The theme of the hero
...ly centered on his culture, race, or nation. At the end of his journey the hero must complete a final task alone. Sometimes he succeeds in this final task and returns home as a leader to his people, other times he fails and dies during this final task, making him a tragic hero. Achilles, of Homer’s Iliad, can be described as the stereotypical epic hero. He is supernatural in that he is the son of a goddess, Thetis and he has a supernatural aura about him. The appearance that Achilles slays hundreds upon hundreds of men, without having ever been touches, is what the epic hero is known for – being the greatest warrior of them all. Despite being the greatest warrior of them all, Achilles is doomed to live a short, miserable life. Thetis tells this to Achilles, “You should be at once short of life and long of sorrow.” Achilles tries to change this fate by staying on his ship while the fighting went on but soon he realized that people were being slaughtered and had to avenge the death of Patroclus. Achilles seems to have no control over his actions and is a dangerous fighter because of this. He has no real love to guide him, which in most stories, is the deciding factor in a hero’s life. Also, Achilles seems to be extremely selfish, choosing to let his fellow countrymen die over his pride, which may lead to people questioning him being a hero. On the other hand Achilles fits all the characteristics of an epic hero and eventually dies, living the short, sad life promised by his mother. Likewise, in modern day society the film “Reservoir Dogs” provides us with an epic hero. In the film “Reservoir Dogs”, the most heroic character is a for-hire jewel thief, while the most despicable character is a policeman. Mr. Orange, an undercover cop, is shot during the hold-up of a diamond store. Mr. White, the unlawful thief, risks life and limb throughout the entire movie to protect this cop who is trying to put him away. When the surviving members of the thieving crew show up at the rendezvous, yelling and shooting off about there having been a rat, Mr. White stands up for the bleeding, dying cop, saying “You’re making a terrible mistake I’m not going to let you make. Joe, if you kill that man you die next.” Mr. White takes a bullet for the man who sold him out. In this case, the heroic character was not the upstanding citizen. Mr. White was, however, someone anyone would feel safe calling his or her hero. Another hero that portrays similar characteristics is the redeemer hero. The redeemer has the same nature as all the other heroes but the difference is that he brings civilization back. The hero escapes destruction of his home which is essentially the loss of a world. The redeemer hero is the bringer of a new world, a new culture with aspects of the old world. Just like all the other heroes he has problems with women. Here is where we see how culture becomes identified with the hero. One of the most known redeemer heroes is Aeneas, a Trojan hero and son of Venus. After the fall of Troy, Aeneas is destined to go to Italy to set up a new kingdom. Aeneas becomes the carrier of civilization when he goes to untamed Italy. He eventually tames it and builds the city that still lasts today. While doing so he encounters many obstacles and problems. He encounters these because of the acts of mortals and the decisions and rivalries of the Gods and the Fates. One of these problems is that he has to defeat Turnus, the kind and enemy to Aeneas. He also has to encounter Harpes which consists of women’s faces, giant wings and is very monster-like. Another obstacle that Aeneas has to overcome is Carthage, the rival to Rome. Just like all heroes, Aeneas’ fundamental weakness is a woman, the goddess Juno. Through many trial and errors, however, Aeneas was finally able to overcome his journey and became the true founding father to the city, which is now known as “Rome”. Rome is a civilization not a culture because Aeneas borrows the old culture of Troy to make Rome. He proves himself as the redeemer hero and brings the culture of his old world and creates a new world not only for himself but for others all around him. Superman, a fictional character in today’s society, portrays the redeemer hero. An ongoing series since...