Aim: How can an understanding of Greek myths and heroes prepare us for our examination of Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey?
Do now:
For our do now, we had to think of qualities that every hero should have, as well as the definition of being a hero. Ideas like perseverance, courage, and selflessness were all brought up as well as others. I said to the class that a hero should always be facing a challenge or have a good villain. As many have said, what good is a hero without a good villain? This ties into the other qualities that the classmates gave as a hero should have courage and perseverance to get through and beat his/her villain or challenge.
Because we were going to be delving into the Odyssey, we had a whole discussion about what we know about greek mythology and greek heroes. Ayah chipped in and said that the gods were shown to have specific roles in movies, such as Zeus being the villain. I said that many times heroes were sons or daughters of the gods, which is why a lot of them were thought to have superhuman strength and great courage. We also talked about how the gods were the embodiment of human beings, and how they represent the good and the bad things about us.
Some gods of greek mythology and Greek customs
After the class discussion, we did spirit reading on some of the Greek Gods, and customs that Greeks had regarding the gods. Notable gods include Zeus, Hades, Athena, and Poseidon. Zeus is the king of all the gods, ruler of the sky, lightning and thunder. Poseidon is Zeus’ brother, and he is the god of the seas, as well as earthquakes which gives him the nickname the “Earth-shaker”. Hades is also Zeus’ brother, and he is the ruler of the underworld and the dead. He is married to Persephone. Athena is the goddess of war and wisdom, and she is daughter of Zeus and the titan Metis.
Greeks were polytheistic, meaning that they completely believed in the existence of the gods. They believed that gods were a reflection of humanity, and acted with the same goodness and flaws of humanity. They also believed that what they did in their lives were closely monitored by the gods. Respecting and worshipping the gods was believed to be the key to survival and success. Greeks also worshipped their heroes. A hero might be a founder of a town, or an important person during a battle. Ms. Peterson gave us an example of this with the Epic of Gilgamesh.
A lot of these myths were passed down through generations orally, meaning that these myths were passed down by telling the stories physically. This allowed stories and culture to stay alive through different civilizations before the printing press was invented. This way of telling stories also appealed to the illiterate.
Homer's Epics and What Constitutes an Epic
The Iliad along with its companion, The Odyssey, are 2 epics made by Homer, that was regarded as the cornerstone of Greek civilization. These 2 poems also set the standards for what makes an epic.
An epic is a long narrative poem that describes a hero and his/her journey, with The Iliad and The Odyssey being 2 examples. An epic starts in the middle of the hero’s journey, instead of the beginning, and uses a flashback to explain events that happened earlier. An epic has a very large setting that spans many nations, as well as the land of the dead. There is going to be help from the gods, and also long and formal speeches from the hero. The hero should be an embodiment of the morals and ideals of the civilization that the author is from.
After spirit reading the criteria, we had a class discussion about why these criteria exist and how they work for the poem. Many of us focused on how the epic starting in the middle of the poem really makes it interesting, as someone said it provides a kind of cliffhanger effect. Starting it in the middle also deviates from the norm, as most text just starts normally in the beginning of the actual story or plot. I said something different, talking about since there’s divine intervention, it shows that the task that the heroes have to complete is so grand and hard that gods would need to get involved in order for a quest of an epic to be completed.
The heroes of an epic should have superhuman abilities, and courage to overcome any task they face. Despite this, they should still have flaws, as they aren’t perfect and are still human. As said earlier, a hero should have tasks or villains that he will have to conquer or defeat. The hero should be on a quest for something that is valuable to his/her people, or to him/herself. There will be a villain or multiple villains that will try to stop the hero from completing the quest. The hero should also be physically beautiful.
Once we were done spirit reading about heroes in an epic, we had a class discussion on why heroes aren’t perfect. We came to the conclusion that if a hero was perfect, then we wouldn’t feel for the hero. If the hero got into trouble, or faced a difficult choice between good and evil, if the hero was perfect then we wouldn’t feel tension as we know the hero will do the right thing. Adding flaws makes them relatable to us, and relatability allows for us to feel empathy for the hero.
The Origin of the Word Hero, and Its Overuse in Modern Society
After describing what makes an epic and the criteria for a hero in an epic, we focused on how the word hero came to be. The heroes first came to be in stories told in the oral tradition. Many of the heroes in these stories were superhuman, and their actions were almost always for the good of mankind. The dictionary definition traces the word's [hêrôs]meaning from "a being of godlike prowess and beneficence" to "a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage or ability" during the Homeric period of ancient Greece. The word hero would be defined as a person who was “distinguished from their fellows by superior moral, physical or intellectual qualities.” as of the encyclopedia Britannica of 1911. This definition led to scholars arguing that “[it is difficult to] grasp the ancient Greek concept of hero and now go beyond the word's ordinary levels of meaning in casual contemporary usage.”
The word hero has now been thoughtlessly applied to almost everything in our culture. It is used for tv-shows, celebrities, journalists, working women, first responders, pretty much everyone that is helpful and contributing to society. If this word is used so much to describe basically everyone, then nobody is special. Nobody is a hero, if everyone is a hero. This overuse makes it hard to find the real, superhuman kind of heroism.
Group discussion
Draw your own conclusion on this argument. Do you agree or disagree with the concept that the word “hero” has become overused? Why or why not?
Our group said that we do believe the word hero has become overused. We said that basically everyone who has done good for society is being called a hero. This devalues the definition of a hero, though we agree that calling people that do good a hero isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it's just overuse of the word.
When we create heroes in fiction, we almost can't help but give them superhuman powers because what a hero does to be a hero is something which seems like people should be incapable of doing. It is something truly “other”.
Compare some of today’s superheroes with the original definition of “hêrôs”.
An example of a modern hero that defies the original definition of the word is Batman. Although this is a very common example, I can’t help but bring it up. Batman is a superhero that has no powers, and swears to fight for justice and protects the city he is in, as well as the whole planet and alien threats. He might be a man driven by vengeance, but he does it in order to save people from the worst of society. Asdaq said that today’s heroes are much more relatable to us as regular humans, but as a group we said that they can’t be too similar to us or else they’ll just be another representation of humans instead of extraordinary beings fighting for the greater good.
Do you think, as a modern society, we are searching for a “superhuman” hero similar to the Ancient Greeks, despite our overuse of the term? Why or why not?
Unlike the ancient Greeks, I don’t believe we are actively trying to find a person that has superhuman abilities and has great courage and morals. We will however still make stories about heroes with superhuman abilities as a way of entertainment, and to sometimes reflect our own society.
Reflection
In this lesson, I learned about greek gods, mythology, and greek heroes. Although I have learned much about the gods earlier in my life, it is always refreshing to look back at the gods. What is interesting about the Greek Gods is that they represent the way humans live, with the same positives and flaws. They are just basically a reflection of human nature. These gods were worshipped heavily by the greek, and they also worshipped their heroes. The heroes were an embodiment of the good and the morals of one’s culture, and possessed superhuman powers while still having human flaws.
In preparation for The Odyssey, an epic about a greek hero Odysseus, we learned all of these things, as well as the criteria for an epic. Knowing all of this can help me better understand Homer's poem, and the meaning behind it. Our lesson also deep dived into the meaning of a hero, as well as the over usage in our society today. Having a deeper understanding of the word hero lets me be aware when I just use that word mindlessly to describe someone that does good.
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