This form of
child abandonment is a recurring theme in
mythology, especially among hero births. Some examples include: •
Sargon, King of
Akkad – exposed to the river. •
Karna – exposed to the river. •
Tang Sanzang – exposed to the river on a wooden plank. The
historical person he is based on never suffered such a fate. •
Oedipus – exposed in the mountains. •
Paris – exposed at the top of
Mount Ida. •
Zāl – exposed in the
Alborz mountains. •
Telephus – exposed on
Mount Parthenion. •
Atalanta – exposed on
Mount Parthenion. •
Perseus – boxed and cast into the sea with his mother,
Danaë. •
Romulus and Remus – exposed in a tub to the
Tiber River. •
Siegfried – exposed in a glass vessel to the river. •
Ken Arok, Javanese king – exposed to the river. •
Mess Búachalla - exposed to wild beasts.
Otto Rank explores this topic in his book,
The Myth of the Birth of the Hero. The exposure, especially in water, "signifies no more and no less than the symbolic expression of birth. The children come out of the water. The basket, box, or receptacle simply means the container, the womb; so that the exposure directly signifies the process of birth". Further, according to Rank, these myths epitomize the natural psychological tension between parent and child. In all these stories there exists "a tendency to represent the parents as the first and most powerful opponents of the hero .... The vital peril, thus concealed in the representation of birth through exposure, actually exists in the process of birth itself. The overcoming of all these obstacles also expresses the idea that the future hero has actually overcome the greatest difficulties by virtue of his birth, for he has victoriously thwarted all attempts to prevent it." ==Greece==