Greek Heroes Comparison with Modern Movies Essay

Greek mythology talks about different stories of heroes and villains in ancient times. I believe most of the stories are about war and tragedy. To name some are Ajax and the Trojan war. However, learning these different stories is very fascinating and intriguing. Each of the characters had his own goal to achieve whether or not with the help of someone (i. e. god or goddess). Below are five Greek heroes in ancient literature that showed their own ideals, talents and personality in the works of Homer, Hesiod and Sophocles. Homer’s â€Å"Iliad†: 1. Achilles. The greatest Greek warrior of the Trojan War. He was in love with Briseis whom Agamemnon commanded him to replace the enslaved Chryseis (Wikipedia, 2009). 2. Hector. He was a Trojan prince and a spearman whom Achilles has killed to avenge his friend Patroclus’s death. He was the greatest fighter of Troy (Wikipedia, 2009). Hesiod’s â€Å"Theogony†: 3. Prometheus. He was a Titan god [of fire] and his name literally means â€Å"forethought†. It is said that he was ambivalent and a lowly challenger of Zeus. (Answers, 2009). 4. Eros. He was the Greek god of love, lust, beauty and intercourse, and son of Aphrodite. He is represented by a naked child carrying bow and arrow. He sprang from the primordial Chaos together with Gaea (the Earth), and Tartarus (the underworld). He fell in love with Psyche and lived with her in his home but later on, their brittle peace was ruined by her jealous sisters. (Answers, 2009). Sophocles’s â€Å"Ajax†: 5. Odysseus. He was a great warrior, a rival of Ajax who was favored by the goddess Athena. He took pity on the delusional Ajax. He was the one who convinced the king to have Ajax buried despite of their past conflicts (Nathanbauman, 2009). Developing a character in a modern movie The five aforementioned Greek heroes built a composite picture of ancient heroic model in the modern movie character like Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity [and its sequels The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum] by Robert Ludlum, which is based on his novel of the same title. The movie portrays a spy who lost his memory and who is in constant run (Liman, 2002). The Jason Bourne character is strong, loving, life-preserving, a fighter and a challenger. He is being chased by the members of his previous team to eliminate him. This is to preserve the secret that the team has done in the past – the assassination attempt on the dictator Nyakwana Wombosi. Other spies and hitmen were also sent to go after him but they were all eliminated instead by him (Liman, 2002). Strong and fighter. Like Achilles, Hector and Odysseus, Jason Bourne is strong and a very good fighter. He has the instinct of self-preservation even though he lost his memory. He used advanced hand-to-hand combat (see Figure 1) and sometimes with the use of weapons, whichever is close at hand and available . It can be seen in the movie that he knocked the two police officers unconscious, who attempted to arrest him in the park for sleeping and without ID. Other scenes were when he Your Surname Here and page number was in the bank and the U. S. Consolate. He was then chased by the police and authorities, respectively. At the time that he was on the run, that was when he met Marie. He offered her money to drive for him and away from his pursuers (Liman, 2002). Loving. Like Eros and Psyche, they fell in love with each other (see Figure 1). And yet, to be able to protect Marie from all the danger he is facing, he separated himself from her; he sent her away even though they were already attached to each other. She originally did not want to leave him but he insisted (Liman, 2002). Challenger. Just like Prometheus, Jason Bourne is considered a lowly challenger to the CIA. He is alone but he accepted the challenge of risking his life just to find out his true identity and his past. Even though he did not know what the real deal was, he did not let himself lose to those men who wanted him dead. Figure 1. The Bourne Identity. A photo of Jason Bourne running, fighting with a hitman and kissing Marie (Liman, 2002). Works Cited Answers. com. Eros. July 2009. Answers. com. Prometheus. July 2009. Liman, Doug. The Bourne Identity. Perf. Matt Damon. Universal Studios, 2002. Nathanbauman. com. Odysseus. January 2009. Wikipedia. com. Achilles. July 2009.