It is difficult/ to get the news from poems/yet men die miserably every day/ for lack/ of what is found there -William Carlos Williams Humans are basically equal and are born into different statures and places in life. But in the end, we all die, though some of us may live longer A Hero‘s Journey Coming into this class, I didn’t have a definition for the word hero. If Achilles is a hero in this moment, I think heroism has to do with acknowledging excellence while retaining humility, I can’t think of any specific person who fits this definition, because everyone has some selfishness inside them, but maybe overcoming that selfishness makes you a hero. Can anyone really be a hero if we‘re all human?
I wish I could see people as heroes but is scares me to give someone that title because they always have the ability to to mess it up. It seems like a big name to give someone, and because no one is perfect it just seems strange There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul, One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious -Carl Jung I believe that I don‘t have enough trust in people, I never want to put someone on a pedestal, because I believe that everyone eventually falls down. It’s impossible to be perfect, and that is incredibly irritating to me.
There’s a difference between having an internal strength and just fighting everyone all the time. Sometimes strength is abstaining from the fight. A Hero‘s Song There is a disconnect in the definition of a hero for me because in modern society, we see heroes as these big, larger than life characters, but the definition I’ve formed in this class involves a character shift from these big grand personalities into humility and an acknowledgment of mortality. Enlightenment causes one to see their darkness no matter how hard they try to hide it I think Homer might be trying to make the point about human mortality. Especially in stories involving immortals, there are always people who end up dying for a “greater cause,” one that’s often murky and difficult to understand Like the reading said, fights among gods end in laughter and wine, while fights among men end in death.
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Humans are seen as pawns, and while some gods pick favorites, they are still so interchangeable. There will always be a new hero born, The leaves are a pretty accurate description of people, soldiers in particular. It’s interesting, because most of these men are fighting for recognition, yet everyone ends up the same in the end- dead. Everyone holds onto that hope that we stand out, that we‘re different, and can make a difference. However, if someone called me a leaf and said I wasn‘t special in any way, I might agree with them in a larger sense. Something like that only makes sense if you have a bigger perspective, like the gods would have On a personal level, I believe that everyone has at least one thing to offer to the world.
The idea that spoke to me the most in this passage is the anger and despair There is a lot of imagery of death and violence, which is contrary to the view of heroes that is so romanticized. When you think of heroes, you think of these great tales and stories, epics, and if bring to mind all of the glory and riches that the hero was promised in the beginning. But by having an invocation at the beginning that so clearly dictates a negative ending following a story full of confusion and betrayal almost seems more realistic Simply reveling in a hero’s glory is simplistic and naive. It seems to me that for every hero, there is a tragic story behind their riches and game.
King of related to what I wrote about last class in that I don’t believe it’s wise to hold normal humans up to a hero standard, to put them on a pedestal. Even the children of gods in these epics are not always immortal, and honestly the gods love to medal in their lives I really enjoyed that the passage focuses a lot on the negative words like rage and death and pain, because that‘s what war is to me. There also seemed to he a sense of confusion like no one quote knows what’s going on, or who is one what side, or why anyone is fighting in the first place Not loyalty to a king, but interpersonal loyalty. I’ve been asked this question quite often, and whenever it arises, whether it he in a paper, a class discussion, or an interview, I always do the same thing- pick a random figure, whoever I‘ve seen in the news lately or perhaps read a paper on them.
I find it hard to laud people as heroes because it’s simply human nature to have both good and bad in you. I suppose the closest people to heroes for me are revolutionaries, people who worked for social change Itjust seems a bit ridiculous to label someone as a hero, because it implies perfection The word hero ring to mind ancient heroes, those with super powers or special abilities. But to me, being a hero is much more a temporary thing. I tend to admire people who don’t use violence, but I can also understand why some view it as necessary.
I wanted to continue writing about my new definition as a hero I kind of have been fighting against it, ever since the first day of this class when we were told to talk about our heroes and our definitions. I don’t consider most people who’ve fought in the military as heroes, I don’t consider politicians heroes. I don‘t know, it all seems strange to me. Then I realized it was because I felt a like a lot of these typical heroes were missing something that I consider a necessary trait for someone to have to be a great person I think they have to have humility, and they have to acknowledge their mortality, Killing people isn‘t heroic.
Like in the scene with Prion, Achilles’s ability to show mercy is what makes him heroic, not that fact that he killed someone or lots of people. I’m just really against violence and it’s unfortunate that we live in such 3 Violence saturated society I feel like in our society today, overly masculine, angry, strong people with strong morals are seen as people with valued and desirable traits. Now I’m not saying that morals are a bad thing at all, I just think that when people are too stuck in their own ways, it can inhibit intelligence and lead to bad decision-making. It doesn’t matter whether or not it’s a valid truth.
