Epic Tale of Epics
Many epics have been written that presents noble heroes. An epic is categorized by fitting the following traits: The hero must demonstrate bravery and wisdom, be employed into noble and fantastic actions, become involved in supernatural occurrences, and do all of this on a grand and vast setting and in elevated ‘epic-like’ style. Raiders of the Lost Ark, directed by Steven Spielberg, introduces a very noble hero. The hero in this epic is Dr. Indiana Jones. There is no doubt one could compare him to the likes of the Greek warrior Achilles, Gilgamesh, who is the creator of Uruk, and the almighty King Beowulf, all being memorable epic heroes. Jones provides many examples of why he belongs with such an elite group of men. Raiders …show more content…
The hero must do something, or be involved in something, that influences the story in an amazing way. Some heroes have just one of these traits, but I’m convinced Indy solidly has all three. Indiana Jones is no doubt a man of noble and superhuman stature. He displays unparalleled strength that astounds the viewer, which causes people to compare him to the likes of Achilles or Beowulf, who were known for having super strength. There is a scene where Indiana is in an intense car chase trying to capture the Ark. In superhuman fashion, he catches up to the caravan carrying the Ark by taking out a lot of Nazi’s. He gets thrown to the hood of the car, but muscles his way down the front bumper, and holds up his body weight as he climbs down the bottom of the vehicle and pulls himself back up onto the back of the vehicle. This is a physical feat that no one would think possible, but Indiana is able to pull off the superhuman feat with style. Indiana Jones also performs fantastic and noble feats throughout the movie. It can easily be considered fantastic and noble that he was able to defeat an entire army of Nazis to stop Dr. Belloq from using the Ark for his own personal gain, opposed to how Indiana Jones was going to use it. Jones, being a renowned archeologist, wanted to more or less donate the Ark to be researched for the greater good, which is extremely noble. Heroes in epics always have noble qualities about …show more content…
This is when forces of nature act up or some sort of spiritual phenomenon appears. Indiana Jones is surrounded by supernatural entities at the end of this film. This supernatural entity only appears once, but it was very significant, and from the viewers perspective, really cool. The Germans finally secured the Ark and took it to a secluded island. Here, the Nazis got very greedy and opened up the Ark and were surprised at first to see the large container filled with desert sand. Then a purple swirl roared out of the box and evaporated all of the Germans in attendance and stole their souls, where it then was recaptured and resealed in the Ark. The whole time this was happening, Indiana and Marion were tied up about 100 feet away praying they weren’t sucked up in this natural phenomenon. There was no real explanation for this supernatural happening, but then again there never seems to be logic behind it. Epics are known for having supernatural characteristics, and Indiana Jones gets wrapped up in one, luckily for the better. Two things I know is that justice was served, and our noble hero prevailed in the
Many epics have been written that presents noble heroes. An epic is categorized by fitting the following traits: The hero must demonstrate bravery and wisdom, be employed into noble and fantastic actions, become involved in supernatural occurrences, and do all of this on a grand and vast setting and in elevated ‘epic-like’ style. Raiders of the Lost Ark, directed by Steven Spielberg, introduces a very noble hero. The hero in this epic is Dr. Indiana Jones. There is no doubt one could compare him to the likes of the Greek warrior Achilles, Gilgamesh, who is the creator of Uruk, and the almighty King Beowulf, all being memorable epic heroes. Jones provides many examples of why he belongs with such an elite group of men. Raiders …show more content…
The hero must do something, or be involved in something, that influences the story in an amazing way. Some heroes have just one of these traits, but I’m convinced Indy solidly has all three. Indiana Jones is no doubt a man of noble and superhuman stature. He displays unparalleled strength that astounds the viewer, which causes people to compare him to the likes of Achilles or Beowulf, who were known for having super strength. There is a scene where Indiana is in an intense car chase trying to capture the Ark. In superhuman fashion, he catches up to the caravan carrying the Ark by taking out a lot of Nazi’s. He gets thrown to the hood of the car, but muscles his way down the front bumper, and holds up his body weight as he climbs down the bottom of the vehicle and pulls himself back up onto the back of the vehicle. This is a physical feat that no one would think possible, but Indiana is able to pull off the superhuman feat with style. Indiana Jones also performs fantastic and noble feats throughout the movie. It can easily be considered fantastic and noble that he was able to defeat an entire army of Nazis to stop Dr. Belloq from using the Ark for his own personal gain, opposed to how Indiana Jones was going to use it. Jones, being a renowned archeologist, wanted to more or less donate the Ark to be researched for the greater good, which is extremely noble. Heroes in epics always have noble qualities about …show more content…
This is when forces of nature act up or some sort of spiritual phenomenon appears. Indiana Jones is surrounded by supernatural entities at the end of this film. This supernatural entity only appears once, but it was very significant, and from the viewers perspective, really cool. The Germans finally secured the Ark and took it to a secluded island. Here, the Nazis got very greedy and opened up the Ark and were surprised at first to see the large container filled with desert sand. Then a purple swirl roared out of the box and evaporated all of the Germans in attendance and stole their souls, where it then was recaptured and resealed in the Ark. The whole time this was happening, Indiana and Marion were tied up about 100 feet away praying they weren’t sucked up in this natural phenomenon. There was no real explanation for this supernatural happening, but then again there never seems to be logic behind it. Epics are known for having supernatural characteristics, and Indiana Jones gets wrapped up in one, luckily for the better. Two things I know is that justice was served, and our noble hero prevailed in the