All over the world people can recognize the names of ancient heroes: King Arthur, Alexander the Great, Gilgamesh, Heracles, Achilles and his all important heel. We recognize the names of these partially fake glorified characters, but we don’t even know how most of their stories were created.
In class we learned about the oral telling of heroes. The article you will read goes into that with a little more depth. It looks at how some people are recorded as a regular realistic person in one place but more of a godlike being in another depending on how they were recorded.
https://www.writersstore.com/how-the-great-myths-and-legends-were-created/
Possible response questions:
- How has this article affected your view of what makes a hero?
- Can we have a legendary hero in today’s world where everything is constantly recorded?
- If a legendary hero is created by what the people of the time love in a person what would our generation’s (as a whole) hero be like?
South House 
Prompt 2
In an age of ceaseless assurance and data, rumors can still overpower facts for better or worse. As we’ve been reading Beowulf, we were reminded constantly that the tale was never recorded for quite a long time. Josiah asks if a hero can still be made in an environment where everything is made to be known for everyone. Interesting thing is, the oral methods still exist to some degree. Alexander the Great’s duality is proof of this minor yet strong contradiction. In the West, “there was always the real historical record standing as a reference” as James Bonnet states. Whereas in the East, it was much more fictitious, but grand enough for it to be spread like wildfire. Yet I bring up the question, who’s to say that the historical recordings aren’t all that accurate? There’s a lyric to a song, and partially the name of a song all together from Lin Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” that gave life to this question within my mind. It goes, “You have no control ‘Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story’”. Essentially, whomever has the pen in hand (metaphorically speaking) has the power to change the course of history forever. Whomever the recorder is, they have the power to tell the complete truth, but they also have the power to bend events towards more damning or beneficial purposes, whether it suits them or some “higher power”. No one can be certain if the truth is every truly the truth, especially in this era. Thus this gives reason as to why oral fables can still work. Rumors still exist, whether based on fact or speculation they always rise to the top of the conversation list. All it takes for the rumor to get that power is the continued lack of faith in the already “proven” fact. Whether that’s necessarily a good or a bad thing is debatable. I’d also like to remind everyone that the definition of the term “Hero” is all dependent on the individual definer. So depending on who records the events or who tells the tale from memory, the outcomes can be immensely varied. To answer Josiah’s question in a more direct manner, yes, we can have a legendary hero in today’s world where everything is constantly recorded. It all depends on your definition of “legendary”. Is it blessed with glory? Or cursed with infamy?
1. Can we have a legendary hero in today’s world where everything is constantly recorded?
Almost everyone in the world has access to the Internet, millions have a phone in their pocket, and it is close to impossible to live without being seen. “If Men were Angels, no Government would be necessary” I can roughly remember the quote but it applies now more than ever. Our mistakes and our regrets are recorded and saved in the immense grid that is the Internet. To most, a hero is someone who can do no wrong, so being or having a 21st-century hero is far from reach. Men are not angels, but that does not make us demons. Our society needs to understand that in order for someone to rise up and be a hero, we need to accept the fact that he or she will make a mistake. Perfection does not relate to heroism, success and sacrifice does. As Noah put it, “All it takes for the rumor to get that power is the continued lack of faith in the already ‘proven’ fact.”
“Ah yes, the oral tradition, one of the least reliable methods of information retention and transmission.”-Fi, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
2:
In the modern world, where everything is recorded, the oral tradition that lead to the development of many legendary heroes may seem obsolete. However, that does not mean that the traditional hero cannot still develop; they will just do so differently. Eventually, every story about modern heroes will likely have two versions: an official version that states the facts as they happened and an unofficial version that is passed down by word of mouth from person to person, much like the article’s description of Alexander the Great or American tall tales based on the lives of real historical figures (Davy Crockett, John Henry, Casey Jones, etc.).
As Noah pointed out with his Hamilton reference, we do not know who will tell our stories or what light we will be painted in. A person who sees someone as heroic will likely record that story such that the heroic qualities are emphasized, while someone who might disagree would record it in an entirely different light. Even with the decline of the oral tradition, the true facts of the story are not what end up being remembered; that distinction goes the the best-known recording of the story.
Heroes in the traditional sense can still be created in modern society, but the means are different.
1. How has this article affected your view of what makes a hero?
Prior to reading this article I viewed the passing down of stories orally as a disservice to the story. I thought that the stories have gotten changed so much that they are not even close to what audiences heard hundreds of years ago. I still believe this is true, that stories are changed every time they are told.
However, after reading this article, I see that not all of the changes made to a story, whether intentional or unintentional, are necessarily hurting the story. When a story is told orally, changes occur just because the storyteller may have a different background, different vernacular, or certain biases that prevent them from telling the story the exact same way as it was told to them.
In contrast, in today’s world we rely less on oral tradition and more on written text as everything is recorded. Like Aldo brought out, a large percentage of the world’s population has internet access.
Taking all of this into consideration, I think it would be difficult for a hero like Alexander the Great or King Arthur to come out and become a legend. Although there are various heroic acts done around the world, I can’t imagine one person commanding enough of an audience to become so popular that they are talked about around the world for years to come. Because of the Internet, there is too much information being given to people everyday that they get easily distracted. In my opinion, it is unlikely that we will generate legendary heroes like Achilles or Heracles.
How has this article affected your view of what makes a hero?
This article touches on the evolution of myths and legends since their creation, made up or real, and the how its natural for a story to be stripped of what makes it dull and packed with what makes it “better”. A great example of how stories change is our children’s stories: “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” or “The Story of the Three Bears”:”The original tale tells of an ugly, old woman who enters the forest home of three bachelor bears whilst they are away. She sits in their chairs, eats some of their porridge, and falls asleep in one of their beds. When the bears return and discover her, she starts up, jumps from the window, and is never seen again.” “a Little, Small, Wee Bear, a Middle-sized Bear, and a Great, Huge Bear” “Goldy Luck and The Three Pandas”; all of these are variations of the same story that was a variation of a real happening.
I feel these exaggerations don’t take away from how much the hero was an actual hero.
Josiah’s second prompt, “Can we have a legendary hero in today’s world where everything is constantly recorded?” is fascinating because, for me, it came down to the ideals of today’s world. Looking at the examples in the article, I got the sense that building a legendary hero out of a mere human being required imagination and a willingness to believe in the impossible and the extraordinary. The Trojan War might have been just an average war, but what if instead it was full of gods and miracles and invincible heroes? What if Arturis was an awesome sword-wielding king in the company of wizards and knights, instead of just some boring old general? Could you believe that? A cynic who sees no white in the world’s morals might not. But anyone with a little faith in the goodness of the world would. Legendary heroes are created when someone is willing to accept the unreal, the unworldly, and the unimaginable. It’s about imagination above all. So can a legendary hero exist in today’s world? What’s more important to today’s world-imagination or fact? I would argue that it has always been imagination. Noah makes a very interesting point when he claims that “whomever has the pen in hand (metaphorically speaking) has the power to change the course of history forever” because it alludes to this idea that factual truth isn’t as important as it might seem. Instead, truth finds itself at the mercy of the imagination of the pen in hand because truth might be a desire but imagination is a necessity. Imagination is an instinct. It is human nature to dream of bigger things, better things, impossible things that inspire people to reach forward for those dreams. For this reason, imagination will always be the more important ideal. Thus, legendary heroes will thrive whenever, even in today’s world.
1.How has this article affected your view of what makes a hero?
Josiah’s second prompt on the article hasn’t really changed my view on what a hero means to me. The hero is still a hero even if some of his or hers tales are some real or myths. Sure this article does show that the way a hero would be talk about changes because people would change a few things and we wouldn’t know the real story because it wasn’t recorded. Sure the story must have change from the original tale, but the hero still did something heroic to get it told and change throughout time. Like in the article, many people in the west believed that Alexander went to many quest looking for magical items or went exploring exotic places. Alexander must have done something similar to those stories but a little more realistic. He still did something great, but it got changed into legends that people keep on telling stories about it but don’t believe it, because people forgot the truth behind the legend and myth.
2.
In the modern urban world, a legendary hero cannot develop. Because every heroic act can be caught on camera, it is impossible for a story to get lost in translation. Interpreting legends that date back to the time of Jesus would be like playing the ultimate version of the telephone game. Everyone is always under constant scrutiny and with most of the urban society having access to social media; a story about a person exhibiting supernatural strength could easily be dismissed as a kid on video with film trickery. In an urban environment, a legend just cannot emerge with the truth getting tainted because myths get brought up and disproved as fast as they are created. I think the only places that a myth can still exist and develop are the areas of the world that are still unknown. They are the places that mankind has not disturbed for a significantly long time.
I remember a TV show I used to watch that said within every legend is a tiny hidden truth that it is based on. It did not have to be a legendary hero; it could be an animal that has caused chaos within its region. These cases only happen within the secluded societies of the world where there are still areas that have not been explored. The same could be said for a mythical hero and their adversary that emerged from those societies that rely on oral traditions. An example of a recent notorious legend comes from deep within the Alaskan wilderness that is responsible for the disappearance of many fishermen. Its legend talks of a twenty-foot fish that is able to pull a tree stump out of the ground. No one saw it except for a neighbor that lived by the body of water that described the stump floating in the water going against the wind and current. Places where oral tradition still thrive and the reach of technology is denied are where a “legendary” hero could be as recent as being alive today in old age.
How has this article affected your view of what makes a hero?
I agree with Sophia on that although when a story is told orally, “whether intentional or unintentional, are necessarily hurting the story. When a story is told orally, changes occur just because the storyteller may have a different background.” I’ve always believed that stories passed through oral tradition are beautifully different with each retelling. I understand why others may believe that written his maintain the “true” but sometimes it removes some of the mystery and fantasy behind ancient people. The article enlightened me of a different side of the oral and written history.
1. How has this article affected your view of what makes a hero?
Overall, this article has not changed my view of what makes a hero. It has, however, made me rethink the way I saw Beowulf as a hero. My initial impression of Beowulf caused me to see him as a man who could debatably be a hero or just as easily not a hero. Sure Beowulf possessed many superhuman qualities, but he also had several flaws, most notably his ego. After reading this article, it has become apparent to me that many of Beowulf’s characteristics may have been over exaggerated and changed as a result of the many years of his oral telling. At one point in time, Beowulf may have been the perfect example of a hero, in another he could have very easily been portrayed as a villain. It was just chance that when his story was finally recorded, he was somewhere in between. That is exactly how I now see Beowulf, not a hero and not a villain, he is something in between. He is a mosaic of several different generations with several different ideals and values. Nonetheless, the story of Beowulf must have been inspired by someone, as Jacob states, doing something similar to the events told in the story but more realistic.
2. Noah makes very good points when arguing that to some extent the oral tradition is still apparent and despite what the digital age offers “rumors can still overpower facts…”. While it would definitely be far more difficult for a legendary hero to continuously evolve under the scrutiny of people who expect accuracy, it is still possible for the hero to develop and complement the norms of the time. Others are viewing the question from an angle of a modern hero, however, my response focuses on fictional heroes based on real life individuals instead. While characters such as General Arturis, who evolved into King Arthur, seems impossible in an era of digital scrutiny it is very much occurring now as it has been in the past. Of course, the hero is developing a lot differently. Both Noah and Madelyn make an extraordinary connection when they both argue that the truth can easily be manipulated and this too plays a major role in the development of said heroes. All in all, a legendary hero in today’s world is possible.
“How the Great Myths and Legends Were Created.” by James Bonnet states that many great myths and legends have been deemed legendary due to the fact that the tales have been recorded orally. I strongly agree with Noah’s answer regarding situations where everything is recorded throughout today’s society. In today’s world, everything is recorded and posted on social media, being shared throughout the community. “No one can be certain is ever the truth…” Noah states. Recording and sharing things via the internet and friends is the modern day communication, and although there is definite proof of the scenario, the backstory may change, depending on the person who is showing the video or recording. For example, someone may have a recording of a piece of a conversation, and they can use the imagination or assumptions of how that conversation came to be. Legends and heroes can be found in today’s society since oral fables still exists in this time, even if it isn’t the superior to communicate.
Prompt 2:
Madelyn touches on the point of how it’s human nature for people to dream bigger than reality. I feel this one idea is the whole reason that legendary heroes will never die. As Madelyn puts it, “Truth might be a desire, but imagination is a necessity.” For example, let’s look at the legend of Alexander the Great. The article says that in the West, there were historical records of who Alexander was. However. in the East, the legend was born. The stories of “Alexander Searches for the Fountain of Youth” and Alexander Explores the Bottom of the Sea” were born from oral tradition from the Eastern people. Storytellers used their imagination to create grand adventures. The sole fact that people created legendary heroes out of imagination and dreams prove that legendary heroes can always be born. However, in the modern world, they will probably not be born from oral tradition. Instead, they will be born in films and books. People make film adaptations and remakes all the time. Stories of heroes are always being changed and retold. The only difference is that they are not told orally anymore.
As the article mentioned, legendary heroes such as Alexander the Great or King Author are classical heroes that evolved naturally and without a conscious reason. Regardless if their story was exaggerated or changed within time, the tale of a heroic event exists. Throughout the years stories such as, The Iliad and the Odyssey and the story of Moses, have been repeated time and time again and the majority of the heroic information has been engraved in our brains. With this said, with the help of these powerful events and people, society can always reflect on the strong impressions that these heroic favorites have made. I would imagine that the purpose of these legendary heroes was not to make a historical memory or for anyone to glorify their heroic event. It was simply an amazing incident that captured attention, causing their story to be passed around for generations to come. I can not imagine that these stories were purposely created as a bad deed but in fact they were constructed as moral examples of good judgment individuals. During these times people held heroic figures on high pedestals and valued their risk taking character. They were heroes in everyone’s eyes and no one questioned their act. The article made me realize that a legendary hero in today’s world is possible but challenging. With so many people either holding some type of recording device in their hands on their wrist or strapped to their body, it is almost impossible for a heroic act not to be recorded. In a sense, this should be a great advantage for an event not to get lost in translation but sadly society is readily available to scrutinize and opinionate that good stories and people often are not recognized and applauded for their heroism.
As the article mentioned, legendary heroes such as Alexander the Great or King Author are classical heroes that evolved naturally and without a conscious reason. Regardless if their story was exaggerated or changed within time, the tale of a heroic event exists. Throughout the years stories such as, The Iliad and the Odyssey and the story of Moses, have been repeated time and time again and the majority of the heroic information has been engraved in our brains. With this said, with the help of these powerful events and people, society can always reflect on the strong impressions that these heroic favorites have made. I would imagine that the purpose of these legendary heroes was not to make a historical memory or for anyone to glorify their heroic event. It was simply an amazing incident that captured attention, causing their story to be passed around for generations to come. I can not imagine that these stories were purposely created as a bad deed but in fact they were constructed as moral examples of good judgment individuals. During these times people held heroic figures on high pedestals and valued their risk taking character. They were heroes in everyone’s eyes and no one questioned their act. The article made me realize that a legendary hero in today’s world is possible but challenging. With so many people either holding some type of recording device in their hands on their wrist or strapped to their body, it is almost impossible for a heroic act not to be recorded. In a sense, this should be a great advantage for an event not to get lost in translation but sadly society is readily available to scrutinize and opinionate that good stories and people often are not recognized for their heroism.
My view of the characteristics of a hero have not been swayed by this article but it did add some insights such as the making of the story and how oral retelling has influenced those characteristics. Although oral traditions were key in creating an epic hero, living in this digital age doesn’t stop that. As Kevin writes “every story about modern heroes will likely have two versions”. This idea is true since we will probably have a hard copy that can always be accessed and the story that readers have interpreted. People come from different cultures where different objects or actions can be defined differently. This comes into play with creating the modern hero. The way the reader interprets the story and shares that information with others aides in the construction of the modern hero.
prompt 1
This article had little effect on my view of a hero but it had a major effect on my understanding of heroes from literature. Using the tales of King Arthur and Achilles as examples, knowing that these oral stories were passed from generation to generation over centuries and continues to evolve is a concept I previously misunderstood. I always knew these stories were embellished more than slightly, but I thought when they were told the first time they were already as embellished as we know them today. I did not realize the stories changed so drastically through the years and were only final when they were recorded. I share Dion’s take on this article, it puts Beowulf in a new light. I do think that Beowulf was a hero but we now know that the written story we read was certainly not the original. The exaggeration of events and stories is often seen as lying, but as stated in the article, there is no way to even understand how much of an impact these powerful and encouraging tales have on our lives.
2. Can we have a legendary hero in today’s world where everything is constantly recorded?
In today’s society things are taken from what they are and they are completely twisted to be formed into something that will sell on a magazine cover. Today, having someone that records someone else’s every move and action would be a major conflict. As Noah stated, [the recorder]” they have the power to tell the complete truth, but they also have the power to bend events towards more damning or beneficial purposes”. Depending on what intentions the person recording everything has, one can be made seem as a hero or a completely evil person. As the article says, the stories of these great myths and legends were created to leave an oral tradition, to glorify or ennoble a time. In this society, we make stories that make the headlines and change it from it’s original state to something completely different. We don’t have a real meaning or purpose behind the stories other than to get a certain amount of views or an amount of money from it.
2. Can we have a legendary hero in today’s world where everything is constantly recorded?
I believe that we can still have a legendary hero in today’s world. A legendary hero can be either real or fake, and becomes a legendary hero by having many people pass on his story for long periods of time.Normally a heroes story is told in many differen ways by different people. As aldo says, in today’s world almost everyone has access to the Internet. Through the Internet, stories can be shared to thousands of people all at once. The Internet would be a great tool help spread these heroes stories. Also, people who see the story online can decide they believe certain parts of the story could be changed to make it more interesting, and this would be how the story is told in different ways over time.
Prompt 2.
I believe that we can still have a legendary hero in today’s world. A legendary hero can be either real or fake, and becomes a legendary hero by having many people pass on his story for long periods of time.Normally a heroes story is told in many differen ways by different people. As aldo says, in today’s world almost everyone has access to the Internet. Through the Internet, stories can be shared to thousands of people all at once. The Internet would be a great tool help spread these heroes stories. Also, people who see the story online can decide they believe certain parts of the story could be changed to make it more interesting, and this would be how the story is told in different ways over time.
Prompt 2.
I believe that we can still have a legendary hero in today’s world. A legendary hero can be either real or fake, and becomes a legendary hero by having many people pass on his story for long periods of time.Normally a heroes story is told in many differen ways by different people. As aldo says, in today’s world almost everyone has access to the Internet. Through the Internet, stories can be shared to thousands of people all at once. The Internet would be a great tool help spread these heroes stories. Also, people who see the story online can decide they believe certain parts of the story could be changed to make it more interesting, and this would be how the story is told in different ways over time.
How has this article affected your view of what makes a hero?
The article “How the Great Myths and Legends Were Created” by James Bonnet has affected the perspective of what defines a hero by displaying how a hero does not have to be recorded. The hero is instead an oral depiction through what citizens define this hero as, he does not have any swords or armor to show. For instance, Achilles. the greatest warrior in the Trojan War, cannot be confirmed real as the “sites of these ancient events” (paragraph six) have yet to be found, as well as “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” by Homer, for he is also a legend. While there may have been warriors and historians around 1200 B.C like Achilles and Homer, the oral representation of these people have probably been exaggerated. Bonnet describes this as a tendency of the mind, the tendency to “exaggerate or minimize, to glorify or ennoble, to idealize or vilify”, people want their heroes to be extraordinary not just less ordinary. Dion brings a new light on the view of a hero by illustrating that heroes can have flaws such as Beowulf’s ego or Achilles’s heel. These flaws do not mitigate the tendency to glorify heroes but rather make them even more legendary, for when the heroes know their flaws they become stronger. Although Beowulf and Achilles may have not realized their flaws, others such as Billy Hope, an ex-professional boxer, overcame his flaw -an injured left eye- and went back to win the World Light heavyweight title in boxing. A hero either recorded or unrecorded is capable of miraculous actions, therefore a flaw in a hero brings self-growth, thus characters similar to Hope stand out more than before in a variety of ways. The world should be on the lookout for heroes and make the current spectrum of heroes larger.
Prompt 2: Can we have a legendary hero in today’s world where everything is constantly recorded?
I believe that a legendary hero can still exist even in today’s world. Just because there are platforms for videos to be posted of a heroic action does not mean that there will not be a hero. I agree with what Jose said when he stated, “A legendary hero can be either real or fake…” Whether the hero is made up by the parents of a young child growing up in these days, or the hero is announced on a news broadcasting network, the character is still a hero in the young child and viewer’s eyes. An example was given in the text that Josiah gave us. James Bonnet, the author of the excerpt stated, “Alexander the Great is another good subject to study in this regard because there is both a good historical record in the West as well as a rich tradition of legends in the East.” This piece of evidence from the text is able to show that there can be both real and made up heroes. It has nothing to do with the era that we live in. There can still be legendary heroes even though we live in a world where everything is constantly being recorded.
1.
This article did not affect my views on what makes a hero except it just gave me more knowledge on how stories are really told. I agree to what Sophia said about this article. The fact that stories are told differently by many different generations is a disservice to the truth. If we want to look up to a hero, we want the truth about him or her. We don’t want details that are told only to make them seem stronger or more heroic, instead, we want the details that will stick to us because it has inspired us and given us hope.
Though this reminds me of how fairy tales such as Cinderella and Snow White have eerie versions in which the princesses and their stories are not exactly how they are portrayed in the Disney movies. For example, in Cinderella, her step sisters actually cut their toes just to make themselves fit in the glass shoes. In Snow White, the queen eats the lungs and heart that was hunted thinking that it was Snow White. A lot of other fairy tales from Disney are told different which is by the Complete Fairy Tales of Brothers’ Grimm. From that, I believe that people like to write or retell stories to make the stories reach their own expectations.
Even though there’ll be some people who don’t like versions that are told differently from the original, it’s not a wrong to retell stories in differently because it can’t be help that every person has their own unique minds and expectations.
Prompt 2
I do believe that in todays society someone can become a legendary hero. With the invention of the internet and cameras and instant messaging, anything and everything can be all around the world in a matter of seconds.Although the article states that these stories of legendary heroes were passed down and modified to fit the view of a legendary hero, there are still some aspects of the stories that are true. And in today world , there is still a lot of the truth that gets stretched. Just like how Erica stated that parents and children can make up a hero, someone could take a story and change it to turn someone into a legendary hero. The fact that a hero can carry depending on the opinion of a person, a legendary hero can vary from someone who saves kittens from trees everyday to someone who saves people from burning houses everyday.
Prompt 2
In today’s society with everything that is recorded it can become difficult for a new legend to form, but that does not mean that we do not have legends now. Today our legends are in the form of religion. In the article, “How the Great Myths and Legends were Created,” James Bonnet describes how events that may have happened in the past can be changed into greater and more outlandish tales. A quote from the article struck out to me was,”Myths are stories that have evolved to such an extent that the truth they contain has become so charismatic and obvious that religions are formed around them. All of the great religions have mythological stories as their justification and the source of their truth.” Bonnet then describes two major people in religion, Jesus and Moses, and even though there is no historical record of them 2.4 billion people believe that they were real. In the U.S there are 280 million Christians. In a way we can call Jesus and Moses legendary heroes. Though I argue that we do have legendary heroes in the form of religion, it may be a different story to say that a new legend can be made now, but I think it can be possible in some form.
Madelyn said, in her post, “A cynic who sees no white in the world’s morals might not. But anyone with a little faith in the goodness of the world would. Legendary heroes are created when someone is willing to accept the unreal, the unworldly, and the unimaginable. It’s about imagination above all.” Just as in religion, people need faith to believe in legends, and imagination. The closest thing I feel we have to legends are, oddly enough, memes. Memes like Harambe spread like wild fire on the internet. With the use of the internet normal everyday things can be turned into something more. Just like in legends it always starts out real and then turns into a completely different story. Now Harambe is treated as a joke legendary hero, with people saying, “Harambe died for our sins” and other weird phrases. Though I would not call memes legends I feel its the closest thing we have.
In response to prompt 2:
A legendary hero can still exist today. With everything being recorded as it happens, there is little room for exaggeration and added circumstances. However, the definition of a legendary hero in this generation may differ from past generations. Newer generations do not typically see dragon-slaying and battle winning as legendary. Now, the legendary heroes consist of someone like Steve Jobs. Without the developments and contributions he made to Apple Inc., a large percentage of this generation would have grown up without the latest technology. More recently, there has been less talk of widely known legendary heroes and more talk of technological advancements and those who contribute to them. As time progresses, these are the people who are becoming more and more legendary. Madelyn said, “It is human nature to dream of bigger things, better things, impossible things that inspire people to reach forward for those dreams.” I agree with her statement not only because it gives credit to those whom inspire others, but it also supports my thoughts on today’s legendary heroes. Without the dreams of these modern legendary heroes, perhaps the term would never evolve and General Arturis, Achilles, and Alexander the Great would still be the most modern heroes we would know of.
2. Heroes are defined differently depending on the era and viewpoint from which they are considered. In classic mythology and ancient tales, those of legendary superhuman strength were ideal heros who fought as strong warriors in epic battles. As the article stated, “Even if they started out as made-up or true stories, revelations or dreams, they still ended up for long periods of time in oral traditions and that became the principal dynamic behind their creation.” Today, oral stories are not typically the main source of communication because the world communicates visually through cell phones and video, instead of sharing stories face to face.
In the twenty-first century, the definition of a hero is not concrete and absolute, but most agree that it is a person who performs a selfless act and sacrifices perhaps time or their life. I agree with Kevin when he stated that, “Heroes in the traditional sense can still be created in modern society, but the means are different.” The modern-day society is shaped differently than it was hundreds, if not thousands of years ago, for though the concept of heroism evolved through oral tradition, we can still admire this idea of a legendary hero with their story told through writing instead of voice.
For example, Malala Yousafazi, a young girl from Afghanistan and well known hero, stood up for girls’ education in Afghanistan and took a bullet to the face for her efforts. Her courage and perseverance earned her the title of the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Though it is the twenty-first century, Malala should still be considered a legendary hero, despite living in an era where oral tradition is not used as much as it used to be. Though she did not fight in an epic battle or use superhuman strength against her opposition, she began a movement for the right to education, a feat not many today can share alongside her.
Prompt 2:
The article brings up Alexander the Great and how he became a legend. The article continues and states that between the East and West they had different stories of who he was. In the East, he was born a legend and in the West, they had historical records of who he was. Alexander had stories such as “Alexander Searches for the Fountain of Youth” and Alexander Explores the Bottom of the Sea” that were told from oral tradition from the Eastern people. They were created from imagination and proves that legendary heroes can always be created. I agree with Madelyn when she said, “Truth might be a desire, but imagination is a necessity.” In modern society, these heroes stories won’t be orally said. Instead, they would be made into a book or into a film. Stories are always being made into films and always being changed.
I believe that it is still possible to have legendary heros in our day and age because just as James Bonnet said in his article, those types of stories are ones that exist from within all of us. And it is because of our written language that we are able to record these stories and pass them on to future generations. In fact, we do have our own legendary heros and stories of the modern age because of this. Movies and books like The Avengers, Star Wars, Hunger Games, and Percy Jackson are just a few examples of stories of modern heroes that were made by man. Not too mention the countless other retellings of real-life heroes, such as movies like Sully and Schindler’s List. I agree with Natalie when she says, “In the twenty-first century the definition of a hero is not concrete or absolute, but most agree that it is a person who performs a selfless act and sacrifices perhaps time or their life” because it’s true. Everyone has a different view on what makes a hero, but that’s what makes these stories so fascinating and keeps them alive for generations to come.