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!!!