Hi there!
Well, this time I’ll post something I did for school. On the Medieval Literature we had to write this papar discussing the differences between a traditional and a modern hero. It is not that good… It’s not my best, I know it… but I have to turn in something, hehe. SO, here it is… feel free to give comments and critics :P
TRADITIONAL HERO VS MODERN HERO
In this paper, I will be discussing the differences between a modern hero and an Anglo-Saxon hero. But first, we have to know what a hero is. We may probably know or guess what a hero is, but we don’t know the exact definition of it. Actually, no one knows the real definition. In fact there are plenty of phrases that describe a hero, but anyone can have its own definition. Browsing the web, I found the following definitions:
1. An illustrious man, supposed to be exalted, after death, to a place among the gods; a demigod, as Hercules.
2. A man of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger, or fortitude in suffering; a prominent or central personage in any remarkable action or event; hence, a great or illustrious person.
3. The principal personage in a poem, story, and the like, or the person who has the principal share in the transactions related; as Achilles in the Iliad, Ulysses in the Odyssey, and Aeneas in the Aeneid.
4. In mythology and legend, a man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and favored by the gods.
5. A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life:
6. A person noted for special achievement in a particular field: the heroes of medicine.
All of these definitions are acceptable and some people’s descriptions of a hero may coincide with one of these, but I think that the most approachable ones would be the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth. Why all of these? Because a hero is not only someone that has a lot of strength or that is handsome or so. A hero can be ANY PERSON in the world: a doctor, a lawyer, a maid, a teacher, a handicapped person… EVEN A DOG can be a hero! In order to be a hero, or to be considered as a hero you must stand out from the many. You must be courageous, be loyal to what you believe, and be brave enough to stand, fight, and defend your principles.
A hero doesn’t mean that he or she have to save the world or have extraordinary powers, which a modern movies and comics hero have. With this, we see the first and huge difference that a modern hero and an Anglo-Saxon one have. On the Anglo-Saxon culture, the hero has an extraordinary strength, but it is nothing that no one can do. For instance, even the skinniest and weakest person in the word in an extremely and dangerous situation can give the best of him and can have such an extraordinary strength. But, going back to the main point here, modern heroes are portrayed with such a strength that they seem to be from out of this world (which some of them are) and they can only “be real” on movies, TV shows or comic strips.
Also, another main difference that we can find is that in the Anglo-Saxon civilization, a hero was kind of immediately promoted to be a king, due that he had the characteristics that they searched for in a king (loyalty, braveness, courageous, strong person). In a nowadays hero, his personality or even his persona can be hater by many and loved by few. For instance, we have Adolf Hitler. He was considered a hero by a little group of people, but he was hated by most of the world. This happens with most of the comics and movies heroes. Half of the society loves them because they help people and save the world in countless times… but the other half hates him, because he breaks the rules and disturbs the peaceful life they live.
This leads us to another aspect that differentiates modern heroes from the Anglo-Saxon ones. A traditional hero has to play by the rules. This is, never break the law, never lie, and always help people in need at all causes. By this we mean that a hero has to be perfect… flawless so for say. On the other hand, a modern hero can be on either side of the law, he can be good or he can be bad. He can break the rules and he can do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals… like the saying: the sacrifice of the few helps to benefit the many. Also, other difference linked to this one is that “old” heroes can be role model for the generations, because they didn’t smoke, they didn’t drink, they didn’t curse… opposite of the modern heroes, who smoke, drink and curse.
Another aspect, with which we can compare and contrast old heroes from modern heroes, is that both want to change the world to be a better place. Regardless if the hero is on the “evil” side or in the “good” one, both want this so badly. But there is one thing in this aspect that hey differ, maybe because we don’t know much about old heroes and that’s why I can deduce this: the modern hero also is asking himself if he change his persona, he can change the world. We can se this with most of the heroes we have nowadays.
One of the main characteristics of the traditional heroes is that most of them are sons from a noble family, kings or even Gods. For instance, Hercules was Zeus and Alcmena’s son. In a modern hero, we can notice that some of them are just ordinary people that do great things. For instance, a young man in the street can become a hero if he saves the life of an old lady, or so.
To conclude, I can say that there are no much differences between the Anglo-Saxon and the modern hero. Both save people, both want the best for the world and both possess some characteristics that make them stand from the many: they are courageous, brave, and loyal to what they believe. Who knows, maybe there’s a hero inside of us waiting for the chance to come out and sand out. For sure, among us we have heroes, but we don’t know about them because they are not recognized and probably we will never know about them.
SOURCES
Definitions of Hero:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/herohttp://www.brainyquote.com/words/he/hero173113.html
Differences between Traditional and Modern Heroes
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_differences_between_a_traditional_hero_and_a_modern_hero&src=ansTT
The Modern Hero
http://english.dc-marion.ohio-state.edu/modernismproject/modern_hero.htm
Modern Day Hero vs. Anglo-Saxon Hero
http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/1405.php
