Mythical Heroes in Literature
Mythical Heroes in Literature
Course curriculum for exploring the character of heroes in classic mythical literature. Download the following PDFs for learning activities to make it relevant for todays students.
Odysseus
Odysseus is a trickster. Why then is he a hero? Because behind his stratagems and disguises lie his truths: the heroic ideals he upholds and serves. He is an ideal king, an ideal husband, an ideal father, son and friend.
Macbeth
Macbeth makes a morality journey from the outermost periphery of self-definition, where he acts the role of heroic man, carving his identity in defiance of death and fortune
Agamemnon
Agamemnon faces “the tragic choice,” which, as Nietzsche says is the choice between two laws “each of which is just and unjust and justified in both.”
Huck Finn
Mark Twain has created TWO unforgettable heroes in this novel. Jim, the slave who is escaping being “sold down the river” by his owner sacrifices his freedom and his hope of ever being reunited with his family, to help Tom Sawyer, Huck's friend. Huck sacrifices what he has been taught, and fervently believes to be, his only hope of salvation in the afterlife for Jim’s sake. Twain also gives us a lesson in what a false hero is.