The concept and theme of heroism is arguably the centerpiece of most western literature. Concepts of heroism are clearly evident in later Greek, Roman and Christian literature such as Oedipus the King, Lysistrata, the New Testament Gospels and the Qur’an. Readers often associate the term hero or heroism based upon a character fighting for a good cause.
Heroism may be seen throughout the given literature by Oedipus committing all of his efforts in to helping his people, Lysistrata battling for equal rights to the women of Greece, Jesus performing miracles and baptizing new Christians with his disciples as well as the acts of Mary and Joseph in the Qur’an. Heroes, whether traditional or tragic, are exemplified throughout later greek and roman literature, and the concept of heroism shares a trend in which all characters share common traits and characteristics of personal strength and free-thinking.
Perhaps the most prominent appearance of heroism in Early Christian literature is found in the New Testament Gospels. The New Testament is a collection of writings in which different people set forth their convictions concerning the meaning and significance of the earthly life of Jesus, but did not appear until some years after His physical death. Throughout these collections of writings there are numerous accounts of heroism amongst the characters.
The most obvious hero, Jesus of Nazareth, conducts a series of miracles including feeding the 5,000, walking on water during a storm to test the faith of His disciples, turning water into wine, healing the sick and blind, and, the most widely known miracle, rising from the dead 3 days after His crucifixion. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus encounters several instances where He is challenged. Whether the challenges be of faith or temptation, Jesus maintains composure and personal strength and does not allow himself to become swayed or influenced by the challenges He is forced to face.
Aside from Jesus of Nazareth, another hero found when reading the New Testament under further analysis is Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist. John the Baptist was known for preparing the way for his cousin and Savior, traveling through the wilderness of Judea and spreading the word of God and baptizing many new Christians. Jesus even referred to him as the greatest of all men in the gospel of Matthew (Matthew 11:11). God had set John apart for a special mission, to preach about repentance, the coming of the Messiah, the Kingdom of God and to baptize people in water.
Instead of serving at the temple as a priest, he dressed in a camel’s hair garment and a leather belt. He ate locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4). He told the crowds that came to see him that they needed to repent and that the Kingdom of God was at hand (verses 1-2) and he preached the same message as Jesus Christ the Messiah (Mark 1:14-15) and prepared the way for Him. John the Baptist was arrested and imprisoned shortly after criticizing King Herrod for marrying the wife of his brother and was then ordered to execution.
John the Baptist is defined as a traditional hero of the New Testament Gospels by preaching the Kingdom of God and coming of the Messiah. His personal strength and free-thinking is what led him to be so successful in baptizing new Christians and being referred to by Jesus as the greatest of all men, even when persecuted and sentenced to death in prison.
While the concepts of heroism in the New Testament and Gospels follow the traditional hero and demonstrate heroism by performing miraculous acts, the heroism found in later Greek literature corresponds to both the traditional definition of a hero as well as a tragic hero. One of the strongest examples of this concept of heroism can be found by analyzing the individual character of Lysistrata. Lysistrata is the first ever female hero of an Ancient Greek comedy. The traits which make her extraordinary are her role in bringing women’s voices to the forefront of Athenian politics and her personality containing both traditional and forward-thinking qualities such as criticizing corruption in Athenian politics and withholding sexual relations with men in an effort to stop the war.
Not only do the actions of Lysistrata throughout the story exemplify her as a hero, but the connections between herself and the gods also greatly contribute to the concept of heroism. For instance, while it is not for certain that her prayer to Eros, the god of desire, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, led to the widespread sexual anguish amongst the men of Greece, the prayer in lines 551 to 554 lead the reader to infer that it is because of Lysistrata that the story’s battle ends in the given results.
Again, at the end of the play, Lysistrata summons the goddess of Reconciliation in an effort to perfect the peace process. The combination of personal strength and free-thinking found in Lysistrata’s character greatly contributes to her role as a hero and the concept of heroism found in later Greek literature. Another instance of heroism in later Greek literature is evident in Oedipus the King. By accepting the premise that a hero fights for a good cause, Oedipus the King demonstrates heroism in its opening of the drama. Oedipus commits all of his efforts to his people, and despite knowing where his rule ends, he continues to extend himself and stop in his quests to find the truth to better the lives of the people in his city.
However, when taken under further analysis, it is clear that Oedipus is not necessarily a traditional hero, but considered to be a tragic hero. According to Aristotle’s Poetics, the ideal tragic hero is a man in whose good and bad character were mixed, but with a predominating good, otherwise paraphrased as “a basically noble man with a tragic flaw”. Oedipus is a concerned, caring king whose people love and trust him, but he has a quick, impulsive temper and fails to think in critical situations.
As a result, he commits some terrible crimes, destroys his personal world, and drags some innocent people down with him. Instances where Oedipus can be defined as a tragic hero arise from the dramatic irony throughout the play. For example, the people of Thebes say in good faith things that aren’t true and elicit a shudder and an “If you only knew”, reaction from the audience. Oedipus says in the first episode that he never saw Laius, when clearly he did and is lying, but that one could almost consider them related, since they married the same woman.
So, he says he will be just as committed in bringing Laius’ murderer to justice as he would be if Laius were his own father, allowing the reader to be amused by the abundance of dramatic irony. In the second episode, Oedipus decides to go and find his real parents, but when he is told about his fate, he decided to never go home again, ultimately leading him right to his parents with the results now known. Oedipus takes drastic measures to avoid his fate and protect his status and credibility, only to result in fulfilling what his fate was destined to be.
As a result, Oedipus blinds himself because he does not feel deserving to have eyes because he did not use them when he could see, causing him to be a tragic hero. Traits of personal strength and free-thinking can be found in Oedipus’ character by furiously avoiding his fate at all costs and even though he demonstrated caring and quality traits as a king, his own pride and refusal to take ownership of his fate ultimately leads to his downfall.
Throughout western literature, accounts of heroism are depicted in numerous literary works whether that be a depiction of a traditional hero that fights for a good cause, or a tragic hero, a character with both good and bad traits, but with a predominating good character. Later Greek literature contains a mixture of both traditional and tragic heroes while Early Christian and Muslim cultures exemplify traditional heroes through the scriptures or storytelling’s. Despite the two different hero types, common traits such as personal strength and free-thinking play predominant roles in each hero’s story’s outcome and are all shared characteristics of heroes throughout western literature.
