Comparing the Heroic Natures of Hercules and Okonkwo

Hercules, a great figure in Greek mythology who fought off massive beasts with his bear hands, can be considered one of the most popular in Greek mythology. How does Hercules compare to a little known Nigerian boy born to poverty who becomes successful through plain hard work, better known as Okonkwo. These heroes both were helped along by wise men, both had to prove themselves as a hero through tough situations, and They also had to deal with large amounts of pride that initially kept them from fulfilling their destinies. Now let's compare the heroic nature of both Hercules and Okonkwo.

While in hard times or when struck with a hard decision, The heroes both found the advise of very wise people weather it was intentionally sought out for or not. In the story “Hercules” the hero, obviously Hercules, went to “The Oracle at Delphi” to find what he can do about the accidental murder of his own family. The oracle told Hercules to “ Go to king Eurystheus... and submit yourself to any punishment asked of him” (“Hercules”). Afterwards, Hercules went to the king and had to complete the “12 labors of Hercules” (“Hercules”) as his punishment. Hercules completed all of the tasks and the twelve labors ended up being Hercules' claim to fame and it was all to the credit of the Oracle's advice. In Okonkwo's case, The advice came from one of the elders of the village Ezeudu who told him not

“to have a hand in Ikemefuna's death” (Achebe 57). Okonkwo, being a little more independent and stubborn than Hercules, completely ignored the advice and cut Ikemefuna down to avoid being called weak. This moment in Okonkwo's egg-headedness helps you to understand why Hercules's ending is a little happier than Okonkwos while still going through a similar jour...

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...until it was too late that the other messengers were already gone. They could now inform The others that Okonkwo had killed one of them. After Okonkwo killed the messenger he realized that it was too late to save his culture and religion from to British who were seeking change. This rapid sequence of events led to Okonkwo's eternal downfall and he killed himself out of hopelessness.

While these heroes both traveled through time being helped along the way, facing hardships, and finding faults in their own pride. One of these heroes found success and the other found failure. Hercules took the Oracle's advice and used it to help prove himself worthy of the title hero. Okonkwo let his negatives outweigh all of the great feats he was able to accomplish and so his ending was not as sweet. These heroes, no matter how similar their journeys were destined to opposite fates.