Heroism Essays (Examples)

Ina word, Beowulf is a hero that can be described with one word - loyal.
Beowulf is nothing if he is not loyal. This is a significant trait and one that every warrior or hero must possess. e know that a hero must not only be loyal to oneself, but also to one's personal belief and one's country and one's belief to be a good warrior. Loyalty appears in the poem in many different ways, with one being how the other characters in the poem relate to Beowulf. For example, Hrothgar demonstrates his loyalty to Beowulf with promises of a "rich treasure" (385) for his good deeds. This scene is interesting in that we see that loyalty is a two-way street. On the one hand, Beowulf is demonstrating his loyalty to his code of ethics by offering Hrothgar his assistance because his father, Hrethel, owed Hrothgar a favor. Beowulf arrives…

The tragic hero always elicits sympathy from the audience. According to Struck (2002): "Finally, Oedipus' downfall elicits a great sense of pity from the audience. First, by blinding himself, as opposed to committing suicide, Oedipus achieves a kind of surrogate death that intensifies his suffering. He comments on the darkness - not just the literal inability to see, but also religious and intellectual darkness - that he faces after becoming blind. In effect, Oedipus is dead, for he receives none of the benefits of the living; at the same time, he is not dead by definition, and so his suffering cannot end. Oedipus receives the worst of both worlds between life and death, and he elicits greater pity from the audience."

While Oedipus is the classic tragic hero, when we look at a character like Achilles, it is clear that there are other types of heroes that Oedipus does not…

The Tale of the Heike

The Tale of the Heike focuses on heroic qualities as depicted by the Japanese culture of the 12th and 13th centuries. It is deeply ingrained in the Buddhist tradition, with its central morality focusing on the foolishness of an attachment to material things. Pride and arrogance are undesirable qualities that inevitably lead to a fall. These qualities are embodied in the anti-hero, the arrogant Taira no Kiyomori. These flaws remain part of his character until he dies and he thus serves as the personification of the most undesirable qualities, and the opposite of the hero. The Japanese hero, on the other hand, is embodied in the central figure of the amurai, Minamoto no Yo*****sune.

The qualities displayed by the amurai adhere to the principle that nothing in the world is permanent. The central truth is that the prosperous must decline, and that prosperity generally corrupts,…

There must be a significant act that they perform in order for them to be deemed heroic. That is not always the case, but it seems to be among the most common ways people are considered for heroism.
Because Moses and Krishna were not heroes in the traditional sense, however, does not in any way negate the value they had to their respective time periods and the information that was written about them. Being a hero can come in so many different types of forms, that anyone can be a hero in some way and an amazing, courageous act is not always required. At times, all that is required is for the hero to do small things, but to do them with such love and consideration that they become big things in the grand scheme of the world. While not everyone understands this concept, most people who have seen these…

Heroism
Most of us have a general notion of what heroism is or who are the heroes or heroines. The idea has always been those overwhelming acts of courage and selflessness that are the stuffs of headline news and befitting accolade from society. But not all heroes or acts of heroism make headlines or even become "viral" on the Internet. There are everyday heroes who chose to stand on the sidelines, do whatever they can and disappear into oblivion. Then there are those who are but ordinary people living their simple lives and extraordinary circumstances came their way that saw them springing into action and doing heroic deeds. I have witnessed several heroes in my life -- both the acclaimed and unsung ones. I could never forget though when I was only ten years old and I saw my first real life hero.

I was with my friends in the…

heroism is not new to the world. The word 'hero' often stimulates the thought process of a person in such a way that the person automatically starts thinking about the heroic figures that he or she has heard about in stories, seen in movies or read in fairytales. However, the concept of heroism is slightly different from the common perception of this word. One can ask some questions in order to understand the exact definition or the description of a hero. The first question that one can ask is that whether hero is a person that we simply respect, admire and look up to. e can ask if hero is someone that has super powers, and thus a superhero. Some people might wonder if takes a great deal of fame and money to be known as a hero. Others might that what are the other things that are involved in…

He has incredible powers and strength, and out of all the many ways villains try to hurt him, they always fail because in the end, what can hurt him is a piece of a rock.
Batman, as Bruce Wayne, has powerful lineage, just the Greek heroes. He may not be descended from the gods themselves, but there still exists a comparable mythology around him. His parents, but particularly his father, was a very rich and powerful man. His parents were philanthropists and very prominent in the world of business, of which Bruce Wayne is the heir of their legacy. His parents' souls exist in heaven, or in the clouds, or somewhere where Bruce can only return to them through death, which is similar to Greek mythological heroes that can return to or greet their god-ancestors after death and after living a life truly reflecting heroism. Superman's father was a prominent…

Product of Sheer Coincidence
Fame and heroism is a lifetime pursuit for most people, yet some don't want to be famous, and some without knowing or pursuing fame they find themselves famous and being the focus of the world. And that was my fate, sheer coincidence brought fame my way, and the consequences as well.

Everyone looks forward to a day when they will be able to venture out of America and be in a distant land. A place where they will be able to tell of the return tales and adventures that they had while there. A distant place that many would only look for on the map or google it on the internet yet may live never to visit the place. I had for long purposed to visit any interesting country in Africa for some long holiday and enjoy the sun, beaches, hospitality, the animals and the weather…

Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim is a novel bookended by two deaths. In the beginning of the novel, Jim is able to save his own skin by abandoning the passengers on the Patna and escaping with the other crew members when it is erroneously believed that the ship is about to sink. Their actions are effective in the short-term in terms of securing Jim's safety even though the members of the crew are in flagrant disregard of virtually every established ethical system regarding how seamen are supposed to behave. hen it is later revealed that Jim and the crew were misguided about the likelihood of the ship's failure and the Patna sails safely to shore, Jim's self-interested actions are revealed. Although understandable to some degree, Jim's actions are in violation of the personal code he has set for himself at the beginning of the novel. Jim wants to be a hero…

He is described as being of gigantic size and of tremendous emotion. Always Achilles is described with the most exaggerated terms, shining like the sun or falling in the most absolute wretchedness. In a moment of sublimity oddly precognizant of gothic writers like E.A. Poe, Achilles refuses to bury his beloved Patrocles' body because "since I'm journeying under the earth after you, I'll postpone your burial...Till that time, you'll lie like this with me..." (book 18, 330-338) Achilles is perfect and heroic in the extremity of his nature. A more archetypal approach would say that he was heroic because, more than any other character, he represented the purity of war. Archtypically, he represents a purity of action and emotion than can drive men to battle, the pure warrior who is at once filled with the strength of emotion and will and yet resigned to perfect destiny, faithful towards the gods,…

However, because of Gilgamesh's thought that he may be invincible, he is actually putting his friend's life at risk by going on his adventure. In his attempt to prove that he is brave and that he would rather die for a cause, he actually indirectly causes the death of Enkidu, who shows that he was the stronger of the two.
5) Defining Honor

Honor is a characteristic that few individuals posses. It is a special type of distinguishing factor, that although many attempt to have, very few actually embrace it to its full meaning. Honor entails pride and personal excellence. It is fully believing in an action or an entity that represents something very important to the self and to those around. To me, honor is being able to stand up for your beliefs despite the opinion of others.

Honor in society can actually be viewed in two ways, depending…

He kills his father as he flees his home and marries his mother after solving the riddle of the Sphinx. His end is inevitable, but Sophocles clearly shows the role negative character traits play in Oedipus' tragedy, while Hamlet's supposedly negative traits of doubt are not necessarily evil.
Thus Hamlet could be classified as a kind of nascent anti-hero, a man who mourns "the time is out of joint/oh cursed spite/that ever I was born to put it right," and never succeeds in 'putting it right' because society offers him only one, ineffective mechanism for pursuing a brutal type of justice (1.5). The failure of heroism to 'put things right' is manifested starkly in Waiting for Godot, where the heroes famously wait for the final 'solution' of the arrival of the presumably heroic Godot, who never comes. These characters are not so much heroes or even anti-heroes -- rather they…

The Aeneid

Taking a character from The Iliad and setting him on his own journey, the Roman Virgil's epic The Aeneid necessarily contains certain parallels with the earlier Greek text. The overall story of this lengthy poem in and of itself reflects many of the same basic understandings of mankind's place in the universe, its relationship to the gods, and the relationships that exist within society and between men that are already described above, demonstrating that no real fundamental change has occurred in this schema. Aeneas, the titular hero of the tale who flees his native Troy after it is sacked by the Greeks, is as important as the individual heroes of the war itself, but more than a tale of individual heroism The Aeneid is the story of the founding of a people and the long trajectory of history and humanity. It is a tale for and in many…

"(Twain,39). Later on, he witnesses with his friends their own funeral service, because they had been considered dead after their disappearance. Also, Tom pretends to be visionary and recounts his so-called dream to aunt Polly, which was in fact only an account of what he himself had seen: "Tom! The sperrit was upon you! You was a-prophesying -- that's what you was doing!" (Twain, 157)
Finally, Tom emerges as a "real hero," when his concern the others outweighs his concern for himself. Thus, one of his real acts of heroism is taking the punishment in Becky's place, for tearing the teacher's book, and getting the latter's sincere appraisal: "Tom, how could you be so noble!"(Twain, 176). Also, he rescues Becky from the cave, and the fact that he persuades Huck to be civilized, putting it as a condition to him, so as to let him be part of the gang:…

The positive value that most people place on a character's ability to face their demons is traditionally what defines a "hero." What defines a "tragic hero" is when facing those demons is too much for the protagonist to handle, which is the case in this play. But this lack of unwavering strength and courage is what makes the character of Oedipus seem human, and therefore relatable to the audience. If his reaction to the truth had shown nothing but strength, he would seem more like a cardboard cut-out than a human being.
A hero is more noble and more human when he must overcome his flaws and life's adversities. This may be why literary heroes have appealed to readers across many different cultures and over many different eras in history; because they represent the deepest and most respected ideals of human behavior, without extending too far beyond the constraints of…

Spade walking down to examine a murder makes use of shadows as well as high black-white contrast in order to convey drama and suspense. This is commonly referred to as the film noir lighting technique because it conveys a sense of mystery and danger. The lighting highlights the most extreme contours of the character's faces, but none of the moderating details such as texture or color. This makes the facial expressions look much more dramatic than they would under normal lighting.
The costumes are also very typical of the film noir genre. Spade is wearing a black wool overcoat and a fedora and his counterpart from the police station is wearing the same outfit. This is a style of dress associated with detectives, who sometimes had to conceal their identity and not stand out. The overcoat conceals much of the person's figure and could conceal weapons or other objects.

The…

Your answer should be at least five sentences long.
The Legend of Arthur

Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 9 of 16

Journal Exercise 1.7A: Honor and Loyalty

1. Consider how Arthur's actions and personality agree with or challenge your definition of honor. Write a few sentences comparing your definition (from Journal 1.6A) with Arthur's actions and personality.

2. Write a brief paragraph explaining the importance or unimportance of loyalty in being honorable.

Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 10 of 16

Journal Exercise 1.7B: Combining Sentences

Complete the Practice Activity on page 202 of your text. After completing this activity, read over your Essay Assessment or another journal activity you've completed.

* Identify three passages that could be improved by combining two or more sentences with coordinating or subordinating conjunctions. Below the practice activity in your journal, write the original passages and the revised sentences you've created.

* Be sure to…

Madam Eglantyne the Nun, is also an ironic charater. She eats in a very refined manner and attempts other fine characteristics such as speaking French, although she fares poorly at this. Ironically, not all her language is pure, as she swears cosntantly by "St. Loy," a saint renowned for not swearing. Unlike the general conception of the Nun, she is very concerned with outward appearances and did not much care for human beings. Indeed, she cared much more for her three dogs than the human beings around her. Another irony is that she has a coral trinket to fight worldly temptations, which is clearly failing badly.

A second character is the Friar, Hubert. While he is jolly, merry, and festive, his actions are nevertheless evil and cunning. He impregnates girls, for example, and marries them off. He deceived the faithful by hearing confessions for a fee, and even begged from…

" There is a more calm feeling to his description. This is not to say that the author was portraying war as being a patriotic act, but the author was not as graphical in his describing what the soldiers were seeing and going through. The reader is more connected to the actions of the poem and not the fact that someone is dying. He ends his poem by referencing "hell" and the reader is left wondering whether the hell that he is referring to the war that is being left behind, or to dying itself.
3) Rites of Passage Activity

In speaking to my grandmother, I was able to find out what it was that she took when she first left her home. At the age of sixteen, she was married to my grandfather and was getting ready to start her knew life as a wife and very soon, as…

Hero with 1,000 Faces
The classic hero seems to teach us the value of humanity, while helping us strive for excellence by understanding the value of the experiences rendered through intuition, emotions, and often feelings that are special to the hero -- often rather than logical reasoning. The paradigm of heroism transcends genre, chronology and has become so common in the human collective consciousness that it is easily recognized and repeated (Campbell).

One very interesting aspect of the human experience is the manner in which certain themes appear again and again over time, in literature, religion, mythology, and culture -- regardless of the geographic location, the economic status, and the time period. Perhaps it is the innate human need to explain and explore the known and unknown, but to have disparate cultures in time and location find ways of explaining certain principles in such similar manner leads one to believe…

Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand, report show book read retelling story. A theme selected proven research style writing. Examples details book support ideas. eport double spaced, standard 1" margins 12 size font.
Following her first novel Seabiscuit, many awaited Laura Hillenbrand's second book with nothing less than eagerness and excitement. It will be however nine years after her first non-fiction account before Unbroken: A World War Two Story of Survival, esilience, and edemption is released. Hillenbrand's life took a sudden turn just before her graduation from Kenyon College in Ohio when she fell ill with chronic fatigue syndrome, a disease that has kept her confined from living a normal life. She remains ensnared within the perimeters of her house in Glover Park, Washington which is from where she conducted research and eventually wrote Unbroken, the biographical novel about an Olympic runner whose World War Two experience reflects heroism in a sense of…

Larger Than Life - Jenny Lyn Bader
At many times throughout the recorded history of man there has been a refocus of the academic, political and popular views of just what is meant by "how things are," or in some cases, how things were. The sort of maxims that many consider to be universal are not really so universal through time. In the article "Larger Than Life, " written by Jenny Lyn Bader just such a refocus is analyzed. Bader discusses the idea of the fall of heroism, which in modern times has been shifted to a more personal focus. Analyzing Bader's work through what in many ways is an apology the reader of the work gains much more clarity of the intent and inspiration of the very people Bader accuses. In a complimentary work, "New horizons for the American est." By Margaret alsh, many answers to Bader's questions can…

Knighthood and Chivalry: Heroism, Love, and Honor in "Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"
Fourteenth century literature was characteristically based on medieval period, wherein the dominance of Christianity is evident in estern society during that time. Influenced by the image of a knight, who serves as a warrior and man of noble birth, literary works during this period centered on the virtues taught to be important by the Church: love, honor, and chivalry. These are the characteristics that every heroic knight should have: respect for other people and the self, respect for love, and protecting those people who are unable to protect themselves from harm.

These are the traits that readers see in the images of the 'knights' depicted in Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Belonging to the 14th century estern literary period, these works have illustrated how…

Human Rights: King Leopold's Ghost
King Leopold's Ghost: Human Rights

Conflicting arguments have been put forth in response to the question of whether or not colonialism is justified. Proponents of colonialism argue that it helps to bring civilization, progress and growth in the colonizer's religion. However, evidence shows that colonialism only benefits the colonialist nation at the expense of the colonized population. This text demonstrates why this is so using the book 'King Leopold's Ghost' by Adam Hochschild.

Those that plundered the Congo and other parts of Africa did so in the name of progress, civilization, and Christianity? Was this hypocritical? How? What justifications for colonial imperialism have been put forward over the past five centuries?

Simply stated, colonial imperialism is the establishment and maintenance of a nation's ruler over an alien nation that is subordinate, yet separate from the ruling power. Imperial powers from ancient to modern periods have…

It also widened her female audience much further than the small group of upper-class women with whom she was acquainted (ibid).
Overall, this work represented Lanyer as a complex writer who possessed significant artistic ambition and "who like other women of the age wrote not insincerely on devotional themes to sanction more controversial explorations of gender and social relations" (Miller 360).

In her work, Lanyer issued a call to political action by noting several Old Testament women who changed the course of ancient Jewish history through their bravery, humor and valor, and she recalled the favor Christ demonstrated to women in a variety of actions and by electing them as custodians of his salvational message (ibid 362). The story covered Christ's betrayal by male apostles, the arraignment before male authorities to whom Lanyer addressed complaints, and the account of Christ's procession to Calvary, the crucifixion and the drama of the…

According to Coble (2010), Chinese reporters found themselves unwilling to demonstrate their countrymen as helpless victims of the Japanese. Therefore, the narrative that pervaded the era in the form of "news" reports and statements of "fact" was often colored by a collective attempt to focus on the potential unity and strength of the Chinese as a nation. This is therefore a trend that persisted in the collective narrative of the massacre at Nanjing, and the national perception of those who suffered because of it. While suffering was part of this narrative, it served to demonstrate the reaction of the Chinese people as a collective as one of heroism and a spur to action rather than being the hapless victims that so many indeed were.
Also, as far as the Nanjing massacre specifically is concerned, the relative silence that surrounded it both during and after the war is also the result…

Joseph Heller
The novels "Catch-22" and "Something Happened" demonstrates the inevitable presence of black humor, irrationality and immorality that prevails in times of war or conflict in human society, as humans pursue power and superiority -- that is, survival (of the fittest).

Outlining of the three major themes discussed in the paper, namely: black humor, irrationality, and immorality in Catch-22, mainly centering on the characters in the novel. Comparison of "Catch-22" against another Heller novel, "Something Happened."

Illustrations of lack Humor in "Catch-22" vis-a-vis "Something Happened"

Demonstrations of irrationality in "Catch-22" vis-a-vis "Something Happened"

Presence of immorality in "Catch-22" vis-a-vis "Something Happened"

Synthesis

Heller's consistent portrayal of humanity as ultimately irrational and immoral portrays humans' innate need to survive regardless of the means by which they achieve it (survival).

Conclusion: Reiteration of the thesis statement

lack Humor, Irrationality and Immorality of Human Society as Portrayed in Joseph Heller's novels (Catch-22…

storms paintings, atteau's the Storm and Delacroix's the Sea Galilee, and their relation to Neo-Classical and Romantic styles
This work bases on two storm art works, which depicts storm in two different ways. The differences are explainable through two different artwork styles, neo-classical and romantic styles. Neo-classic art commonly referred to as the revival of artistic canon came into practice in the mid 1700s. This form of art aimed at criticizing the government's oppression the people. Artiste of these times used this form of art to show their dissatisfaction with the mode of governance. They fought for democracy through artwork. Romantic art began during the late 18th century to mid-19th century. It aimed at rebelling against the neoclassical times. The movement began as an intellectual and artistic movement, but its agenda was rebellion against the oppression. It values included the following individualism, subjectivism, irrationalism, emotions, and nature. This art style…

hero? Does it depend on whether one is a man or a woman? Is the nature of heroism engendered? Are there different categories of heroism - a heroism of the mind and a heroism of the body, for example? The life and work of the novelist Jean Rhys help us to understand the nature of the heroic. Rhys herself may be considered to be a hero even though her life was not by conventional means a success. Indeed, it might be considered to be a stereotypical failure: She drank heavily, had a number of unhappy love affairs, and seems to have lost her talent or at least her will to write for decades. But in the end. A woman who called herself a "doormat in a world of boots" proved by her life and in her work that doormats are durable indeed.
Rhys's sense of herself as a certainly less-then-conventional-heroic…

Old Breed
In real war, soldiers have been ripped from their families, surviving, sometimes barely, in foreign surroundings. The author of With the Old Breed repeatedly states he "just wanted to survive," (p. 186), which underscores the fact that cinematic versions of war often overplay the elements of honor and pride and downplay the more real, mundane, everyday feelings and experiences. In fact, Sledge notes that he did not want to be "burdened with responsibility" of being a commanding officer. It was better to be a mortarman, because then just surviving would be a victory. Therefore, the "real war" was the reality on the ground, and according to E.B. Sledge, it was "terribly depressing," (p. 180). This paper will demonstrate that the "real war" is to be found in the often mundane and "depressing" experiences of its soldiers, and will also discuss the counterpoint of idealized heroism.

eal war is…

His very defiance of the immortals at almost every turn in the story is evidence of the extreme degree of certainty and even of righteousness that Odysseus carried with him throughout his journey, and this certainty is a strong sign of his heroism.
One of Odysseus' most obvious character traits, and one of the primary indicators of the Western ideal of heroism, is his militancy and physical prowess. This is commented on be several figures in the epic, including Odysseus himself. One of his sailors says at one point, "You are very strong yourself and never get worn out; you seem to be made of iron" (Book XII, par. 22). His single-handed destruction of Penelope's many suitors is also compelling evidence for this facet of his personality. His sheer battle prowess, which is how he came to be on this journey in the first place and is shown in many…

The mood is not unlike the effect of the lotus, being a state of languor. The landscape is lush and detailed, the sort of landscape that would be appealing on its own and that visitors would not want to leave for its own sake.
Such description begins as the ship apperoaches the land and Ulysses tells his men to have courage:

In the afternoon they came unto a land

In which it seemed always afternoon.

All round the coast the languid air did swoon,

Breathing like one that hath a weary dream.

Full-faced above the valley stood the moon;

And, like a downward smoke, the slender stream

Along the cliff to fall and pause and fall did seem. (lines 3-9)

Tennyson says this is "A land of streams!" (line 10) and describes those streams and their effects in some detail. After making the appeal of the land clear, Tennyson notes…

hero? And what has one got to do with the movies? The answer to that question - which is really the question of how the mass media influence popular perceptions of the heroic and the Hero - is a complex one as are any significant questions that examine the relationship between mass media and the culture that produces, absorbs, reflects and reifies them.
This paper examines one person who as much as anyone became the emblem of a hero in the 20th century because of the image that he portrayed on the big screen: John ayne or The Duke. To say that he was a hero because of the roles that he played is not to imply that he was not himself a good person. But we remember him today, and remember him as a heroic figure not because of his actions as an individual but because of the characters…

Pocahontas Through the Ages
Robert Tilton's book, Pocahontas: The Evolution of a Narrative, is ultimately a story about a story. Tilton's study does not largely concern itself with the real life individual whom we have come to know as Pocahontas, nor the primary texts from the early seventeenth-century that documented the facts of her life as they originally occurred. In addition, Tilton does not engage in pointed discussion about the principle players involved in the famous rescue of John Smith, such as, the Powhatan people or key members of the Virginia plantation. He also side-steps the question of the historical authenticity of the rescue story -- a story that largely came into doubt amongst nineteenth-century critics and writers from the northern states who struggled to weaken the power of the mythic narrative being exploited by southerners, around the time of the Civil ar. The story of Pocahontas, Tilton argues, has…

Connectionism and Learning: A Web of Development
I have chosen connectionism and its potential ability to model various learning processes in the brain by a multi-disciplinary approach that combines many different theoretical approaches that have recently been given a big boost with advances in technology. The basic principles that define the connectionism model involve a sense of biological realism that combines interconnected networks that form a more complex network that could explain the processes within the human brain, as well as also serve as a model that could also be used to develop non-human networks such as AI for instance. Although it is not necessarily clear how this research might be relevant to my career goals at present, the research seems to be developing so fast that knowledge of this subject could be entirely relevant within the next five years.

Dalege, J., van den Berg, H., Borsboom, D., Conner, M.,…

Biographical Background Born Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson in January of 1956, Mel Gibson is one of the most controversial but well-known actors and filmmakers in America. When Gibson was a teenager, his parents moved the family—including Mel and his ten siblings—to Australia, ostensibly to prevent their children from being drafted into the Vietnam War (“Mel Gibson Biography”). Mel Gibson completed his high school and university education in the Sydney area, where he also became involved in theater. His forays into acting eventually earned him a role in Mad Max, his first major acting role. The first Mad Max movie came out in 1979; by the third sequel Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome in 1985, Gibson was earning over a million dollars for his acting performances (“Mel Gibson Biography”). In 1987, Gibson starred alongside Danny Glover in the buddy action movie Lethal Weapon.
Gibson made his directorial debut with The Man Without…

I believe both "great" mean got what they deserved in the afterlife.
Journal Part Two

In the Greek world, heroism, valor, and bravery were the greatest of all characteristics, so it is fitting that the Greeks' idea of hell is people walking around without unmotivated, unable to be brave. Americans' version of hell would be a different one, filled with all of the little frustrations of life. Some people would be caught in endless lines in department stores. Others, would be forever in a traffic jam. Still others would he stuck on the line with an infuriating member of customer service forever. Maybe some would get the mail each day, constantly finding letters about matters that they had resolved, and they would have to spend every day talking to the same companies and telling the same stories over and over again. These seem to be the little things that bother…

However, neither is invincible. Beowulf meets a heroic demise when he fights the final dragon at the end of the epic. His death in no way diminishes the grandeur of his heroism. Another feature of the classic hero is their tendency to embark on lengthy journeys and quests to prove their merits, and Beowulf is no exception.
Similarly, Gilgamesh does not completely succeed in his quest for immortality. Gilgamesh does help kill beasts with the help of Enkidu. Enkidu also fits the archetype of the male hero: he is a powerful, seemingly super-human beast who dies before the epic is over. Yet his death does not spell his failure any more than Gilgamesh's mortality minimizes his great successes. Gilgamesh proves his heroism also by demonstrating the lessons he learned through the course of his adventures: coming to terms with mortality and finding love in his heart. Through loving Enkidu, Gilgamesh…

In 1918 Iceland became independent but remained under the rule of the Danish king. At the end of the war a plebiscite showed a 75% pro-Danish majority and the North Slesvig was once again reunited with Denmark (Miller 224).
As World War I was coming close and Denmark remained neutral Jews started moving to the country. There are no exact statistics since many of these immigrants were wary of the authorities, but as many as twenty to thirty thousand Eastern European Jews may have entered Denmark during this period and approximately 3,000 stayed permanently, thus doubling the Jewish population (Hammerich in Kisch). More did not stay because the existing assimilated Jewish community wanted to pay their passage out; they believed their position in society was threatened and latent anti-Semitism would spread. The Jewish congregation even actively cooperated with authorities such as the police to expel unemployed or unwanted individuals from…

eowulf's story is being told by Christian tribes. He finds nature on his side because God is on his side - and he works within Gods will. He does not fight gods or nature, but rather only fights irrevocably evil demons. He is associated with a pious culture which is not humanistic, and in which science and other such forms of hubris are not encouraged. eowulf is a truly medieval hero, just as Odysseus was Grecian.
This difference in culture, between the material and the heavenly, is seen in every aspect of the two characters and their lives. It exists also in their ends. Odysseus spends his entire story seeking a way home to the home of his body - to his wife, his child, his fields and bed. eowulf is seeking only the ultimate good, and he turns down physical reward and even resists kingship until it is forced…

He is a full grown hero who only needs a goal to set him on his journey. Gilgamesh is young and inexperienced, and he needs help to grow and mature throughout his journey, which he obtains from his dear friend Enkidu. Gilgamesh has many lessons to learn, and Odysseus learns too, but he is farther on the road to maturity, and so his journey leads him somewhere he already knows and is comfortable with, while Gilgamesh's journey takes him on uncharted territory, and he learns more about himself and the people around him on his journey.
In conclusion, these men are both heroic, but they show it in different ways and they have different heroic ideals. They are real heroes to be sure, but they are also real men, with the faults that only real men seem to have. Gilgamesh can be a violent boor with little regard for women…

Dante, Sophocles, Gilgamesh REVISED
The Epic of Gilgamesh, Dante's Inferno and Sophocles Oedipus the King are all classic and foundational estern texts which depict, en passant, the importance of humankind's demand to know, to explore and penetrate the unknown, to arrive at ultimate truths about existence and its mysteries, and to find meaning or value therein. I hope to demonstrate with reference to specific episodes -- that of Utnapishtim in Gilgamesh, of the episode of Ulysses in Dante's Inferno, and in the great address to the protagonist hymned by the chorus of Sophocles' tragedy of Oedipus -- this complicated depiction of human intellectual overreach.

Dante provides us with the basic topos of this kind of overreach as a sort of failed heroism, or heroism that breaks forth the bounds of Aristotelian temperance (or sophrosyne) and becomes, paradoxically, a vice. (The Aristotelian definition of sin is central to Dante, since his…

O rother, Where Art Thou?
Homer in Hollywood: The Coen rothers' O rother, Where Art Thou?

Could a Hollywood filmmaker adapt Homer's Odyssey for the screen in the same way that James Joyce did for the Modernist novel? The idea of a high-art film adaptation of the Odyssey is actually at the center of the plot of Jean-Luc Godard's 1963 film Contempt, and the Alberto Moravia novel on which Godard's film is based. In Contempt, Prokosch, a rich American dilettante film producer played by Jack Palance, hires Fritz Lang to film a version of Homer's Odyssey, then hires a screenwriter to write it and promptly ruins his marriage to rigitte ardot. Fritz Lang gamely plays himself -- joining the ranks of fellow "arty" German-born directors who had earlier deigned to act before the camera (like Erich von Stroheim in Wilder's Sunset oulevard, playing a former director not unlike himself, or…

Ghost Soldiers - The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission is a saga of extreme valor of American soldiers and Prisoners of War (POW). The dramatic story of the capture of American and British POW, and their rescue attempt by selected U.S. Army 6th Ranger Batallion took place in Cabanatuan, a province in the Philippine Islands.
Ghost Soldiers is a book that depicts the extraordinary skills and virtue of the soldiers of war. Most of all, it is a chronicle of heroism, sacrifices, and triumph dared by the horror WWII had created. Perhaps, we can say that the story presented by Hampton Sides in Ghost Soldiers is a contribution to the journals of WWII. The book is a breathtaking and detailed account of the horrifying experiences of the POW, the rescuing soldiers, and the rest of the soldiers involved in the rescue mission such as the brave…

Holocaust affected Israeli society and culture and how Jews memorialize/emember it today
There exists no doubt regarding the massacre of the Jews during the phase of World War II and its impact on the lives of the Jewish people and the people who were near and dear to them. A dissention is required against those who assert that the tragedy never occurred, irrespective of whether they hold an opposite perspective to the Holocaust theory or just outright vehemence against Jews. The Holocaust stands for the lowest extreme of Jewish impotence. The affected Jews of the Holocaust were distraught due to it, both by direct means and indirectly, and as a continuance their kith and kin, near and dear ones, were separated by space. The holocaust has been termed rightly as a "Tragic legacy." It has also been looked upon as an unauthentic episode.

Discussion

Just due to the fact they…

Night does these things to you. It makes you paralyzed.
Most angst-provoking of all to the young Wiesel was his loss of faith in God, and this is the brunt of his book and the brunt of his theme throughout his life, no doubt intensified by his later philosophical studies under existentialist teachers such as Buber and Sartre.

God was killed but, in another inversion (day into night), God was killed by those He created. He, the alleged potent Being, had been made impotent by so-called impotent beings and was dying on the gallows along with a child so light in weight, that when hung, the boy died slowly and in agony:

I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man (Night, p. 64.)

Night is the umpteeth level of alone-ness. In the day, a…

Nonetheless, the example is similar. An entire nation of people is in an uprising against a powerful dictator, led by one man, defeats their enemies to get to victory. There are echoes here of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s in the United States led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is only when testimonial literature comes onto the scene that we understand how important both of these former points are. Testimonial narrative makes real the pain of poverty.

Gustavo Gutierrez's preferential option for the poor definitely becomes a misnomer when testimonial literature is introduced into the picture. The problem with preferential option for the poor is that it is a term specifically designed for the vocabulary of academics which seek to side with the poverty-stricken Other which they, the academics, most likely have little to no contact with on a daily basis.

However, they wish to have…

" 1). The story also portrays the roles of women as incredibly passive. When Ghatotkacha dies, his mother is left vulnerable and is "rendered helpless at the unexpected death of the main pillar of her security," (Bandyopadyay "A Study in Folk 'Mahabharata:' How Balarama Became Abhimanu's Father-in-Law." 1). This was then adopted by Islamic tradition to show the nature of the woman's role within typical life.
The two versions of the Indonesian and Indian portrayals of Ghatotkacha's story have their similarities and differences. According to research, the Mahabharata entered into Indonesia through Java around the first century CE. As it traveled deeper into Indonesia, there were slight variations which were created out of adapting the tale to traditional Indonesian culture. The two are incredibly similar, "the Indonesian version of Mahabharata has great resemblance with the Indian folk-versions," (Bandyopadyay "A Study in Folk 'Mahabharata:' How Balarama Became Abhimanu's Father-in-Law." 1). Yet…

mythology and ancient beliefs. Specifically it will compare the myths of heroism in the myth of Achilles to the modern film "Troy." The film "Troy," from 2004, is a remake of the Homer classic "The Iliad," which recounts the legend of the Greek warrior Achilles. In the film, actor Brad Pitt plays Achilles, giving him a larger than life, heroic quality. Achilles is the child of a mortal and a nymph, and his parents attempt to give him immortality by dipping him in the iver Styx, but they miss a tiny spot on his heel, and this leads to his downfall.
Both of these myths center around the idea of the hero in mythology, and in fact, they show the importance of heroes in the Greek society 3500 years ago. The translator of the Iliad writes, "Heroes are born into positions of prominence, which they also reaffirm by their public…

In the traditions of Greek epics, he has not only been a hero in his lifetime, but strengthens his legacy by passing the ability to his son.
In addition to accomplishing works of great military valor, Odysseus's character also lends to his heroism. Neither he nor Telemachus exercise their physical abilities for their own sake, or to get praise, but both do it for a very valuable reason. During the Trojan ar, Odysseus fights for his people. His desire to return home is inspired by the love of his wife and his family. His anger towards the suitors is not just because one of them might have taken his worldly riches, but more importantly because they have been threatening his wife's devotion to him. That Odysseus is a family man of great character can be best witnessed through his interactions with Calypso, who fell in love with him and forced…

The death of Mr. Edward lair Leighton, on September 1st, removed from our midst a painter who, though he did not attain to the higher flights of art, yet played a distinguished part in aiding the public mind to an appreciation of the romance attaching to antiquity, and to a realisation of the fellowship of mankind throughout the ages.

(Edmund lair Leighton. English Pre-Raphaelite (2nd wave) painter born 1853 - died 1922)

The above quotation also refers to another positive aspect of his art and subject matter; namely, the view that his paintings suggest and evoke a "fellowship of mankind throughout the ages." This is again a romantic ideal that could also be a reason for the continued popularity of this artist.

However, at the same time the critics were also well aware of the artistic shortcomings of his art and were clear in the view that his art only…

Throughout his play, collective devastation is met with personal suffering. It is only when this becomes a shared suffering that it can become a collective way to redemption. The divides of a war now over would give way to this shared experience for all peoples of France, charged with the responsibility of rebuilding.
Indeed, this speaks much to the futility of war itself, as spoke by Camus when he resolves that "all a man could win in the conflict between plague and life was knowledge and memories" (Camus, 262). The viewpoint expressed here is in informed by the severity of orld ar II and the unprecedented global experience of attempting to be removed from this trauma. In the resolution instigative of this discussion, we can see that Camus holds on to some sense that man is inherently more a good creature than a bad one, and that he is to…

Howell does an excellent job of playing with the traditional view of war and the heroism of the soldiers in this story by making both the hero and his fiancee a little foolish. He is foolish for having been goaded into the war in the first place, and for catching some of her celebratory attitude -- and perhaps for loving her in the first place -- but she is immensely more foolish for her continued self-centeredness and complete lack of understanding as to the reality of the events of war and death.
A really enjoyed this short story; I felt like the characters were very well developed, and very quickly, so that I became instantly engaged in their stories. George did not seem too sympathetic of a character, and Editha certainly wasn't, and I thought that was strange. I felt very sorry for George's mother, however, especially in light of…

It takes an encounter with madness to appreciate the finer things in life and through successful characterization, Kesey brings this issue to the forefront. The struggle between man and those wishing to control him is not new because it is intrinsically human to desire freedom. hen we are caged, we rebel, even if that rebellion comes with a high price. McMurphy emerges triumphant because he demonstrates to the other men that they can be free and they do not have to let the system crush them. Bromden is heroic as well, because he discovers himself after a long separation from who he actually is. He would have never taken the steps he did without McMurphy and his antics. They are modern-day heroes fighting the age-old war of man vs. authority.
orks Cited

Fick, Thomas. "The Hipster, the Hero, and the Psychic Frontier in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.'" Rocky…

"38. (512)
The narrative of Rama demonstrates that the need to trust in the "Primal Creator" accept the fact that human beings folly and that the world will be redeemed if individuals have faith enough in him, the one God. The significance of the Rama narrative is then demonstrative of the value and fallibility of the common man. Guru Gobind Singh, through the Dasam Granth meant to draw the common man to a faith that he or she could understand and embrace.

orks Cited

Dasam Granth March 10, 2008 from: http://www.searchgurbani.com/main.php?book=dasam_granth&action=pagebypage

Durga Recalled by the Tenth Guru" by Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, in "The Sikh Tradition: A Continuing Reality," edited by S. Bhatia and a. Spencer (Patiala: Punjab University, 1999), pp. 208-255.

The Forgotten Tradition: Sikhism in the Study of orld Religions" by Mark Jurgensmeyer, in "Sikh Studies: Comparative Perspectives on a Changing Tradition" (Berkeley: Berkeley Religious Studies Series, 1979), pp.…

If someone is a hero or the best at something, they feel as if they have created something permanent. But how many heroes are remembered, really -- even Alexander, Galileo, or Jesse Owen, for that matter -- their images are remembered, not truly who they are as a person. It is better to enjoy your life in the here and now, and make meaning out of if on a moment-by-moment basis than squandering your life, being miserable, trying to be a hero, or even pinning all your hopes on a girl and seeing that girl as the reason for living. Human beings and athletic prowess will both disappoint you, because they will fall short of your expectations -- neither are perfect, and neither will erase the fact that we are all going to die.
Alfonzo: I don't get it. Maybe I'll go for a run, try to make it as…

Moore responds by air-lifting his men to the valley in the first helicopter air cavalry used in the war, a creation of Moore. Before embarking, Moore delivers an impassioned speech to his men in which he references the multi-cultural heritage and composition of the Seventh Cavalry and their color-blind mutual commitment to one another. He also pledges to be the first man off the helicopter at the landing zone and the last to step off the ground at the conclusion of the battle they expect to encounter.
The ensuing battles are brutal and Moore suffers the loss of scores of his men. It turns out that they had fallen into a trap set by the North Vietnamese who outnumber Moore's regiment by a factor of ten, with four-thousand soldiers in the area. Despite the courage and determination shown by Moore and his men throughout the next two days of fighting,…

Andrea Chenier
Though Umberto Giordano's work has often been overshadowed by that of his rather more famous contemporary Giacomo Puccini, Giordano's Andrea Chenier offers the ideal site for one to engage in a critical examination of nineteenth century opera and the various thematic and stylistic strains popularized at the time, as well as the complications which arise from modern interpretation and performance. In particular, examining the critical history of verismo alongside the historical context of Andrea Chenier serves to demonstrate how fully a modern performance of the opera seemingly subsumes and dissolves any revolutionary character that might have been present in the original text by reproducing the story of doomed love during the French evolution in a gaudy, ahistorical performance.

Before conducting an analysis of a modern performance of Andrea Chenier, there are a few key topics one must investigate further in order to place the subsequent analysis in its…

XV were Christian is beyond doubt; and it is equally certain that Beowulf was composed in a Christianised England, since conversion took place in the sixth and seventh centuries. Yet the only Biblical references in Beowulf are to the Old Testament, and Christ is never mentioned. The poem is set in pagan times, and none of the characters is demonstrably Christian. In fact, when we are told what anyone in the poem believes, we learn that they are pagans. Beowulf's own beliefs are not expressed explicitly. He offers eloquent prayers to a higher power, addressing himself to the "Father Almighty" or the "Wielder of All." Were those the prayers of a pagan who used phrases the Christians subsequently appropriated? or, did the poem's author intend to see Beowulf as a Christian Ur-hero, symbolically refulgent with Christian virtues" (Yeager)
Interesting though Vis and amin share some characteristics with Hellenistic romances written…

Door in the Wall" our hero is Lionel Wallace. His heroism lies in his ongoing fight with his childhood memories and the knowledge that there is an easier way. He perseveres in life even though he feels the tediousness of it. Wallace is a tragic hero. The tragedy is that he gave into the choice when he was too young to understand and now must fight it every second, with its impact making his life more unpleasant.
The story revolves around Wallace's encounter with a green door when he is at the age of five or six. He enters this door and finds an enchanted world. On leaving this world, the memory of it haunts him for the rest of his life. We see Wallace encounter the door again and again, each time not entering it for different reasons.

Inside the door is both a paradise and an escape, an…