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Portrayal of the Hero Overtime: Ancient Epic Tales - Modern, Contemporary Tales

Portrayal of the Hero Overtime

Ancient Epic Tales – Modern, Contemporary Tales

Heroes and mythology have been around since the beginning of time. Before man could communicate by mouth they would draw out pictures illustrating different fictional stories. As we developed better communication skills these stories would be told orally by memorization. In fact, the tales would often be passed down between families and, as a result, they would change. However, even today we are able to hear the mythological tales of the ancient people. A few examples of these tales would be: the epics of Gilgamesh, Hercules and Beowulf. And although written during The Middle Ages, the tales of King Arthur and Robin Hood as well. Nearly a thousand years later a new type of hero was created and expressed in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Captain America and Wonder Women. Because of this, we are able to examine the evolution that occurred in the portrayal of the hero from the first epic tales all the way to the more modern, contemporary ones. While each of the above-mentioned heroes has their own set of characteristics and story, there are still many similarities among them. In fact, many of these heroes have a unique origin, noble or divine background, companion and even a particular specialty or strength while in battle. There is also a direct correlation between the evolution of the hero and the changes and advancements in societies. For example, in ancient and medieval tales religion plays an important role, while more modern, contemporary tales contain little to no affiliation with a god or gods.

Two of the most well known ancient tales are the epics of Gilgamesh and Hercules. Throughout these tales the Gods and Goddesses played a very important role. In fact, a major similarity and connecting point between Gilgamesh and Hercules is that each of these heroes' was the son of a god, but more importantly they were both demi-gods. Gilgamesh was the son of a virgin, the creation of the Aruru, defined as "two-thirds god and one-third man" (Kovacs). Similar to the story of Gilgamesh, Hercules was also the son of a God. However, he was the creation of Zeus not Aruru. Gilgamesh and Hercules were also members of the noble class; the only difference among them was that Gilgamesh was always portrayed as the King of Uruk, while Hercules was never a king (D'Aulaire). In fact, Hercules was often represented as drunk and clumsy.

The presence of the gods and goddesses were also very prominent in the ancient stories of the Greeks. Beyond the fact that Gilgamesh and Hercules were sons of the gods, it wasn't unusual to see the gods directly intervening in the stories. For example, in Gilgamesh, the god's sought revenge on Enkidu for the wrongful killing of Humbaba (Kovacs). As a result, the Bull from Heaven swooped down creating a crack in the Earth; as a result, the God's made him fatally ill for helping Gilgamesh kill the bull. While in the tale of Hercules Juno sent two serpents to kill Hercules, not only that, but he was also given a seat among his father in the Heavens. Juno's hostility and intervention in Hercules is shown in the second sentence of the tale. It reads, "Juno was always hostile to the offspring of her husband by mortal mothers, she declared war against Hercules from his birth" (D'Aulaire).

Upon the death of Hercules, Zeus stated, "I shall take him, dead to Earth, to the heavenly shores, and I require you all to receive him kindly" (D'Aulaire). In other words Zeus is giving Hercules a seat, next to him, among all the Gods in Heaven and asking his fellow Gods to accept him. Hercules is the only hero ever granted a seat among the Gods and, unfortunately, all the other demi-gods die a normal death like the humans. Although, at one point Gilgamesh sought immortality. But because he was unable to perform the required tasks, he realized he was not meant to live forever.

Godlike strength was another similarity seen throughout many of the ancient epic tales. Gilgamesh was referred to have "strength…as mighty as the meteorite of Anu" (Kovacs). While Hercules' strength was evident from infancy because he strangled the two serpents that Juno sent to kill him (D'Aulaire). The use of imagery helps provide a description of the strength of Gilgamesh and Hercules. For example, when Gilgamesh and Enkidu were battling the quote, "wrestled like champions rushing wind meets rushing wind….shattered the doorpost of the holy gate and the wall shook with this fateful act," describes how animal like they both were. Hercules' godlike strength was also represented when he defeated the Nemean lion. In fact, the story stated, "Eurystheus was so frightened at the sight of it and at this proof of strength of the hero, that he ordered him to deliver the account of his exploits in the future outside the town" (D'Aulaire).

Companions also played a very important part in the stories of the ancient civilizations. Within the epic tales of Gilgamesh and Hercules there were specific companions who helped the hero's complete tasks. For example, Enkidu was Gilgamesh's best friend and only companion. We know this because Gilgamesh states, "No one before opposed my strength now I have found a worthy companion" (Kovacs). While we have reason to believe that Theseus was Hercules' greatest companion because in his tale it states, "he obtained the liberty of Theseus, who had been detained a prisoner there for an unsuccessful attempt to carry off Prosperine" (D'Aulaire).

Unfortunately, throughout many of the earlier tales women were viewed as property rather than a companion. For example, Gilgamesh would rape all the young women before she could get married and Hercules was portrayed as getting bored with women easily. This is because they both felt like they were too good to be with anyone. In fact, Dejanira, Hercules' wife, poisoned him by using the blood that Nessus gave her because she thought it would get his love back after she felt he was being unfaithful. Meanwhile, we know that Gilgamesh raped all the young women of his town because the tale stated, "All young girls made women by Gilgamesh. His lusts are such, and no virgin left to her lover" (Kovacs).

Written during the early Middle Ages was the epic tale of Beowulf. Unlike previous epic stories, you can see transformations occurring within the hero's story. For example, it is not uncommon to see Beowulf fighting monsters or fire-breathing dragons, Meanwhile, similar to previous epic tales, Beowulf is part of the noble class; in fact, he is the King of the Geats (Breeden). Although, unlike Gilgamesh and Hercules, Beowulf was not the son of a God, instead, he was a mortal.

The epic of Beowulf brought along a new perspective. Within that perspective was a tale that failed to include the presence of a god or gods. In fact, the only mention of the gods was when he mentioned, "fate did not grant that I have sons" (Breeden). However, that was not the only new addition to the hero's story, in fact, Beowulf became the first hero to die in battle. Usually heroes would die of old age, but in the process of killing a fire-breathing dragon he was fatally bit in the neck (Breeden). Similar to the epics of Gilgamesh and Hercules, Beowulf spent most of his time fighting monsters and fire-breathing dragons. Examples of this would be when Beowulf slew Grendel, Grendel's mother and, lastly, the fire-breathing dragon (Breeden).

Meanwhile, even though Beowulf was not a demi-god like the previous epic stories, he was said to be "the strongest of man alive in that day" possessing the "strength of thirty-men" (Breeden). His strength is shown in the tale when he ripped off Grendel's arm, killing Grendel and saving the people of Herot. The quote, "the horrible monster endured a wound: the bone-locks of his shoulder gave way, and his sinews sprang out" shows this (Breeden).

While at the same time the role of a companion also played a minor role in the epic of Beowulf, similar to that in Gilgamesh and Hercules. Although throughout the majority of Beowulf the idea of a companion was never mentioned. In fact, he was almost always seen alone fighting his battles. However, at an old age he was unable to defeat the fire-breathing dragon without help. And so one loyal soldier fought along side him as he killed the fire-breathing dragon, while all the others fled the scene in terror (Breeden). That one man was the only companion that Beowulf ever fought along side with. This is symbolic because it shows the audience that the idea of a companion helping the hero is still there, no mater how small it is.

Also written during the Middle Ages was the tale of King Arthur. Similar to the previous epic hero's, Arthur was raised as part of the noble class; thus, he was destined to a life of royalty from birth (Boorman). Not only was he a part of the noble class, but he was also always portrayed as a king like Gilgamesh and Beowulf. Because King Arthur was not the son of a god, he too, like Beowulf was a mortal.

However, unlike any of the other tales, Arthurian texts didn't contain any superhuman abilities or intervening of the gods. In fact, the tales of King Arthur included the presence of the supernatural by introducing magic and mystical forces, however, monsters and dragons ceased to exist. For example, King Arthur had Excalibur, the mystical sword from the lady in the lake (Boorman). This particular sword contained mystical powers that united the king and the land as one. The saying "one land, one king" is perhaps the most famous line from the film (Boorman). As the King was thriving and conquering other territories the land was thriving with food and beautiful flowers. But when King Arthur was ill and dying, so were the land and the flowers. Unlike Gilgamesh, Hercules and Beowulf, King Arthur didn't posses super-strength; in fact, he was not the strongest or best knight, Lancelot was greater than he ever could be (Boorman). Meanwhile, Merlin, the greatest sorcerer of the time, made up for Arthur's lack of superhuman abilities and the missing presence of the gods by possessing mystical powers. For example, at one point Merlin used the dragon's breath to help Camelot conquer a rivaling castle, it then took Merlin nine full moons to return (Boorman).

Similar to the epics of Gilgamesh and Hercules women were viewed as property rather than a companion. We know this because Arthur made the statement during the film, "I choose her to be my wife" (Boorman). This portrays the fact that because Arthur was King, he could choose any women among the people and she would have to be his wife. However, as a result to him choosing Gueneverre to be his wife, she would secretly fall in love with Lancelot, who happened to be King Arthur's best friend and greatest knight. Arthur eventually realized they were secretly having an affair and caught them sleeping together. Because of this, a lot of problems occurred, causing him to break his ties with England (Boorman). As a result, both the land and his people began to die. As previously mentioned, a similar event occurred in the tale of Hercules, which ended with Hercules burning himself at the stake.

Like all previous epic tales, companions also played an important part throughout the entirety of Arthur's story. In fact, Merlin was King Arthur's greatest companion because he helped Arthur lead his people and nation to victory and was Arthur's father figure throughout his tale, until his death. Without Merlin and his advice, King Arthur would have never succeeded in uniting the land and people as one.

While the last major work of the Middle Ages is often accredited to the tale of Robin Hood. By the creation of Robin Hood the existence of the supernatural beings and forces failed to exist, forcing the hero to rely more on companions. In fact, Robin Hood uses his band of thirty outlaws to make up for the absence of superpowers. As a result, he was always portrayed as fighting realistic characters. Not only this, but the hero often became more skilled in a particular field, rather than being the best at everything. For example, Robin Hood was extremely skilled with his bow and arrow, although his small size and large ego often caused him to get into a lot of difficult situations (Pyle). We know this because in the beginning of the tale after someone made fun of him he stated, "my bow and arrows are as good as thine; I go to the shooting match at Nottingham" (Pyle).  Meanwhile, unlike all the previous epic tales, Robin was not a part of the noble class; in fact, his enemies were typically members of the church or noble class (Pyle). Similar to the tales of Beowulf and King Arthur, Robin Hood was not the son of a god; in fact, he was always portrayed as being mortal.

However, similar to the epic of Beowulf, the portrayal of women ceased to exist throughout the tale of Robin Hood. While it is known that certain stories of Robin Hood include the presence of a woman, many did not. This in many ways could be attributed to the belief that men were superior to women, although it is very difficult to tell if these were the intentions. For example, there were only two specific times when women truly were mentioned in the tale, one being when Allan a Dale was getting married and the other when his cousin drained his blood (Pyle).

Meanwhile, similar to the previous epic tales, companions were an essential part to of story. In fact, they were needed more than ever because Robin Hood relied very heavily on their help. As previously mentioned Robin Hood used the presence of his companions to help him achieve most of his victories. This was because even though he was extremely skilled with his bow, he would many times be outnumbered, thus, making it nearly impossible to come out victorious. However, his band of thirty outlaws became unstoppable and so we always see Robin Hood coming out victorious. His most trusted companions were: Allan a Dale, Will Scarlet, Will Stutely and Friar Tuck. All of these men remained loyal and determined to help him even up to his death (Pyle).

Three of the most well known modern, contemporary hero's are Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Captain America and Wonder Women. By analyzing the previous epic tales, the transitions that occurred between the ancient epic tales and the Middle Ages become very evident. In fact, they become so evident that we are able to see the uniqueness of the more modern, contemporary hero stories. The tales of Buffy, Captain America and Wonder Women are unique because these modern day hero's contain aspects of both the ancient epics and The Middle Ages at the same time. For example, Wonder Women was said to be "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Mercury, and stronger than Hercules" (Wonder Women). In other words she had super strength like the previous epic hero's and much more. However, unlike Gilgamesh and Hercules, there was literally no presence of the divine or god's in the stories of Wonder Women.  Although, similar to Wonder Women, Buffy was said to be "as powerful as a man" (Frances). Meanwhile, Captain America was said, "to have the strength of one hundred men" (Marvel Universe Wiki).

Within these modern hero's was a new type of hero that evolved from previous generations. For example, women heroes were finally taking a step up in comics. As previously mentioned throughout many of the other sections of this paper, women were usually viewed as property or of a lower standard than men (Frances). This is shown in the statement, "it's sissified, according to exclusively male rules, to be tender, loving, affectionate, and alluring" (Fingeroth). Although with women becoming more prominent in modern hero stories, there has been growing amount of controversy over their costumes. For example, throughout the tales of Wonder Women you see her costume get shorter and shorter. Eventually it got to the point where you could see under her skirt as she flew overhead. Even Buffy was often portrayed as the preppy school bad girl in the beginning of her show. We know this because the principle makes reference to the fact that she had been kicked out of multiple schools previously; in fact, he stated it "was a fresh start."

However, similar to the ancient epic tales, the stories of Buffy and Captain America ceased to include the gods. Meanwhile, Wonder Women was the creation of the god's sent by her sisters to kill Ares, the God of War (Wonder Women). Like the previous epic tales, the tales of Wonder Women and Buffy often included monsters and dragons, however, she was created during World War II and so she is also depicted fighting for the Allies, which almost identical to Captain America (Wonder Women).

The tales of Captain America began being written at the beginning of World War II, which as mentioned before is like Wonder Women. Also, similar to Buffy and Wonder Women, Captain America was also a new type of hero. However, unlike previous hero's, Captain America was known as "a territorial symbol" for America (CA: The Classic Years). In fact, the first issue of Captain America "was an overly political statement about what the United States should be" (Dittmer). Captain America was created in the hopes of developing a national identity for America because at this time our country was "isolationist" (Weiner). Captain America was always portrayed as the ideal symbol for America during whatever time he was being published. For example, during World War II he was always seen fighting against the Nazi party and then later, during the Cold War, he was seen fighting the Soviet Union (Dittmer).

Before man could communicate by mouth they would draw out pictures that would depict different fictional stories. However, as we developed better communication skills, these tales would be told orally by memorization. Because of this, many tales would change, thus, it was made difficult to find a single story about a hero. Although, as our communication skills continued to develop, scholars began to scribe stones and scrolls with the tales of the ancient and Medieval people. Meanwhile, due to the specific examples portrayed throughout my essay, we are able to examine the evolution of the portrayal of the hero from the first epic tales all the way to the more modern, contemporary ones. Among those tales were the epics of Gilgamesh, Hercules, Beowulf, King Arthur and Robin Hood. Within each time period there were many similarities between these tales, however, there were also many specific differences and changes. For example, Gilgamesh and Hercules contained the presence of a God or god's, while in the tales of Beowulf, King Arthur and Robin Hood there was almost no presence of the god's. In fact, up until the story of King Arthur, all the epic tales contained the similarity of super strength. However, upon the creation of the more modern, contemporary hero's we began to see a combination of the qualities that were seen in the ancient epics, as well as those that were seen during The Middle Ages. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Captain America and Wonder Women at one point or another all possessed super strength, which was a common trait seen throughout the ancient epics. However, at the same time the role of companions continued to be a major part of the hero's journey, which was similar to the medieval tales. These similarities and differences are very important when analyzing the evolution that the portrayal of the hero faced over thousands of years. Ancient heroes were typically sons of the god's, while Medieval and modern day hero's are usually ordinary citizens, with unique abilities separating themselves from society. However, Wonder Women is an exception because she is a modern hero who was created by the god's (Wonder Women). An important concept to always keep in mind while examining the evolution of the hero's portrayal would be to know that a hero is a person containing "powers, skills, magic or technology" (Fingeroth). With those characteristics, one can compare and contrast heroes to prove whatever their argument may be, in my case, the evolution of the hero's portrayal overtime.

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About the Author

I am a freshmen currently enrolled at Nazareth College of Rochester. I am hoping to get some of my article published in some form of magazine before my graduation. I am a history major, however, I will publish many different types of articles. Anything you see can be used, in fact, I encourage it! Hope you like my work, it will get better as the time goes on.

Thank you all,

Michael Black

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