This very same style of a collection of smaller episodes compiled into one grand literary work can be also seen in Old Irish literature. Probably, the most important parallel of all is the story of The Cattle Raid of Cooley, T�in B� C�ailnge. It is the longest of all the works of Old Irish literature and deals with the war between ancient Connacht and Ulster, with the legendary hero C� Ch�lainn as one of the core characters. The raid begins when, after Queen Medb of Ulster and her consort Ailill start comparing their wealth, she discovers that their wealth is exactly equal apart from the excellent bull which Ailill possesses. Proud Medb, of course, has to possess a bull just like that of her consort, if not a better one. Despite the ill prophecy made by the prophetess Dubthach, the Ulstermen set off to defeat Connacht so that Medb can get hold of the bull she wants.
It is evident in T�in B� C�ailnge that this epic is a collection of shorter stories. There are some contradictions existing in the story, and also included in the work is a section where Medb asks who C� Ch�lainn is and some of her people tell her episodes of his boyhood deeds. Most of the scholars of Old Irish literature such as Thurneysen agree that the T�in is the conscious Irish imitation of the Iliad. Thurneysen also suggested that the section on the boyhood deeds of C� Ch�lainn was directly inspired by the deeds of Aeneas in Books ii and iii of the Aeneid. The way in which they were inserted in the body of the tale by using a �flash-back� device is very similar.
A wonderful parallel to C� Ch�lainn of Eri� (Ireland) can be found in Minamoto Kuro Hogan Yoshitsune, the Japanese� favourite hero who met his tragic fate because of the jealously of his half-brother, Yoritomo. His tragic life and love affair with the shirabyoshi dancer Shizuka captured the hearts of the Japanese so deeply that even a saying, �Hogan/Hangan biiki� (referring to favouritism), was born.
The two men, who are each national heroes of Ireland and Japan up to the present day, share some very interesting similarities. We can find so many legends about their deeds in their boyhoods to indicate that they were such extraordinary people that they were exceptionally strong or talented even when they were young. They were both pushed to their deaths by unavoidable fate, which only aroused even more sympathy from the listeners and readers.
Another interesting similarity is that both Yoshitsune and C� Ch�lainn are described as handsome young men without beard. When Yoshitsune�s right-hand man Musashibo Benkei met him for the first time, according to the legend, Yoshitsune was still dressed as a child and was beautiful like a woman. Yoshitsune is believed to have been rather small and did not possess enough strength to pull a strong bow, which he was ashamed of. It is told that he went back to pick up his bow so that the Heike would not find it and regard him as a weakling.
He is also famous for his tragic love affair with the shirabyoshi dancer Shizuka. Shizuka devoted herself to Yoshitsune. When she was captured and told to dance for Yoritomo, Yoshitsune�s half brother, she dared to dance in front of him singing a verse showing that she was longing for Yoshitsune, who was then pursued as a traitor. This episode captured the hearts of the Japanese and even today there is a festival in Kamakura in May in which a dancer performs Shizu-no Mai, Shizuka�s dance, in the main shrine of the Genji clan. Although her life was spared after her dance in front of Yoritomo, the son she bore shortly afterwards was taken away and thrown into the ocean on Yoritomo�s order. He did not dare let him live knowing that Kiyomori had spared Yoritomo and Yoshitsune�s lives when they were small, yet they grew up only to destroy his clan.
C� Ch�lainn is also described as a beardless young man and, when a warrior refuses his challenge, saying that he would not fight a �beardless boy�, he has a false beard smeared on him in order to have the duel. However, he is also described as a man whose body becomes disfigured when he fights. His eyes start looking in different directions, his calves come around to face the front, and all his muscles move around to make him look completely disfigured.
According to the T�in, C� Ch�lainn also has an active sex life. One episode starts off with the scene of his return from a tryst. He is also seduced by Morrigan, the war goddess, but he turns her down by saying that the day is ill-omened and he should not have any sexual intercourse. Despite the fact that he turned down the war goddess, he stays strong and is never defeated until, at the end of his life, he is trapped and forced to break all his gessa (taboo) and gets killed.
There are many other stories about C� Ch�lainn�s life, and also his death, but when one thinks of C� Ch�lainn�s story, it is more likely that one thinks immediately about T�in B� C�ailnge rather than any other source. However, it is not exclusively the story of C� Ch�lainn but also deals with other, unrelated, people and incidents - its main focus being the cattle raid. The many legends about the Irish national hero have kept him popular up to today, and his statue is proudly displayed at the front window of the national bank in Dublin.
In contrast, there are so many stories which one would think about when asked about the life of Yoshitsune. The most famous one may well be the Tale of the Heike, but it does not deal with either his boyhood deeds or his tragic death. There are many other works such as Gikeiki, which focuses mainly on his boyhood life and his tragic ending, or Asuma Kagami and Genpei Seisuiki. Yoshitsune�s life and his deeds were so well-known and gathered increasing popularity so that many kabuki plays and puppet plays were written on the theme.
The most interesting thing to note about T�in B� C�ailnge and The Tale of the Heike is that they both originate from oral tradition. Especially in Recension I of T�in B� C�ailnge, it is very clear that it is a complilation of various episodes of the famous Irish oral tradition.
The basic plot of T�in B� C�ailnge is, however, remarkably thin. Ruairi O' hUiginn states in his essay �The Background Development of T�in B� C�ailnge� that �the main events would appear to be the march northwards of the Connachtmen to seize the bull, the fights at the ford, the final battle between two armies and the fight of two bulls�.
In comparison, the plot of The Tale of the Heike is very rich. It deals not only with the flourishing and decline of the Heike and their defeat by the Genji, but also includes the episodes of the women who, in the end, had to seek hope in the teaching of the Buddha. Whereas T�in B� C�ailnge depicts the fighting scenes as the duels C� Ch�lainn has every day with Connachtmen, The Tale of the Heike deals with the individual fights of warriors as �Death of so-and-so�. Despite its title, The Tale of the Heike is not the story of the Heike clan�s flourishing, but is about the deaths of various famous warriors and the decline of the Heike. In effect, the death of the whole Heike clan.