The concept of heroism has fascinated individuals far and wide for centuries to come. The term "hero" has been rooted in Greek antiquity since the beginning of time. For the Greeks, a hero is a mortal who has done something far beyond the abilities of a rational human being. In antiquity, heroes were given as much importance as their pantheon of gods. The gods had myths written about them whereas heroes had sagas and legends rooted loosely in historical facts. Many of the first Greek heroes were great benefactors of humankind, and many of them are noted for having a considerable amount of successions.
In antiquity, it did not matter if a hero was good or bad, in the case of Achilles he was a hero not for his kind-hearted nature or trusting attitude. Instead, he was known for killing Hector, a Trojan prince who was the greatest fighter Troy had had and initiating the siege of Troy. The only requirement a hero needed to meet in antiquity was that he needed to be extraordinary; to be a hero meant to expand the capable possibilities for a human being, anyone who was able to transcend past this barrier could thus be classified as a hero.
In the modern world today, it is a lot harder to detach the concept of heroism from morality. We only seek to call those individuals heroes whom we admire and wish to mimic. Our ideals are significantly shaped by the heroes we choose and the qualities they possess. The heroes we look up to are symbols for us of all the qualities we would like to maintain ourselves and all the ambitions we hope to meet one day. In the world, today heroes are used to shape the future choices of many individuals as they retain ideal qualities such as courage, honor, and justice.
Modern day authors and filmmakers seek inspiration from pieces of antiquity incorporating it into their work. Many 21st-century contemporary pieces have been inspired by or been loosely based on ancient myths. Mythologists like Joseph Campbell, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung have analyzed a wide variety of works noticing similarities between them all. However, the most popular archetypal story is The Hero's Journey, a story pattern derived from scholar Joseph Campbell's book The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
In narratology as well as comparative mythology, the monomyth, or the hero's journey, is a popular template made up of far-reaching categories of tales that involve a hero going on some adventure. Campbell believed that many heroes go through similar stages before reaching their outcome. One of the most exciting things about Campbell's journey of the hero is that it accurately describes the journeys taken by heroes both fictional and nonfictional. In his 1949 work, Campbell illustrates the elemental narrative archetype as follows: A hero ventures forth from the world of standard day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are then encountered, and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow bones on his fellow man. The twelve distinct stages described in his book can be seen from myth to myth, novel to novel originating from the oldest known myths such as the Theogony written by Hesiod. Campbell believed that many heroes go through analogous stages before reaching their transcendent outcome suggesting that many of the archetypal heroes known of today are solely variations of the same hero from antiquity. Therefore, it can be concluded that Campbell's concept of monomyth refers to the theory that sees all mythic narratives as alterations of a single remarkable story. This theory is based on the observation that a prevailing pattern exists beneath the narrative elements of most great myths, regardless of their origin or time of creation.
Although there are many theories present about myths from antiquity, it is impossible to assign any one approach to them all. There is no identifiable platonic idea or form of a myth; they all vary in various ways from one another and pinpointing one particular theory is not the way to go as variations will always be present. Although this is the case, it is evident that archetypal story patterns are standard in many ancient myths discussed within class. What's thought-provoking with story patterns like this is that modern-day works are often written or composed similarly. This connection between modern-day work and ancient day work will be discussed within the paper through a comparison of the ancient hero Perseus and the marvel hero Super-Man.
The question which arises now is that how can a comparison be made from a hero in the past to a hero in the present. This comparison won't be hard because creators at Marvel often seek inspiration from ancient works incorporating it into their comics. There are explicit relations in both visual and textual representations, including the graphic description of heroes within comic, clear evidence for a cross-culture monomyth, and the hero archetypes and characteristics created by the Greeks that continue to grow and incorporate their way into modern American superhero stories.
Perseus was the legendary founder of Mycenae and the Perseid dynasty of Danaans, he was the greatest of Greek heroes and known as the slayer of monsters. (Kerenyi, Karl, 1959. The Heroes of the Greeks (London: Thames and Hudson) p. 75.) He is most noted for beheading the Gorgon Medusa for Polydectes with the help of Hermes and winning the hand of beautiful princess Andromeda while saving her from the sea monster Cetus. (Daniel Ogden, Perseus). Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman during a time when comic book superhero was ascendant; he came to embody the character and trappings of the modern god-like superhero. Superman is an alien immigrant named Kal-El from the planet Krypton raised in Smallville, Kansas, to become an American superhero. He was raised with high moral ideals. He uses his incredible strength, speed, and flight, along with other superpowers to fight evil and protect the innocent.
The myth of Perseus contains a numerous amount of parallels to Superman's origin story. To begin with, both heroes, have a similar origin story. Superman's origin bears high similarity to the origin story of Perseus. The golden shower that Zeus became to impregnate Perseus' mother, Danaë while she was in a brazen tower resembles Superman's descends from on high in a rocket ship. In Book IV of Metamorphoses Acrisius, refused to accept that Perseus was conceived due to a shower of gold was Jupiter's son. Superman descended similarly from on high, although he was conceived in a rocket ship traversing through a sea of space to arrive at his adopted home, Earth. Both of these heroes' origin stories run parallel to one another with little distinction from one another suggesting a similarity between the two. They both follow a similar call to adventure as well, where Perseus is sent away from his grandfather whereas Superman is carried away to Earth by a rocket ship.
Both heroes display a similar set of powers, Perseus can fly through the usage of flying sandals and Superman is born with the ability to fly through the sun's rays. Along with this they also have powers involving vision. Superman has some different visions-based superpowers such as X-Ray, infrared, and heat vision. Perseus, on the other hand, has the mirror-polished shield he used to slay the Gorgon, Medusa and her head, which he could use to turn anyone he wished into stone.
In Lee's work, Superman dominates his surroundings in a territorial display, and Perseus dominates Medusa. Both heroes demonstrate to protect and govern what is perceived to be their territory. Perseus conquers Medusa because she is the key that will free his mother, Danaë, who is someone he wishes to protect. Similarly, Superman defends Metropolis; he is seen following Perseus because he will go to any limit to save the ones he loves. The current volume of Superman addresses this issue of the hero determined to rescue his loved one. Writer Pérez creates a similar situation between Superman and the character Heather Kelley. Identical to Medusa in many ways Kelley becomes a monster that must be excised, upon killing her Superman does state that he did not want to kill her, he had to protect his city. This is similar to the killing of Medusa by the hand of Perseus.
The notion of 'secret identity' is seen many times in the case of Superman. Attributes such as muscles and super-strength need to be hidden for the superhero's identity to be concealed. As a result, secret identities are used to hide superheroes within a cave until their transformation causes them to surpass the limitations of the cave and reach the apex of aesthetic beauty. The transformation, of ascending beyond human characteristics and towards the demigod state of being is used to make similarities between the depictions of Greek mythological heroes and American comic book heroes.
It is no secret that superheroes rescue damsels in distress, usually in the interest of love, this pattern has been present in writing for years to come originating in antiquity. Both mythological heroes and superheroes have a drive to protect what is theirs, this is seen through the example of Superman and Lois Lane and Perseus and Andromeda. Ovid's Metamorphosis contains numerous examples of classical literature which can be used to draw parallels to modern comic books. In book IV of the Metamorphoses, Perseus falls in love with the maiden Andromeda, who is held hostage by the monster Cetus. He is described as feeling an "unconscious desire" to rescue the fair maiden; as a result, Perseus slays the beast and rescues her. Similarly, Lois Lane is seen as being Superman's damsel in distress. Villains and Superman repeatedly target her and Superman is seen going great length to rescue her. Superman and his connection to Lois Lane pay tribute several times to Perseus and his relationship with Andromeda.
Lastly, both heroes and superheroes to have weaknesses that can threaten their abilities. Superman's weakness is evident, he is vulnerable to kryptonite. However, in the case of Perseus, his flaw might have been that the individuals he cared for or his deceptive nature, similar to Hermes. This motif of weaknesses goes to show how they are needed both in mythology and comics to ensure necessary growth and conflict in the stories of both ancient heroes and superheroes.
It is important to take from these examples that both Greek myths and modern American comic books portray heroes and superheroes in similar ways. These similarities can be used by classical scholars to examine further how modern works are inspired by ancient Greek myths. In the last chapter of his book, The Hero's Journey we see Campbell hypothesize "the monomythic hero a relic of mythical times" and mentions that we live in a "post-mythical society … no longer in need of such heroes" There are many proponents of scientific rationalism that agree with Campbell's conclusion stating that myth no longer has a place in our modern world of science, history, and logic. However, Lawrence and Jewett argue in the myth of the American superhero, that this is hardly the case; instead, they insist that we continuously encounter a variety of stories, characters, and narratives in present-day pop culture. In addition to arguing that the general idea of the monomyth is alive and well in modern times, Lawrence and Jewett also argue that Campbell's framework survives in a variation known as the "American monomyth" that is based on contemporary modern culture rather than ancient tales.