According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a hero is defined as “a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities”. However, this definition is only a general statement of what qualifies someone to be a hero. The meaning of words can change over time which means that what defines a “hero” today may be different than what a “hero” was defined as in ancient times. This means that although it is the same word, it has the possibility of holding different meanings. How has the definition of the word “hero” changed over time and in what ways has it stayed the same? It will be interesting to compare the similarities and contrast the differences of heroism in ancient and modern times. The two figures that will
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Hercules and Captain America both utilize their cleverness to their advantages. As seen in Heracles’ youth as told by Apollodorus, Hercules used his wits to prevent himself from being prosecuted when he murdered Linos by “read[ing] out a law of Rhadamnthys that said that any man who defends himself against an instigator of unjust violence is innocent” (Apollodorus 33). This shows that his brain worked quickly to come up with a way out of the trouble he was in. A hero is able to think quick on their feet. During his eleventh labour, Hercules tricked Atlas, who holds the world on his shoulders, to get the golden apples by telling Atlas that he would hold the world for him. When Atlas returns with the golden apples he refuses to take the world back, but Hercules tricks him using his clever wit to give back the world to Atlas (Apollodorus 39-40). While Hercules uses his intelligence to outsmart others, Captain America uses his intelligence to create plans to defeat the enemy as seen in the movies from the Marvel universe. Captain is almost always the one who formulates plans and strategies to bring down the enemy. Both figures, Hercules and Captain America, who embody ancient and modern heroes are intelligent and can use their smartness to their …show more content…
Although Hercules and Captain America have similar physiques: strong, tall, and muscular, their heroism is different because Hercules is motivated by purifying himself of murder whereas Captain America is driven by his compassion for people and doing what he believes is right. There are less qualities required to be considered an ancient hero and most of those qualities are physical attributes while a modern hero is required to be selfless and willing to sacrifice their own lives for the greater good. The physical attributes of a hero come in second place to selflessness and compassion in modern heroism. Captain America was still a hero even when he was scrawny little Steve Rogers because of his heart. The ancient view of heroism was not as humane as modern heroism is, because it relied on savage ways like murder. To conclude, ancient and modern heroism are similar because they are based on the same qualities, but yet they differ in beliefs and the way of achieving
Hercules and Captain America both utilize their cleverness to their advantages. As seen in Heracles’ youth as told by Apollodorus, Hercules used his wits to prevent himself from being prosecuted when he murdered Linos by “read[ing] out a law of Rhadamnthys that said that any man who defends himself against an instigator of unjust violence is innocent” (Apollodorus 33). This shows that his brain worked quickly to come up with a way out of the trouble he was in. A hero is able to think quick on their feet. During his eleventh labour, Hercules tricked Atlas, who holds the world on his shoulders, to get the golden apples by telling Atlas that he would hold the world for him. When Atlas returns with the golden apples he refuses to take the world back, but Hercules tricks him using his clever wit to give back the world to Atlas (Apollodorus 39-40). While Hercules uses his intelligence to outsmart others, Captain America uses his intelligence to create plans to defeat the enemy as seen in the movies from the Marvel universe. Captain is almost always the one who formulates plans and strategies to bring down the enemy. Both figures, Hercules and Captain America, who embody ancient and modern heroes are intelligent and can use their smartness to their …show more content…
Although Hercules and Captain America have similar physiques: strong, tall, and muscular, their heroism is different because Hercules is motivated by purifying himself of murder whereas Captain America is driven by his compassion for people and doing what he believes is right. There are less qualities required to be considered an ancient hero and most of those qualities are physical attributes while a modern hero is required to be selfless and willing to sacrifice their own lives for the greater good. The physical attributes of a hero come in second place to selflessness and compassion in modern heroism. Captain America was still a hero even when he was scrawny little Steve Rogers because of his heart. The ancient view of heroism was not as humane as modern heroism is, because it relied on savage ways like murder. To conclude, ancient and modern heroism are similar because they are based on the same qualities, but yet they differ in beliefs and the way of achieving