arius

get knocked into the water. Judah saves Arius and the two

watch the boat sink as they float on a piece of wood.



The next day a Roman boat saves the two. Arius tells all on

the boat that Judah saved his life. When they return to land

Arius plea's with the Roman government to free Judah. They

the give Judah to Arius to do with him as he wishes. Arius

then has a celebration where he gives Judah a family ring and

asks him to be his adopted son. He also makes Judah the

sole heir to his land and possessions. A few weeks after the

ceremony Judah tells Arius that he wishes to return to

Jerusalem.



On his journey back to Jerusalem Judah crosses paths with

an Arab who he makes friends with and agrees to race for

them in the Circus. Judah and the Arab enjoy a fulfilling meal

and at the end to show delight they belch. The better the

belch the better the meal.



When he returns home he finds Esther and her father. Her

father was tortured by the Romans to find out where Judah's

fortune is hidden. The old man does not give in and is

tortured so that he can no longer walk.



Judah meets with Musala and orders him to find his mother

and sister. He also challenges Musala to race against him in

the Circus. Musala finds Judah's mother and sister only to

find out that they have leprosy. The two were released from

prison after five years. Upon their release they find Esther

and beg her not to tell Judah of their condition and to rather

tell him that they are dead.



When the Circus takes place Judah races for the Arabs.

Musala has a "Big Chariot" which means that he has spikes

on his wheels. Musala uses the spikes to destroy the wheels

of the other racers. Musala tries to destroy Judah's wheels

and whip him at the same time, however Judah grabbed the

whip and took it away from Musala causing him to lose

control of the horses and get drug behind his horses until he

lets the reins go and is trampled by another chariot. Judah

won the race and was crowned victor. After the race

doctors want to amputate Musala"s legs, however he wants

to wait to see Judah first. Judah arrives and Musala tells him

that his family is not dead and that they are in fact in the

valley of the lepers. Musala then died in front of Judah.



When Judah goes to the valley of the lepers he sees Esther,

he gets angry with her for lying to him. She explains their

plea to her. Judah then returns to the valley again the next

day, this time to see his mother and sister. When he sees his

mother she tells him that his sister, Tirza is dying. They go to

see Tirza and take her to Rome. When they arrive they find

out that a man is being tried. They find that the man being

tried was actually Jesus being crucified.



As Jesus is carrying his cross up the hill he falls down and is

whipped. Judah gave him some water as he did for Judah in

the past. One of the guards kicks the water away from

Jesus. The four watch as Jesus is crucified. Later that night

the three women are sitting in a cave when a bad storm rolls

in. At the peak of the storm Jesus died. After the death of

Jesus Marium and Tirza are cured of their Leprosy. They

then see Judah the next day and everyone was happy that

they were cured.