Heroism

 

In ancient Greece, tales of heroes, people who rose above and beyond the normal man with their audacious and valiant works. The first such tale was of Jason and the Golden Fleece. It established a pattern often followed by later myths.

 

Jason was the righteous heir to the thrown of Iolcus. He had training by a centaur, and by the time he was through, he had a body that was nothing less than ideal. To reclaim his thrown, he was given a challenge by the king to find the Golden Fleece. He went to the kingdom where it was kept, and asked the king there for it, who offered him another challenge before any compliance would be met. He conquered that task, then managed to steal the Golden Fleece from him and return home.

 

As far as defining the Greek concept of heroism, none of the other details are relevant. What is seen here illustrates a common trend. In other myths, heroes were of either divine or royal parentage. They often had to complete tasks proposed by opponents in order to test them, because back then it have been the honorable thing to do. Most important, heroes who succeeded in their labors were glorified.

 

As for the problems that heroes face, they have always been dramatic. Persius had to slay the Medusa. Theseus had to slay the Minotaur. Daedalus had to escape a remote island on wings, among other things. Heracles, the most famous hero of all, completed twelve impossible tasks. Greek heroes always tore down enemies and saved people left and right. Greek culture eulogized people who could go through great trial and come out victorious through their own strength. They were people who you could be impressed with.

 

Greeks defined heroes as people who were always touch, brave, honorable, and cunning, which together created the virtue of pathos, which was the quality of being able to endure under great suffering. These were the qualities that enabled a man to take on ferocious forces against him. Although the virtue of altruism was sometimes supported, it wasn't often. Most heroes lacked in selfless action and through those flaws came their downfall, such as with Jason and Theseus. Perhaps the storytellers who invented these characters were trying to teach a lesson through the flaws of their characters, but the overall message is that in the Greek mindset a hero was a winner. Altruism was good, but it was not heroic.

 

Back then, Jason and Heracles were probably the modern day versions of Iron Man and Superman. Notice how easily you can take the word "hero" and add the word "super" in front of it. In fact, one of our superheroes today, Wonder Woman, is based off of an old mythical Greek tribe of women called the Amazons.

 

In modern society, many Greek ideals still hold true. We have heroes such as Michael Phelps, John McCain, and our common soldiers. Michael Phelps was superhuman in the Olympics, picking up an unprecedented eight golden medals all in one shot, breaking world records left and right. He put himself through rigorous training that only a few select individuals in the world have the will power to endure. Then, like many tragic hero tales, his legacy contained its moments of shame. He got caught with marijuana, a personal flaw, which led to a strong dislike towards him within the media.

 

John McCain was an American pilot during the Vietnam War. When his plain was shot down, he was captured and beat up by the Vietnamese, and then kept as a prisoner, where he was tortured and bribed. He turned down an early release, proving to him that he would upkeep one of the military's codes of honor. He worked hard and humbly to improve the world, and he has received much flack for it. Yet, he continues, and thus he has both put up with permanent physical suffering and social trial. Today, those who have the guts to admit it are proud to call him an American hero.

 

All of the rest of the military men and woman are looked up by society, or most of it, as people who go through rough things to save people.

 

Nobody is ever going to look at someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty, who does things spectacular such as saving young girls from fires or does impossible things and say that they are not heroic. Pathos will always hold true as something that makes a hero.

 

Yet, some things have changes. The bar for honor has been lowered. One does not need to be a savior or a winner to be a hero. In modern days, altruists are now heroes as well. The word altruism comes from the Greek word for "other", and thus literally translates as "otherism". It's when someone cares for another person more than himself or herself, and it is the most important virtue. You can do the right thing because of honor or you can do it because it is the right thing.

 

A hero is someone who helps others because they care.

Any comments regarding John McCain will be edited or deleted. I did not mention him in the essay with any political intentions, and I do not want to see anyone posting on that presumption. If a moderator thinks extra measures should be taken, they may feel free to remove the paragraph that I dedicated to him.

This essay was written a few days ago. I did it in one draft. Once you write enough blog entries, stuff like this comes naturally. The teacher and I had a talk on this, and we both agreed that we were guilty of not following the writing process taught in prior English classes. Let's face it, you just put down what's on your mind, say what needs to be said, and move on. That's what I did here.

I feel like I kind of cheated, though. The essay was the easy way out. There were several projects that could have been turned in, and we had choices. All the other assignments involved working with others and a bit more creativity, such as designing your own newspaper that would be delivered to Mount Olympus and making a board game based on Greek mythology. Did I have a chance of doing well in those? I did, but the process would have been more difficult and annoying and in the end it wouldn't have turned out how I would have envisioned it because of the whole group cooperation thing, so I went with what I did best and wrote a three page essay. There's an easy A+ for the end of the unit.

Your Honor,

Emperor Kraggh