2020-21
Assignment One
October 5- October 8
Thinking About the Hero
Many of you have read Beowulf, The Odyssey, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Most of you have seen (if not read) Star Wars films or Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Lord of the Rings. What do all of these works have in common? Many people would say that the protagonists in all of these could be considered heroes. But are they? What is a hero? How do we define heroic actions or behavior? And can a woman be a hero? If so, why are there no women in that list above? If heroes serve as models of particular conduct, how would you define that conduct?
Secondarily, what purpose do heroes serve to us as humans? Do we need them? Why? Bertolt Brecht once said, "Unhappy the land that needs heroes." What does this mean, in light of your understanding of what a makes a hero?
