Myths et Heroes : What is the influence of myths and heroes on us and on our lives?

What is the influence of myths and heroes on us and on our lives?

       I am going to talk about the notion of Myths and Heroes. First of all I would like to give a definition of this notion. A myth can be defined as a story about gods or heroes, it can be a popular belief or a tradition or a false notion. A hero can be a mythological figure, a person who is admired for his or her achievements, a superhero or maybe a role model or an icon. It can be a patriotic or national hero (a sportsman, a politician, a defender of human rights …..), a fictitious hero (a superhero or a film star), an icon or a role model (fashion, tv, music), a defender of common values or a politician/king/queen who has achieved international recognition. Therefore, we can wonder what is the influence of myths and heroes on us and on our lives?

       On the one hand, myths and heroes are a good influence on us and on our lives. Heroes allow to dream thanks to the myths they represent. For example, the story of “Star Wars” embodies the dream of children who like adventure. Star Wars is about a teenager Luke Skywalker and his father is a Jedi knight. Luke had never seen his father and when he died, Luke decided to avenge his father killing Darth Vader. Thanks to the effects produced by the literature, the iconic fictional hero becomes as Luke in Star Wars. This saga was created by George Lucas in the early seventies. And it was a time of tense political upheaval and social unrest. There was an oil crisis, a big disappointment with the government because of Nixon’s resignation after the Watergate scandal. Right in the middle of these events, this story brought a new kind of hero, the adventurer. The creator of Star Wars, George Lucas was enormously inspired by Joseph Campbell. This historian and professor wrote an important book entitled The hero with a thousand faces in 1949. In his book, Campbell explains what “the hero's journey” is. Indeed, it’s the initiatory pattern, a journey stay that represents a transition for a character. The fact of moving from one identity into another one (from youth and innocence to adulthood and maturity for example). The different steps of this journey start from an ordinary world in which there is a call to adventure for a character, who will meet a mentor who will help him in his quest and accomlpany him through  different stages of this hero's journey (there are 12 of them). All this incites children to be a good boy or a good girl, with values, civic responsibility and so to be a good citizen. He’s role model.

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