Why Are Heroes Not Supposed To Be The Embodiment Of Gods?

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Why do so many heroes from ancient literature cry? In every epic there is always a scene where the heroes are weeping, pulling their hair, gnashing their teeth, and ripping their cloths. Achilles weeps over Patroclus (Homer 239), Aeneas cries over his fallen city (Virgil 985), Gilgamesh mourns wetly for the death of his soul mate (Sumerians 138), and Arjuna at least sniffles over having to fight family and friend (Krishna 1286). Are heroes not supposed to be the embodiment of strength? If so, why are they displaying the most extreme signs of weakness? Most heroes are demigods, half man, half god, or in Gilgamesh 's case, true to his inclination towards one-upmanship, two-thirds god. This makes them greater than ordinary men, greater in strength …show more content…

From that boredom heroes are born, literally. Many gods from many pantheons passed time with mortals, time that resulted in the creation of a demigod. Achilles was the son of a seas nymph, Aeneas the son of Venus, Arjuna the son of the god Indra, and even poor Oedipus could trace his lineage back to Poseidon. This is important. Gods are even greater than heroes, in power, virtues, and especially in the Greek pantheon, flaws. Unlike their mortal offspring, gods never had to worry about the consequences their flaws wrought. All too often the flaws of those only semi-divine proved fatal. It was not all gloom and doom however, because it was this divine parentage that granted them the greatness to build legacies that we still talk about …show more content…

Zeus had a vision that the son of the nymph Thetis would be greater than his father. Obviously he made sure she married a mortal. Thus Achilles was born into greatness. When asked if he would rather have a long life of comfort or a short life of glory, it was no choice at all. He was born to kill. So great was his skill in battle that even those who hated him were forced to admit that they could not win without him. Surprisingly, he also loved with the same intensity. While the precise nature of their relationship is up for debate, Achilles ' love for Patroclus is one of his defining characteristics, be it brotherly or romantic. His love for his mother is also obvious, and it is probably the source of his petulance. It is funny to think of an epic hero’s extreme sullen self-pity, but it perfectly illustrates their all-encompassing “greatness”. Even their skulking and whining to their mother is great. Of course we cannot talk about Achilles without speaking about is great rage, sung about in the very first line of his epic

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