Altruism Through Storytelling

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According to Orson Scott Card, altruism, the characteristic described as being selfless or devoted to the welfare of others, is developed in a society by means of storytelling. In How Lloyd Biggle, Jr., Changed My Life, Part II, Card says “…there is no society that does not have a constantly repeated mythic element in its stories that declares over and over again that the noblest thing a person can do is give up his own personal interests for the sake of others joy or survival…” Altruism is most definitely established through story telling. After all, what are we but a product of the influences around us? This characteristic has been influenced through stories including those of Antigone and Theseus and the Slaying of the Minotaur. In addition, from my own personal experiences, my mother told me a story from her teenage years that inspired me to change my personality in an enormous way.
In Antigone, the play written by Sophocles, we see altruism playing a large part in Antigone’s decisions. Antigone mourns the death of her brothers Eteokles and Polyneices, killed during a rebellion against the city of Thebes. Eteokles was honorably buried whereas Polyneices was left unburied outside the walls of the city. Antigone, showing true loyalty to her family, elected to bury the body of Polyneices, though it was against the law. She did this knowing she would die; she laid her life on the line for someone else, displaying a true act of altruism. When hearing this tale of courage, Greek children must have been influenced, in some way, to be giving and selfless towards others.
We can see the importance of altruism displayed in Theseus and the Slaying of the Minotaur. The story tell of Theseus and how he goes about slaying the Minotaur, clearly, but one can recognize altruism in Theseus’ acts as well. In the opening paragraph to the story, the reader is informed that Theseus

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