The idea of the hero as a role model for behavior, in fact, is so tied to human culture that one need only look at popular culture -- television and motion pictures for certain, to epitomize the need for particular story themes to remain popular. Whatever the genre -- science fiction, fantasy, western, war, even politics -- the classic nature of human values become clear when one continues to see the character traits of the hero through a series of tasks, through personal and character flaws, and finally through the triumph of the human spirit and the restoration of good (until the next story) (Voytilla)
'Gilgamesh listened to the word of his companion, he took the axe in his hand, he drew the sword from his belt, and he struck Humbaba with a thrust of the sword to the neck, and Enkidu his comrade struck the second blow. At the third blow Humbaba fell.' (Kovacs)
These include personality traits such as bravery, wisdom, strength, intelligence, skill and above all loyalty, kindness and endurance. Without endurance and perseverance, a hero is unlikely to achieve triumph over evil or to overcome the obstacles in his or her path to salvation (Nagy)
A literary critic writes of her, "Penelope is famous in myth as the waiting wife, faithful -- or otherwise. Odysseus' return will end that phase of her existence and her fame rivaling that of famous women of the past" (Ahl & Roisman, 1996, p
It can not only be linked to the Odyssey but also to the Prometheus myth. "The concept of the pillar sent down from Jupiter is exactly the same as that of Prometheus bringing fire to humans" ('2001: A Space Odyssey', 'Thus Spake Zarathustra')
Kramer vs. Kramer This drama was directed by Robert Benton and is based on the novel by Avery Corman (Curran, 1998, p
It is set after World War II, and "…depicts an Italy of poverty and desperation. Unemployment is soaring and the paltry amount of the welfare" (Fabe, 2004, p
One critic notes, " in Kramer vs. Kramer, female independence and entry into the job market threatens the family and forces the man to take on new domestic burdens" (Lipsitz, 2001, p
Besides these themes, what makes the film impressive is the use of surreal imagery which still holds its own today (Greydanus). Poole ( 2001) states that, "By any standards, 2001 was a phenomenal film… it set new standards in special effects…" (Poole, 2001, p
Despite all the references for the virtuoso film work and virtual reality and the computer sequences, the central aspect that we retain from this film and which remains so relevant today is the evolutionary and religious connotations of the film. As one critic states, " Kubrick thought that one of the themes of 2001 was that humans need "some sort of transfiguration" to attain a "higher form of life "(Scheurer, 1998, p
2. The Bicycle Thief This film has achieved some amazing accolades and has been described as the "Best Picture about the Relation of Property to the Human Soul" (Warren, 1994)
Due to his lack of any compassion or humanity there is no other conclusion to draw except that Richard is psychopathic. He is basically a serial killer with a self-promoting plan (Shakespeare 1996)
" (Homer, Book IX) This can be interpreted (in an admittedly Marxist line of thought) as showing the Cyclops as monstrous by presenting a vision of him as standing up against the gods (symbolically represented by the sky). Even the greatest heroes in Greek Mythology, such as Prometheus (Kirk), are punished for defying the gods, and therefore it is an even further "sin" for a monstrous creature to do so
They achieve harmony with that process and learn, as we are to learn, the lesson of the Odyssey."(Griffin, 96) Thus, the pitfalls of temptation as well as the tension between obstacles and goals represented in the epic are in fact important precisely because the sad song composed to describe them gives delight
Surely, his return is as unlikely as a dead man's." (Halkin, 77) As Carole Moses explains, the Odyssey maintains the theme of return and recognition in its very structure
His cunning is evinced in many different episodes, restraint and endurance, deception and disguise are some of his other qualities."(Jones, 10) as such, at the end of the poem, the hero returns home transformed and mature, and is ready to regain his own life back
Once again, the Odyssey defines emotions -- in this sense, joy -- in terms of itself."(Moses, 131) This technique is exemplified in many of the episodes of the text, and Homer compares some of the situations with other similar occurrences in the text: "And as a father, with heart full of love, welcomes his only and grown son, for whose sake he has undergone many hardships when he comes back in the tenth year from a distant country, so now the noble swineherd, clinging fast to godlike Telemachos, kissed him even as if he has escaped dying
The Odyssey is permeated by an undercurrent of death: the honorless, unheroic death of Agamemnon; the horror of death expressed by Achilles; the lurid horror of Hades itself; the culmination of the poem in the death of the suitors, felt and presented in its grimness and necessary brutality, and their spiritless shades in the underworld."(Segal, 111) Thus, the image of life itself is the representation that ultimately emerges from the intricate and adventurous story
Victory lies in Aeneas' future but it is not without painful consequence. He suffers greatly over the death of Pallas, his "beloved foster son" (Virgil XI
Odysseus himself who returns to Ithaca in triumph after twenty years of wandering, is clearly a man with unsurpassed virtues and achievements which shows that the society of Greece after the "Dark Age" expected a great deal from its men and women which entitled them to a certain level of social recognition for their adherence to excellence and virtue or social disgrace for their personal failings. Thus, under the conditions set forth by these codes and values, any other type of life was seen as contemptible if its central goal was not the pursuit of excellence and the social fame that usually accompanies it (Connolly, 256)