Since people started to record history there have always been those who stood above the rest, the bravest, the stongest, or the wisest. Every civilization has a few, whether it was King Arthur, to Alexander the Great. These men and women are the pride and joy of their time, and they were placed on pedestils by their subjects. They were revered. My questions are simple. Why does every single civilization feel compeled to create a hero, why do these heroes often have so much in common, how are they created, what are their roles in society, and most importantly how have they changed over time. I have selected three heroes, the Greek Demi-god Hercules, the New Zealander giant Maui, and the Dark Knight Batman. As each of my heroes’ origins is from a very different time and place it will allow for a wider, more in depth view, of all heroes throughout time.
One must first and foremost, ask themselves how such beings came to be?
How were these heroes created. Its not quite as simple as mixing sugar, spice and everything nice to create a hero. The creation process is based on faith in the storyteller and the legends they are spreading. As word spread through the ancient civilizations certain exaggerations would be told with every story that would then be taken as the truth and exaggerated apon further at the next telling. This expanded even further as the stories were passed from generation t generation. The great myths are most likely distorted so badly it shares no resemblence to the actual event. For all we know, Hercules killing the Nemean Lion could have actually been him booting a house cat out of a window. This also applies to the legends of Maui. However Batman is known to be fictional and is spread through the mass media. This however does not affect the fact that even though people realize Batman isn’t real they still flock to see his newest movies in the cinema just as the old civilizations would have driven to circle the fires to hear of Maui or...