The Role of a Hero in Epic Literature In order to analyze the function of something, one must first seek to know what it is. A hero is defined as a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. So, in essence, a hero’s role, first and foremost, is to fulfill dauntless tasks in order to achieve an illustrious status. However, the pragmatics behind the subject do not allow for such a simple answer. An epic is more or less a story that has been considerably exaggerated to the extent that, in some cases, gods that possess the ability to manipulate the laws under which the natural world operates interfere and pose such a threat, that the security of everything we know is at stake.
Throughout the movie, Phil helped Hercules on his journey to becoming a true hero and finding his place. After an intense period of training, Phil managed to transform Hercules from a scrawny boy to a strong man. They then set out for the city of Thebes, where there were many catastrophes and problems. Hercules hoped that if he could prevent some of these disasters and help the people of Thebes, he would then be considered a true hero. In Thebes, the Threshold, Hercules tried to convince the people that he is a hero, but no one believed him.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the main characters, Gawain, goes against the typical qualities of a hero. Heroes are stereotypically thought of as brave strong men who fight for their stance on a presented issue and also save the day by their actions. However, Gawain goes against this stereotype by making the poem feel like a lighthearted comedy about heroism as he faces hardships. In addition, another character that faces challenges as a hero of modern world is Shrek. Unlike the difficulties Gawain faced, Shrek has managed gaining his house back and fighting for the woman he falls for.
In Homer's lyrical verses and in his use of detail, diction, and imagery, he paints his own portrait of a classic hero through the brave deeds as well as the human flaws of Hector and Achilles that eventually lead to the downfall of proud and powerful Hector. The first characteristic that is assigned to a classic hero by Homer is the fact that they are strong and brave, and may even have god-like qualities. To emphasize this, Homer deliberately and repeatedly adds adjectives that praise the two heroes before their names almost every time he refers to them. While Achilles is usually depicted as swift and godlike, Homer portrays Hector as bright, dazzling and dignified. Homer uses phrases like, "...noble bright-helmeted Hector..."(398;Book 22), "...man-killing Hector..." (149;Book 6), and "Resplendent Hector..."(146;Book 6) to describe the Trojan soldier, while he praises Hector's Greek opponent with such expressions as "Achilles, peer of the plume-waving war god..."(145;Book 22) and "...Achilles, swift of foot..."(182;Book 1).
I believe that it is possible to exist as a true hero in our current society. An epic hero possesses the traits a civilization thinks are important. The Greeks thought of heroes as a special class of people between regular people and the gods. You need to possess courage, strength, cleverness, and leadership. To me, the definition of an epic hero is someone is created by a particular culture, usually as the badge of this culture.
Glory, or kleos, is a recurring theme in Homeric epics. We see many instances of the heros value for glory, and the story focuses largely on the obstacles our hero must overcome to attain it. The parallels and contrasts of the stories serve to highlight the main points Homer had in mind in his understanding of what kleos in fact is. In both cases, our heroes are all unaware of whether or not their kin is alive. Agamemnon does not know where Orestes is and vice versa, and analogously, Odysseus does not know where Telemachus is, and vice versa.
Achilles is an unbelievable warrior who doesn’t get the thanks he deserves. He also got his war prize taken away from him and still basically wins the war for the Greeks. Finally, Achilles has characteristics and traits that people can connect with and understand his feelings. Achilles is viewed as a hero, though he isn’t treated great and complains for a while, he still wins the war and emerges as the sympathetic character in the Illiad. Right from the beginning of the Illiad, the reader finds out a lot about Achilles.
He and his men fit the stereotype of men overcoming their feelings, at times hiding their fright and doubts about the journeys ahead. Within the tale of the Odyssey men are also weak to the enchantment of women; they are easily seduced even when they might not love the female character. Take for example when Ulysses falls subject to the charm of the legendary sirens (Homer, 800 B.C.E) he begs his men to let him loose of the ship’s mast in order to be able to get to the sirens. In a way men are looked at as weak when it comes to the female human flesh, this is not only true within The Odyssey but in real life as well. Overall the men in this narrative are very confident because no matter what they believe they will make it home without regard to the roughness of the situation they might find themselves in; this is especially true about Ulysses who is the leader of most of the males.
Homer’s exploration of Achilles’ struggle for eternal glory establishes the main element of the Hero in ancient Greek culture as the immortalisation of his life in song or epic poetry. Kleos, meaning ‘glory, fame, that which is heard’ refers to both the medium and the message, and is one of the driving forces for many of the warriors in the Illiad. For the heroes, and indeed Achilles, they fight not for their Kings or countries, but for the concept of kleos. In order to achieve this, they have to suffer through an ordeal, accomplish great deeds, show excellence in fighting, and ultimately, die in battle. According to Goldhill, “Poetry confers
Heroes throughout Time Kayla Olmstead When we’re little, we all hear stories about superheroes, brave men and women who save lives and made changes in the world around them. Their actions inspired us to want to be brave and strong just like they were. We called these people our heroes. Just because superheroes used powers to change the world, doesn’t mean that that’s the only reason why somebody could be a hero. A hero is somebody who has determination, courage, selflessness, and sacrifice; they bring change to anybody’s life, whether it’s to one person or multiple people.