Expression Orale, myths et heroes

Expression Orale

Myths and Heroes

        The notion I will present today is ‘Myths and Heroes’, which will be centered around learning. First, allow me to define those key words : A myth is a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events such as gods and their doings.

A hero would be a rather charismatic person that displays noble qualities and that achieves outstanding feats.

        So I will answer the question: How do Myths and Hero stories give us valuable lessons ?

        I will go over the myth of Narcissus, however, instead of dealing with a hero, I will use the exemple of an anti-hero, which is a central character that lacks heroic qualities and attributes, portrayed by Dorian Gray.

        Several versions of the myth of Narcissus have survived from ancient sources, however we studied a specific painting in class, Echo and Narcissus by John William Waterhouse, which is related to the classic version of the myth : Narcissus was a hunter known for his beauty and his appreciation of beautiful things. One day as he was walking in the woods, Echo, a moutain nymph, saw him and fell deeply in love with him, so she followed him and ultimately revealed her identity and her love but was harshly rejected and fell in a depression for the rest of her life, spending it alone. Nemesis, godess of revenge, learned what happened to Echo and decided to punish Narcissus. So, on a summer day, after hunting, he was thirsty and thus lured to a pool of water where he saw his reflection for the first time and fell madly in love with what he saw. Realizing eventually that this love could not be reciprocated, he died, melted by the fire of passion burning inside him, leaving behind a gold and white flower, known today as a daffodil.

        We can make out the following lesson: only loving oneself will undoubtedly lead to a solitary life. Furthermore the adjective ‘naricissistic’ came after this myth, strenghening the impact it had on society.

        In 1890, Oscar Wilde published The picture of Dorian Gray, which was not well appreciated  at the time because Wilde was known to be a hedonist, a person who believes that the pursuit of pleasure is the most important thing in life. The book deals with the life of Dorian Gray, a wealthy young adult who enters the aristocratic life of London, he is immediately noticed by Basil Hallward who wishes to paint a portrait of Dorian, and introduced to Lord Henry, a hedonist who pushes Dorian to abandon his morals in the name of pleasure. Eventually, Dorian wishes that the painting, rather than he, will age and fade, even if it costs his saul. The wish is granted and the portrait ages and records every sin Dorian commits.

Along his quest for pleasure, Dorian becomes detached from his close friends leading him to a path of solitude from one momentary pleasure-high to another.

In the end, the protagonist realizes he can’t live this kind of life anymore and wants to atone for his sins, stabbing the dreadful portrait and dying by doing so.

In class we watched the movie Dorian Gray, by oliver parker, which is faithful to book despite some changes done. In it we can clearly see Dorian’s downfall.

        We can learn that no one can thrive in life just by searching for fleeting pleasures, and that those pleasures ultimately consume oneself.

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