Parzival,or Percival in English, is the hero of a medieval German romance written by poet Wolfrm von Eschenbach.
Parzival is a child of Queen Herzeloyde and King Gahmuret. His father had died before he was born, nd Herzeloyde wanted to protect her child. Having been sheltered from the dangers of chivarlic world by his mother, Parzival is initially naive and foolish. However, once he learnt about the chivalry and he decided to join Arthur's court. A lot of things happened, and one day Parzival became a guest of the wounded Fisher King called Anfortas at whose castle he witnesses the Grail procession and fails to ask — because he has been advised of the impoliteness of asking too many questions — the significance of what he sees and, in Wolfram's romance, what causes Anfortas's pain. This failure is calamitous because asking the question would have cured the king. Later he understood his mistake and for many years he was trying to find the castle again and to change everything. In the end, he could fix it all and learnt that he was the new Grail King.
The way of Parzifal - the way of his self-knowledge, education and salvation - consists of two segments. The first sharply leads down: this is the way from "stupidity" to "despair" - almost to total destruction - passes under the sign of pride. The second - from "despair" to "loyalty" - is already under the sign of humility, after realizing the sins and the sinfulness of the man.
Pride and humility are the two poles of the medieval moral world, all the nuances and gradations of which fit between these concepts. Pride is the primary and the main sin, the reason for the fall of the devil and the appearance of evil. The only, but absolute weapon against arrogance is humility, the highest of virtues. Like the ancient Oedipus, Parzifal commits evil through ignorance. But, unlike the ancient tragedy, which knew only the inexorability of fate, the Christian tragedy knows the way to salvation. The ancient hero could only admit his weakness; the Christian hero, recognizing his weakness, gained strength in it. Getting the thought of the inevitable victory of humility over pride and of the mutual "faithfulness" of God and his slaves, Parzival actually gets the power that allows him to save Anfortas and become the King of the Grail.
After all his failures, Parzival starts doubting God's kindness and wisdom. He is at war with God and revolts for a long time, but later he realizes that everything good on earth is given by God.
The image of Parzival is rather complex and unusual. He attracts the authors goodwill because he fights his pride and egoism, and he is able to do that because he has that spiritual qualities. A true knight’s prone of vanity and pride and is ready to break the law of courtesy for the law of humanity.
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