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ancient Greek culture
examine the role of religion in contemporary society
the relationship between gods and mortals in greek mythology
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The movie “Clash of the Titans” directed by Louis Leterrier is an old Greek myth that takes place in ancient time of the Greek Gods in the city of Argos, where there is a war between humans and Gods. The religious aspects are shown through the role of religion in mortal's lives, the influences of the Gods over humans, and the interactions of the mortals to the Gods' actions. The movie personifies on a realistic foundation of how ancient Greeks lived. While the hero Perseus is torn between the two worlds of humans and Gods, he learns who he is, and what he wants to be. The hero journey’s idea that is based upon The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell mainly focuses on the physical and spiritual transformation the hero goes through. In this story, this idea teaches us about the relationship between a father and his son and the relationship between brothers as well, and on how a simple fisherman has the power to change his life.
In ancient Greece, Gods and Goddesses had forceful authority over humans. Therefore, the Greeks sought to serve their Gods and Goddesses to the maximum of their ability. It was mainly because, ancient Greeks saw the Gods as a source of power, both mentally and physically. Religion had an important influence in their daily lives. Religion served as a guideline by which the early Greeks strictly followed. Furthermore, religious principles influenced humans in their actions toward Gods. Ancient Greeks would give up anything, including their lives, if they required to. That is the mundane world that the hero lives in, but as a reason of an extraordinary event, his life taking a turning point leading him to go to a quest to discover who he is. In the Ordinary world phase, Perseus who is a simple fisher...
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...The hero leaves his ordinary world in order to achieve any sort of elixir. After he does that he becomes a hero in the eyes of all. In ancient Greece, it believed that man was created by the Gods, and in turn his prayers provided the Gods with immortality and strength. Furthermore, thanks to man's worship, the Gods could rule over him. The hero, Perseus, is a demigod, half God and half human, so he is bipartite between the world of humans and Gods. He goes to a journey to save a human’s kingdom against the fury of the Gods. In his journey, he realizes who he is and what he wants to be. Besides being a hero’s journey tale, this story describes the development of a relationship between a father and his son. The hero’s journey can be depicted as a purely reflection of the different stages in our lives, and counted as a great guideline to help us in our own journeys.
Opposed to that of common thought, superman is not the only type of character that fits the heroic persona. Although “superheroes” typically come to mind when one thinks of a hero, there are many other ordinary people capable of extraordinary things. A hero is a person who takes the initiative to set out on a journey of internal growth. During this symbolic journey, one truly finds himself and betters the lives of other mentally and physically. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus takes the path of heroism, resulting in the reborn spirit of a selfless, modest hero. During the process, Odysseus is faced with many challenges that he must overcome in order to earn the noble title. Odysseus proves himself to be a well-deserving hero because he is intelligent with his decisions, he displays cleverness, and he rids himself of hubris.
This paper is to show that Heracles is the prime example of a hero’s journey through his actions and the struggles that he faced during his life until he was about to die but instead of death, his father, Zeus, saved him and he conquered the mortal realm, to become a god.
A hero accepts who he is as an individual, but strives to change himself for the better. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, the main character Odysseus is a valiant king who embarks on a life-changing voyage. While traveling from Troy back to his home in Ithaka, King Odysseus overcomes daunting obstacles, and in doing so discovers his place in the world. Odysseus is truly a heroic figure because he demonstrates courage, improves his character, and wins the support of the gods.
“The journey of the hero is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us; the uncanny discovery that the seeker is the mystery which the seeker seeks to know. The hero journey is a symbol that binds, in the original sense of the word, two distant ideas, and the spiritual quest of the ancients with the modern search for identity always the one, shape-shifting yet marvelously constant story that we find.” (Phil Cousineau) The Hero's Journey has been engaged in stories for an immemorial amount of time. These stories target typical connections that help us relate to ourselves as well as the “real world”.
Heroes are found everywhere. They are seen in movies, on television, in books, and in reality. A hero can be anyone from a friend to a fictional character. To be considered a hero, one must make selfless sacrifices, develop and learn, overcome challenges and temptations, and ultimately present their known world with a gift of any kind. Homer’s The Odyssey paints a picture of the supposed savior Odysseus. The irony of Odysseus’ situation is that he really is not the marvelous hero that many who read The Odyssey see him to be. When imagining a great hero, the words of cruel, unfaithful, selfish, or careless never come to mind, but the son of Laertes sets examples for each attribute. Odysseus makes many poor decisions that cause his dislikable traits to highly outweigh his few better ones. Several of his more prominent characteristics are exhibited on numerous accounts. Odysseus cannot possibly earn the title of being a hero because he harbors hubris, he displays a lack of faith, and his self-centeredness causes unfortunate events.
Arthur Ashe, a renowned tennis player who contributed his later life to research for AIDS, once said, “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” By stating this, Ashe expresses that a true hero does not look to win against people but will help them along the way. The Odyssey, an epic centered around a so called “hero,” from the Trojan War, narrates the struggles and difficult decisions the main character Odysseus makes in order to get back to his son Telemachus and wife Penelope. Although Odysseus shows many gallant qualities, like being courageous, strong, and brave, he shouldn’t be considered a hero because he doesn’t meet
“The Labours of Hercules” introduces the most famous Greek hero in mythology, Hercules. He completes twelve immense tasks at an early age for killing his family while under a curse from Hera. The story of his labours contains many reasons why Hercules is classified as a classical hero. Hercules exhibits many of the traits of a classical hero, including numerous guides, hazardous journeys and several hardships and afflictions.
From the beginning of time, mythology has appeared to be one key method of understanding life’s confusions and battles. Within these myths lies a hero. From myth to myth and story to story, heroes experience what may be called a struggle or a journey, which lays down their plot line. Bearing tremendous strength, talent, and significant admiration, a hero holds what is precious to their audience, heroism. Over time however, no matter the hero, the hero’s role remains indistinguishable and identical to the position of every other hero.
Greece undoubtedly has one of the most interesting cultures in terms of its mythologies. Within Greek myths, the hero can be seen as representing good and can be either mortal or a demi-god. A mortal is an individual who is 100 percent human, and an example of a mortal hero within these myths Jason, of Jason and the Golden Fleece. A demi-god is defined as someone who is part human, but is also part god. In Greek myths, Hercules and Perseus are examples of demi-god heroes in their myths. Whether he be mortal or a demi-god, the hero may receive some help from a god in completing his task in some myths. However, it is still the hero, not the god that accomplishes the task and is recognized for it.
In film Hercules (2014), directed by Brett Ratner, has a unique aspect like no other Hercules film created. This film is heavily influenced by both Greek and Roman myth but also takes into consideration a Euhemerism approach by portraying Hercules as a human. This interpretation takes an orphan that has extraordinary strength that became a mercenary and builds himself into a myth, which he uses to instill fear into his enemies and hope into his friends and allies. This film provides an example of the evolution of a myth and how political corruption drives this creation.
The Hero’s Journey describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization. After reading the epic poem The Odyssey, by Homer, and watching the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?, by the Coen brothers, they both show evidence of the Hero’s Journey. The Hero’s Journey is based on Joseph Campbell’s A Practical Guide to The Hero With a Thousand Faces. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is projected as the “hero” while in O Brother, a man by the name of Ulysses Everett McGill can be seen as the “hero”. Elements of The Odyssey and O Brother are shown through the stages in the Hero’s Journey like the Approach to the Inmost Cave, The Supreme Ordeal, and Threshold Crossing.
Myths have been a great example of the hero’s journey. Many heroes have journeys and trials to face throughout their life. Most of their journeys start out with their origin and end with the return. However, the hero’s role remains identical to every other hero. Most heroes like Gilgamesh has heroic traits because of the stages in the hero's journey. Gilgamesh is a man who can turn into a hero by changing himself, even when he has unusual circumstances surrounding his birth. Gilgamesh is viewed as a hero due to the stages of the hero's journey.
The idea of a true hero is varied from person to person, because each viewpoint has a different idea of the personality that makes one a hero. There have been many fiction and non-fiction heroes that show different character traits, which influence people’s definitions of a hero. However, each person’s unique thought about a hero still focuses about one central idea: a hero must prove himself in order to earn his heroic status. This is the cornerstone of all the opinions about heroes because heroes have to show their heroism in order to become who they are in the end. At the beginning they are inexperienced, ordinary people who go on their adventures, and face their fears and weaknesses, but they develop greatly throughout these journeys. After comprehending what true heroism is and following it only then will they become heroes even though each of them has different traits. In the epic poem The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus gains the title of hero during his journey back to Ithaka, from Troy, by proving to be one. It is through his characteristics and experiences that he becomes the well developed man at the end of the book. In truth, because of his confidence, loyalty, and difficult struggles, Odysseus becomes a genuine hero to the people he defended.
Greek mythology is a beloved part of literature that has given humans thousands of stories to tell. From stories about deadly quests, powerful deities, to the even more famed aspect of Greek Mythology, its epic heroes. One of the many authors who took inspiration from Greek Mythology, and will serve as reference for this paper, is Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. 1988. The most well known epic heroes from Greek Mythology which Edith Hamilton writes about in her book are Hercules, Jason, Perseus, and Theseus, but the debate lies in which of these heroes is the best. To which the answer is, Theseus is the better epic hero because he possessed superior strength, intelligence, and courage, he was the most just from all other heroes,
Throughout history, many ancient cultures created stories involving great heroes and gods to explain certain aspects of their daily lives. These stories would form an important part of the culture’s religion and are referred to today as mythology. One great hero from ancient Greek mythology is Perseus. According to both ancient standards and today’s standards, Perseus would be seen as a great hero. The many actions that Perseus is said to have done in his adventures prove his heroism.