Who Needs the Greeks?

I’ve shown you all some of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology and modern comics.  So what’s the point?  The point is to prove that we don’t need Greek heroes.

 

Seriously think of him while writing your next paper!

Sure as we’ve looked at their stories, I have to admit their pretty cool but there is one issue, they’re over two thousand years old!  That is a huge age gap to overcome!

Rushing to your rescue

So why do we force these heroes into a mold they weren’t meant to fill?  We have so many great heroes that exemplify all they stood for and yet don’t have to be man handled into the molds we want them to fit, because they were meant to go there.

We have a super strong and gifted hero (alien), hailing from the distant planet of Krypton, a dark and mysterious adventurer out for justice while still being just a human among gods, well super heroes and aliens (but how some fan boys/girls go on about them I’m not always so sure), and the ever lovable funny guy.  Why do we need to go digging through tomes to discover older heroes carrying these qualities?  Because teachers/professors/academia in general says we have to, that’s why.

I don’t know about you but that seems silly to me.  In nearly every other discipline innovation and progress is a good thing, here not so much.  Here we are expected to roll with what has been done…FOREVER and add our own personal twist to a collection of stock characters, trust me there are only so many ideas that can be given one cast and after two thousand years, it becomes challenging.

And don't forget the Man of Steal himself

Besides Hades misses his family

I can understand using older sources and, like I’ve stated, I’m not opposed to Greek mythology, in fact I’ve read most of it.  Instead I think these new heroes deserve a place too.  Let students cite heroes of ancient sources along with those of present day.  Let them read Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Rises and the Virgil’s Aeneid, it would give students a chance to learn from the classics as well as from the present, ask them to compare Batman and Aeneas for all I care, just for the love of Jove use them.

We have the opportunity to use the best of the classics coupled with modern times, the sacred love child of Homer and Stan Lee, embrace it.  It could be wonderful.  Or we can ignore them until they finally disappear and a new cast of heroes is born and the cycle begins again, at least until the books on Greek mythology become used to death and become illegible. 

All I want is to see these character’s taken advantage of and taken seriously, who knows in two-thousand years someone might be urging people to use their new heroes instead of or along with Batman.  It would definitely be interesting (but Batman’s the most awesome so they’ll still have to use him).

 

I Am...Batman!!!

The Fastest Mouths: Flash vs. Hermes

As promised nothing but complete and total shenanigans for the next thousand words or so, and boy will it be fun with guys like these joining us.  First is yet another illegitimate son of Zeus, Hermes a god who at only a few days old swindled Apollo out of his cows with a lyre, the patron god of thieves and pranksters alike in a match up for the first time with everyone's favorite wisecracking Justice League hero Berry Allen or as most know him, The Flash.

He couldn't catch this guy quite fast enough

Where to start with these two, I guess we might as well start with the beginning.  Hermes from the very start was trouble.  At only a day old he wiggled away from his mom, stole Apollo's cows, and made a lyre.  Apollo upset that his baby brother had the audacity to steal from him went to Zeus, but before any grounding could happen Hermes began to play the lyre and Apollo was so enchanted he traded his cows for the instrument.

That's the staff he won from Apollo

Berry for his high energy and humorous nature had a much darker beginning.  As a kid his mother was murdered causing him to pursue a career as a forensic scientist, until he was struck by lightning and became...The Flash, the fastest man alive.  And to start the humor/irony before and even after the accident Berry, even as the fastest man, has a tendency to be chronically late.

Don't be fooled by his intensity he really is a goof ball

As the messenger of the gods Hermes is known to be pretty fast himself, his winged sandals allow him to move quickly around the globe as his delivers messages, soles to the underworld, or causes the other gods grief.  Seeing that our two favorite pranksters had super speed it isn't that surprising that their mouths could match, I mean Hermes was also the god of oratory.

For some pretty light hearted guys they did have a bit of darkness surrounding them.  In the case of the Flash his mother's murder and father's conviction is what lead him to become a police scientist and later a hero.  And Hermes was in charge of leading the souls of the dead to the underworld, a rather morbid profession.

That's just how he rolls 

Yet the god was know for his quick wit and ability to make jokes in any and all circumstances.  When Aphrodite was caught in the act of adultery with Ares by her husband Hephaestus putting a net over their bed, all the gods came to laugh at their plight.  Apollo turned to hermes and asked if he would sleep with Aphrodite if the same would happen to him.  He replied that even if all the gods saw and four times the amount of chains held him he would still sleep with Aphrodite, everyone thought it was funny, except Aphrodite (she is still a bit embarrassed).

Drama! The source of the funny man's power

Flash also while taking his job seriously isn't the harsh man he keeps company with (He spends time with Batman for crying out loud) or the arduous by the book guy Superman is.  When he and a fellow hero go to question one of his nemeses Trickster, they find him at a bar.  After questioning the other hero asks about his enemy, "Oh right.  After your drink turn yourself in!"  "Got me again Flash."

If there is anything these tricksters teach us it’s that in every culture in every time period people love the goof balls.  They make dark tales lighter and more enjoyable while adding a flare of fun to every circumstance.  So even the “sophisticated” Greeks like the wisecrackers in their epics and stories.

So why is it important to look at these characters that often obscured by the much more famous heroes also occupying their respective worlds?  Because they exist!  Lot’s of the “academic” and “sophisticated" reader/critics look down on comics because of their flashy sometimes over the top characters.

Let’s think about this Hermes said he would sleep with Aphrodite even if he got caught in more chains in front of everyone (which did happen to Ares).  Why?  Well in colloquial, modern, crass terms, she’s hot and he’d totally tap that. 

 

I solemnly swear I am up to no good

Does that sound like some goofy guy friends you might know?  If your guy friends are anything like mine I wouldn’t be surprised.  And he doesn’t stop there, he is known throughout all Greek mythology for these kinds of jokes, and pranks. 

Flash stays more with the wisecracks but the one good thing is you don’t have to translate into modern terms, it’s already done for you.  So you can be lazy and chuckle at his range from funny to lame jokes and either snicker or join Batman in the rolling of the eyes (seriously Bats is an expert now he could definitely give you pointers on the proper eye rolling technique). 

But look even the Greeks, the highest of all ancient academic literature, have a funny guy and he is definitely funny, and a bad influence in general.  He even is comparable to the funny guy of today; I’d read about him anytime.  Good job Greeks!  

So where does that leaves us?  what roles should comic heroes and Grecian heroes play in modern society and literature?  All this and more to be answered in the next installment, or as comics would say...

To Be Continued... 

A Hero's Journey: Batman vs. Ulysses

It seems logical to transfer from two of the most famous super-heroes to two of the most famous heroes. So without further ado I present to you Batman and Ulysses!

So why these two?  First they are both true humans in worlds dominated by non-humans (Aliens, super-humans, demigods, ect.). 

Sorry Zeus this one you can't brag about

Ulysses is one of the few Greek heroes who does not have a god as a parent, even more amazing, in Star Wars rivaling twist, Zeus isn’t his father! (You can almost hear Luke shouting in the background).  Instead he comes from the humble beginnings as the son of King Laertes of Ithaca (yes I know not exactly humble but this is Greek mythology everyone was someone important somehow, those from “humble backgrounds” turned out to be demigods or something).

Similarly Batman was also just a man, he trained his body and mind to the point of almost being something more, but he was born a man.  He also has his humble beginnings as the son of the very wealthy Thomas and Martha Wayne (Well the bat mobile wasn’t exactly cheap and kicking butt in the darkness of the night doesn’t exactly pay too well or help productivity the next day).

Still in worlds dominated by those with enormous strength or unique abilities given to them by their godly or other-worldly origins these two “normal” men have not only gained a name for themselves, but rival their super comrades.  Superman highly respects Batman giving him a shard of Kryptonite, his only weakness.  Ulysses wins in a toughest guy in the room competition against Ajax, the grandson of Zeus and cousin of Achilles, to Ajax’s chagrin.

Seriously Superman trusted him with Kryptonite

While both these heroes are strong they also rely on their brains to get them out of trouble.  Batman is called the "World's Greatest Detective" and Ulysses was the one who actually came up with the Trojan horse idea.  This shows that both had as much brain as brawn if not more.

But as we look at these two characters why should one have more of a place in our culture as the other?  Ulysses' tale is told primarily in the Odyssey a long Grecian epic, which I have read and enjoyed, yet it is by no means everyone's favorite.  Let's be honest being assigned to read something takes some of the joy out of it anyway and when that something is 500 plus pages it gets old even faster.

Coolest and Smartest King of Ithaca

In the story Ulysses faces many trials and overcomes them through his intelligence and skill, while at times causing even more trouble for himself (do not insult cyclopses you just escaped from, you never know when their Daddy is actually the god of the sea).  Finally after ten long years of struggle he returns home to find his still devoted wife, (she's been waiting for at least twenty years for crying out loud), loving son, and a bunch of guys all trying to steal his wife, who he kills in righteous anger (you do not hit on the kings wife).  And everyone lives happily ever after, except those who died, but hey the hero made it so it's fine.

In the story of Batman we see the same struggle as he constantly battles against the villains who try to steal, kill, and cause chaos in his city of Gotham.  While not as direct a journey as that of Ulysses it is a journey as we see him transform from the kid who witnessed his parent's murder to the Dark Knight protector of Gotham.  He is a darker hero than that of Superman and other heroes common in comics.  He beats up criminals, is chased by the law at times, and does anything to get the job done short of killing.

Poor young Bruce Wayne 

Batman is a foil to the character of Superman because he is not one to simply follow the law, but create his own at times if the situation calls for it.  He is more of a symbol of cynicism and questioning if what is held as law truly confronts evil and allows justice to prevail.  He is not a perfect man or hero, allowing more of an interaction with the readers as we muddle through the character of the Batman and what he stands for.

Additionally unlike Ulysses who in the end finally makes it home and can relax, there is no end for the Batman.  In the Dark Knight Returns we see an old Batman who tried to retire and live his life peacefully at home, but can't because the evil surrounding him can't be ignored.  In Miller's story I at least sympathized with Batman who had gone on this long journey but even in the end there was no end, just more to be done.

He's too awesome to go away!

What Batman gives that Ulysses lacks is an understanding that troubles do not end.  There will always be more to struggle with and there will always be "bad guys" to defeat.  He also does this in such a way that while representing a fictional world he still is in a way representing our world, and he continues to capture our imaginations even to this day.  

Also while Superman shows a very idealist modern world and point of view, Batman stays modern but shows the darker, harder to answer questions of vengeance, crime, and how it should be dealt with.  In his character we again see the best of the classical with more depth than the first super-hero, Superman, exhibits.  This makes him a valuable as a character to our culture.

But not all characters are all darkness and deep questions.  No Super team is quite complete without he wise cracking, funny guy we all as readers have come to love and respect.  In many ways these expectations are what cause some of the more "sophisticated" to look down on comics, but why when there are so many to choose from in Greek mythology?  

Next is when the Flash meets Hermes, two of the world's favorite troublemakers together at last.  Will anyone survive the encounter?  Probably not...

Superman Vs. Hercules

BREAKING NEWS…We have just received reports informing us that Superman in a fit of rage killed his music tutor!  Not only that but he also decided to cheat on the love of his life, Lois Lane, with none other than...Wonder Woman!  In this shocking turn of events all of the population is trying to make sense of what has happened to Metropolis' favorite hero.  

This story started in his early youth, some even think that he was still a teenager when he choose to kill his music tutor, however while this was apparently well known he went on to earn much fame and acclaim.  While you might be scandalized to hear that little tid-bit it gets much worse.  Our sources are even suggesting that there was a woman before Lois, but she and her and Superman's children were all killed in a bought of madness by the hero.

Oh wait our sources were confused the real culprit was the Greek hero Hercules (or Heracles if you’re Roman)!  But by projecting the story of Hercules onto superman what does that tell us about how culture and it's perception of what is acceptable has changed?  Answer: a lot.

 Today it is strange to idealize a hero who murders people in a fit of rage like Hercules did, in fact when the beloved Superman diverges from his moral dictated path people become righteously upset.  The qualifications of a hero are someone who demonstrates the best of man, with some reasonable flaws, as he struggles with the darkness of the world (Monsters, villains, bad guys in general).  While rage and murder were acceptable under certain circumstances in Greek society, it is no longer true today and a new hero is needed to reflect the culture they are addressing.

Because the Greek heroes originated two thousand plus years ago it is to be expected that their heroic qualities and vices are different than what we would expect to see in a hero. The culture has changed, if only slightly, and it is time to change our classic example to reflect our culture’s new definition.

One good place to look for these modern heroes is comic books, but teachers and professors don’t always appreciate the comic heroes because they only see the bright colors and flashy fights when there is so much more depth to the story making them a valuable source.  Also many Superheroes have their foundation in Greek mythology and just repackage their best qualities in a new and exciting form. 

Comic heroes seem to fulfill this role as well as capture the imaginations of many people.  Think of all the movies that have come out in the past few years: Ironman, the Batman movies, and Avengers, all of these prove people’s interest in the comic book world. 

 Teachers and professors don’t always appreciate the comic heroes because they only see the bright colors and flashy fights when there is so much more depth to the story making them a valuable source.  Also many Superheroes have their foundation in Greek mythology and just repackage their best qualities in a new and exciting form.  

For example Superman is in many ways a revamped “American” Hercules.  Hercules was born into a mortal family but was the son of Zeus, king of the gods, giving him immense power.  Similarly Superman is an alien growing up among humans with incredible abilities.

Bask in the epicness

Both have epic adventures and feats of bravery.  Superman regularly saves the world as he epically rips away his white oxford and takes off his glasses and BAM you have superman ready and willing to save the world.  And still Lois Lane doesn’t realize the connection.

Hercules also, while not saving the world per sé, does complete amazing tasks.  He kills the Nemean Lion with his club and bare hands, defeats the hydra a nine headed fire breathing monster (one even being immortal just to make things interesting), and cleans out a stable housing a thousand cows that hadn’t been cleaned for ten years in one day proving that even demigods are not above menial tasks.

Additionally both also seem to have issues with women.  Superman can never seem to quite win over his long time love Lois Lane, and yet she is smitten by his super persona to the point that she can’t realize that the hero is working next to her legitimately everyday.  It’s too bad there weren’t contacts back then maybe then he might have had a chance.

Hercules also seems to have difficulty wooing and keeping his desired women.  While he has less difficulty getting women he has a tendency to have them die or even kill him by accident.  His first wife Megara he killed after Hera struck him with madness and his last wife proved his undoing when she took the word of one of his sworn enemies and believed that she was giving her husband a love potion, but it was poison. Oops… 

Both these heroes seem to share several similarities but what are the differences?  The major difference between these two is the difference between perfection and imperfection.

Hercules did have a little better luck

Superman is perfect.  He always follows the rules to a point where modern authors have criticized this trait in modern books and even teased in the classic comics by being referred to as “the big blue boy scout” by other characters.  The main struggle he faces in his stories is if he will compromise his morals to save the day or risk failure, but he always manages to do both (he is Superman for a reason).

Hercules is by no means perfect.  He is quick to anger, killing his tutor as a teenager, and like many Greek characters not always faithful to his present wife.  No wonder the last one accidentally killed him by trying to give him a love potion.

This perfection is both an upgrade to the classic hero and yet a flaw.  By making him so perfect it makes it difficult for his audience to understand him, because let’s face it we all mess up sometimes. Superman rarely does, because he’s super, thus making him greater and less than his Greek counter part

Hercules is definitely imperfect, but some of his imperfections, because of the two thousand year cultural gap, are slightly less acceptable now as they were to the Greeks.  This also distances the reader, but the fact he has them still lets the reader feel possibly more sympathy for him then they might otherwise.

Still other heroes in the comic genre confront this particular issue.  Batman and his methods are at times questionable and many other heroes tend to bring the humanity Superman might at times be critiqued as lacking.  This one draw back should not disqualify the entire superhero fraternity from playing a part in literature and education.

In the next blog we will take a good look at two of the most famous non-super heroes.  Batman and Ulysses stand out as some of the most respected and yet lacking in the mythical power most heroes in their worlds are renown for, but they can rock it.  Look forward to it!