Hero or Idol?

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Hero or Idol?

• a hero is a woman or man who is noted for their
  nobility, courage and outstanding achievements or
  even a great warrior
• an idol is a deity, a false god or something
  visible but without substance

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The Greek Hero
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What Do Luke Skywalker, Simba, King Arthur,
Moses, Wonder Woman, William Wallace, Optimus
Prime all have in common?
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• ANSWER
• They are all Heroes

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• But what is a Greek Hero?

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Okay, so what exactly characterizes an Greek
Hero?
And what does this have to do with the
characters mentioned?
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Traits of the Greek Hero

• Unusual Circumstances of Birth
• Leaves Family and Lives With Others
• Traumatic Event Leads to Quest
• Special Weapon
• Supernatural Help

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Unusual Birth

• Often in danger or born into royalty

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Leaves Family

• Raised away from

-or separated from home
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Traumatic Event

• The heros life is changed forever

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Special Weapon

• Only the hero can
• wield it

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Supernatural Help

• -god or goddesses help the hero

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More Heroic Traits

• Proves self on Quest
• Journey and Unhealable Wound
• Atonement With Father
• Spiritual Apotheosis

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Proves Him or Herself

• The hero performs
• heroic feats

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Journey Unhealable Wound

• Hero descends into a gloomy area and suffers
  wounding from an encounter with evil

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Atonement With Father

• The hero either redeems fathers evil deeds or
  reconciles with father over wrongs done by the
  hero

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Apotheosis

• Hero is rewarded spiritually at the end of his,
  or her life

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Aha! But not all of these charactershave all of
the characteristics!
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Thats okay. -They dont really have to
As long as a hero displays several of these
characteristics, he, or she, is in the club!
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Now, can you think of any other Heroes who fit
this mold?
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References

• Davis, Bryan M. "The Archetypal Hero in
  Literature, Religion, Movies, and Popular
  Culture." 11 Oct 1997. Stephen F. Austin
  University. (07/07/2009). lthttp//www.tatsbox.com
  /hero?
• Nilsen, Alleen P., Donelson, Kenneth L.
  Literature for Todays Young Adults, 8th ed.
  Boston Pearson Education, Inc. 2009.