Many of us today have people we look up to. Someone you consider to be your hero. It may be because of their courageous traits or their admirable characteristics, like a fireman or maybe even your dad. Similar to our current reality, greek mythology also presents us with many heroes that can win your affections, or leave you with animosity. Although the Greeks often valued different traits in heros than we do today. They often just saw someone for their family background or affiliations with the gods. If you were in the god's favor then you may be considered as one of their heroes. An example of this would be in the story of Hercules. The Greeks may have valued his strength and courage, but, today his actions may be looked at as foolish and
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The Greeks consider him heroic because of his courage, strength, divine ancestry and was favored by the gods. His courage is most greatly shown in his quest to slay the gorgon Medusa. He travels to the edge of the world in order to kill the Gorgon that turned people to stone; something that no one else would ever attempt (Hamilton 146) This quest shoes Perseus’s courage because he ventured to complete a task everyone was too frightened to attempt. Perseus displays his physical strength at the end of this story. The main example is when he enters into an athletic contest and, during one of the contests, “ …he hurled the heavy missile, it swerved and fell among the spectators,” (Hamilton 148) His strength allowed him to hurl a very heavy missile into a crowd of people and kill his grandfather instantly. He must have one strong throwing arm. Another reason Perseus was considered a hero is because of his divine ancestry. He was the son of Zeus, king of all gods. (Hamilton 142). This resulted in the gods’ respect which lead them to help him on his quest to find the Gorgon. Athena and Hermes help him by providing him with tools such as the winged sandals or the knowledge of which Gorgon was Medusa (Hamilton 146). He was respected enough by the gods that they gave him crucial knowledge for his
The Greeks consider him heroic because of his courage, strength, divine ancestry and was favored by the gods. His courage is most greatly shown in his quest to slay the gorgon Medusa. He travels to the edge of the world in order to kill the Gorgon that turned people to stone; something that no one else would ever attempt (Hamilton 146) This quest shoes Perseus’s courage because he ventured to complete a task everyone was too frightened to attempt. Perseus displays his physical strength at the end of this story. The main example is when he enters into an athletic contest and, during one of the contests, “ …he hurled the heavy missile, it swerved and fell among the spectators,” (Hamilton 148) His strength allowed him to hurl a very heavy missile into a crowd of people and kill his grandfather instantly. He must have one strong throwing arm. Another reason Perseus was considered a hero is because of his divine ancestry. He was the son of Zeus, king of all gods. (Hamilton 142). This resulted in the gods’ respect which lead them to help him on his quest to find the Gorgon. Athena and Hermes help him by providing him with tools such as the winged sandals or the knowledge of which Gorgon was Medusa (Hamilton 146). He was respected enough by the gods that they gave him crucial knowledge for his