Myths And Heroes

TOPIC 1 : MYTHS AND HEROES

Introduction :

From the Greek and the Latin « mythos »

Myth = experience, in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are personified; a sacred narrative regarding a god, a hero, the origin of the world or of the people, etc.

It is also something that people believe but that does not exist or is false.

From the Greek and the Latin « heroes »

Hero = a man with exceptional qualities, superhuman, demigod, who accomplishes

Prodigious feats.

It is also a person, especially a man, who is admired by many people for doing something brave or good during a war. Ex: war hero

A hero, is admire because of a particular quality or skill that they have.

Finally, a hero can be the main character in a novel, film/movie.

Remarks : 1) what are exactly the exceptional qualities required to be seen as a hero? The expression of « system of values » appears, so it means that the values are not the same everywhere.

So there is a question of subjectivity. Are heroes similar in all countries in the world ?

Example of Oussama Ben Laden, and Paul Watson …

Development :

Document « Invincible », Mark Wahlberg.

It is a true story of a man whose name Vince Papale during the 1970’s. First, he loses his teaching job, then his wife leaves him. He was only happy when he played football with his friends. They improvised a stadium in his neighborhood because they were poor. He wanted to be a professional but never had an opportunity to start in college. He tried to join a team, he succeeded when he impressed his coach with his energy and determination. He became the oldest man to join a professional team, at the age of 30.

This document show to us, how a person who was treated as a loser, and underdog, has got a potential to make progress, to improve themselves.

This hero, advised to takes opportunities, and it says that we have to run after our dreams like Vince Papale ran after a ball.

Andrew Carnegie, John Dos Passos, the 42nd Parallel, « Prince of Peace » 1930

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was a Scottish American industrialist and entrepreneur.

We can see in this poem that Andrew Carnegie start his career from scratch (l.4), and with his determination, he invested all his money in iron, oil, in transportation…

Every time he won a money, he save it.

We can say that he is a hero, firsting first because he start from scratch, and his life was a true rags to riches story. Also because thanks to his generous donations to the USA.

We can make also a link between myths, heroes and successful career, because all the people who’s got the determination to reach

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