Why do some men look up to a well-known legendary British king while others admire an elder sociology professor suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease? Literature portrays realistic and fictional heroes in various ways, and everyone has its own perspective on them. However, all the heroes share similarities as well as differences regardless of how real they would seem. By comparison, they commonly share heroic traits which contribute to having them go through a process known as a heroic journey. In contrary, they differ in their own goals ranging from saving the innocents from evil scientists or simply helping people lose weight, and fictional heroes tend to possess extraordinary power, unlike realistic heroes.
The heroic journey allows realistic
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For example, Perseus, who lived as a son of Zeus and a princess Danae, serves its purpose of cutting a head of Medusa to offer it as a gift to Polydectes and he completes his goal by utilizing exceptional weapons from immortal gods. On the other hand, our historic sixteenth United States President from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, fulfilled his goal of preserving the Union by establishing one of his most remarkable strategy known as Emancipation Proclamation which made Union soldiers fight harder than ever to end slavery. As demonstrated, each hero had their own dissimilar purposes to pursue and accomplished their goals by Perseus borrowing the gods' superpowers whereas Abraham Lincoln simply using his advantage of wisdom and intelligence.
As shown above, realistic and fictional heroes show similarities as much as differences. They share their heroic traits and undergo the process of the heroic journey while they differ in their own goals and realistic heroes do not possess any superpower compared to fictional heroes. Yet no matter how literature portrays a hero - whether they use their intelligent brain or abnormal forces, every hero qualifies in every single way to become the role model of
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Show MoreDo you know what the Hero’s Journey is? The Hero’s Journey Archetype is a pattern found in stories that shows what a hero does. It was found by Joseph Campbell. It appears in Greek myths from a long time ago to the movie Finding Nemo 2003, and to the book The Hunger Games by Collins. The Hero’s Journey appears in many stories and has three stages with several steps.
But a hero isn’t just defined by their superpowers or what book they come from, it’s the choice to do the right thing even if it means getting hurt in the process. Heroes don’t have to be from a book or a movie franchise. Heroes can be ordinary people thrust into impossible situations or one who sticks their neck out to save yours. Take the nameless French girl from Elie Wiesel’s Night for instance. She slipped him a small piece of bread after Elie got beat by Idek, a guard.
There are many traits that heroes can demonstrate in stories. The two stories The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell both have heros in them. Connell’s story portrays a hero named Rainsford, who crosses a mysterious island where humans are hunted for fun, and he himself has to run for his life. Twain’s book follows a young boy named Huck, who has run away from his father, and his older friend Jim, who is a runaway slave. Jim is more of a hero because he is more self-sacrificing, unafraid of negative consequences, and more determined.
During ancient Greek times, heroes were considered people who did something extremely epic and courageous, such as the journey of Odysseus. In today’s day and age, anyone can be a hero. Martin Luther King Jr may not have defeated real life monsters and fought an epic battle, but he did go on journey to reach his goal of living in a world where all people are equal. Both Odysseus, from The Odyssey by Homer, and Martin Luther King Jr, a civil rights activist, go on similar journeys of a hero to achieve their own goals. They each must defeat different monsters, both literally and figuratively, in order to obtain their goals.
In modern day, a hero is typically a person who is revered and appreciated for making or attempting to make a difference in the world. Qualities a hero may have are: integrity, leadership, strength, confidence, courage, and humility. These qualities have allowed and equipped men and women to fight for freedom, human rights, equality, and education. Although Malcolm X and Beowulf existed centuries apart and faced different adversities, they both share the heroic traits of courage and leadership. The epic hero Beowulf and the modern day hero Malcolm X both share the heroic characteristic of courage.
When asked to describe a hero, Mickey Mantle, famous baseball player for the New York Yankees, Said “Heroes are people who are all good with no bad in them” This quote shows that a hero is someone who always does the right thing and has good intentions. What a hero should look like now is someone who is loyal and brave. In Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus proves that he is a hero when he went to save his men on “Circe’s Island.” and defeated the cyclops in “The Cave of the Cyclops.”
Heroes, and their adventures and stories are scattered throughout history. These heroes all accomplished different tasks, and won various battles. From Alexander the Great, to Eleanor Roosevelt, these heroes are people with qualities vital to achieving their goals. Alexander Hamilton and Annie Sullivan are both considered to be heroes. They both have determination, ambition, and are intelligent.
When the word hero is spoken, many may immediately think of a character like Superman. Superman can fly and has extreme strength, allowing him to help his city. What truly makes Superman a hero is how he puts these skills to use with his outstanding personality qualities. Odysseus, from the Odyssey, also has overlapping traits of a hero. He is not gifted with supernatural capabilities but still put in an effort to help his men and community.
The best examples of heroes may come from fictional stories but real life heroic traits often come from those fictional heroes. Some of these traits seem godlike but there are humans that hold heroic traits beyond what we can read about. Beowulf is a fictional character with superhuman strength that is fighting to save a group of people from multiple atrocious creatures. Harriet Tubman, on the other hand, is an African American slave who escaped from her master and ran an underground railroad to bring slaves to freedom. Although Beowulf is a fictional character and Harriet Tubman is not, they are both perceived as heroes that shared selflessness and leadership skills they used to accomplish their ultimate goals; saving peoples lives.
Compare and Contrast: Heroism When people hear the word “hero,” Thor, X-Men, Captain America, Superman and several others may come to mind. Heroes do not have to own supernatural powers to be mighty but need to make an impact. Heroism is manifested in the actions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Beowulf by staying true to their beliefs. Nothing was able to stop their way of life.
These traits are shown by Genghis Khan, Choi Yuna, my brother, and Odysseus. The fact that Odysseus and heroes in the modern age share the same traits proves how important they are for being a hero. In addition, every hero should be able to protect others out of kindness and for a cause they believe in. Without heroes, society would continue to make the same mistakes. As role models, they push society in the right direction and assist people in decision
Do you have to be famous to be a hero? Do you have to have billions of dollars to be a hero? Do you have to have superpowers to be a hero? No, you don’t have to have billions of dollars or superpowers to be a hero.
“If you can tell me who your heroes are, I can tell you how you are going to turn out. It is really important to have the right heroes.” – Warren Buffet. Many people are looking for heroes in wrong places, and misunderstanding the term hero itself. Strength, bravery, courage, and honesty are the things most people think when the name hero pops.
Hercules and Theseus, two great heroes from mythology, seem to be similar in many ways. Both extremely brave and noble; with a love of danger and adventure mixed with compassion, creates the perfect heroes. Their stories intertwine with one another’s when Hercules has to save Theseus from the chair of forgetfulness in Hades. Theseus saved Hercules when he was distraught with intent to kill himself. In a similar way, they both stood by their friends no matter the cost.
When people think of a hero, a tall buff male with supernatural strength who beats up villains comes to mind. But not all heroes are like that. Superman, Mahatma Gandhi, Veronika Scott, and Ponyboy Curtis are all heroes. Superman is the only hero that fits that category. Superman is an archetypical hero, a hero in books and movies that fights villains with supernatural powers.