In Which We (ok...I) Attempt to Begin

By putting bread, gold, horse, apple, or the very roads into a myth, we do not retreat from reality: we rediscover it. As long as the story lingers in our mind, the real things are more themselves."
-C.S. Lewis from The Dethronement of Power
(an essay on J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings)

Stories, tales, legends, fantasies--they define reality. Without them, we are nothing.

Myths breathe life into existence--they teach us what we are, who we are, why we are. They tell tales of old, of days gone by when bravery was status quo, and the only thing that mattered was honor. They speak of heroes, treasure, danger, greed, pride, and where there be dragons. They tell us the way life should be lived.

The myths that surround us define who we are. Our flights in imagination are journeys of self discovery. Through our fantasies, our personalized myths, we discover what we truly value in life.

Therefore, how does the role of the hero/sheroe change throughout culture, and what does that say about the society a) about which the piece was written, or, b) about the period during which the piece was written?

Oedipus, in Oedipus Rex, is seen initially as the hero of Thebes--he saves them from the Sphinx. However, after Thebes becomes cursed due to Oedipus and his killing-his-father-and-sleeping-with-his-mother issue, the true hero comes out. He is so disgusted with himself and what he has done that he blinds himself, so never to judge a "sightless" man again. He also continues his self-imposed universal hatred and exile. That he is seen in the middle as being irrational and rash only solidifies his heroic act of continuing his self-imposed exile. This shows his true mettle...that he stands by his word and is unafraid to stand by his honor.

Within The Shipping News by Annie Proulx, Quoyle is the sympathetic hero. He is the classic nobody, no-how, no-where. His life is a small cul-de-sac that he is incapable of escaping. By moving to the place of his ancestors, Newfoundland, he turns his life around and becomes (almost) all the reader hopes for. Through The Shipping News, Proulx reveals her values of standing for one's self, family, beliefs, and honor. Quoyle learns about his (less than flattering)family history and about those he is surrounded by. Through his new friends, like his boss/father-figure Jack, he learns about what "Newfoundlanders" value. And thus, he shapes his life anew.

Through my own personal flights of imagination, my heroes/sheroes embody (often) that which I whish I had. Everything from hand-eye coordination to bravery and non-chicken-ness. During one period of reality hitting fast and furious all around, I convinced that it was self-failing. I have since come to believe that it is instead how we define ourselves...at least how we feel we should be. And through this, our culture (self, community, national, world, etc.) can be derived.

"The value of the myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by "the veil of familiarity."
-C.S. Lewis from The Dethronement of Power

(an essay on J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings)