Myths and heroes : Why are myths and heroes important to our society?

MYTHS AND HEROES

Just like myths, heroes can be real or completely fictional.

A hero can be a mythological figure, a person who is admired for his or her achievements, a superhero or maybe a role model or an icon. Heroes are people we can look up to, people we would like to look like. A hero is not necessarily someone famous, but it can just be a member of our family or a friend, someone we simply admire by his action.

Why are myths and heroes important to our society?

I. Cultural and moral influence

Our world is made of heroes.

For example, the Firemen, who are important in our life every day.

In September 2011, during the terrorist attack of the Twintowers in New York City, they helped many victims during the terrible disaster. Thanks to their courage, many people have been saved and have survived at this horrible attack. Their main value is to save the world and protect it.

Some people become themselves a hero after being influenced by one of those. For example, Thomas Edison, one of the America’s greatest inventors, has impacted the lives of millions of people (like electricity, sound recording and motion pictures…), but he has also influenced some people concerning their career. For example, Steve Jobs was a huge fan of Edison, he admired his personality and all his inventions (more than 1,000). Edison has been a role model for Steve Jobs who had begun to work very hard in his garage before becoming one of the richest men of the world. This is a good example of a modern hero who has influenced in a positive way, people’s career..

Walt Disney, is also in his own domain a hero. He is the creator of the most famous cartoons, who brings a reflection on these movies. For example, in the cartoon Pinocchio, the fact of lying brings the misfortune to the liar, the morality associated to this cartoon make us think about our consciousness. In each Disney’s cartoon, we can notice that a morality lesson is communicated to the spectators. All the moralities that are reflected in Walt Disney's various movies, show the good versus the bad.

All those people taken as example, are not real heroes of the world but more icons of the world. They don’t have super powers, like Superman, but they represent rather a model that everyone would like to follow.

II. Influence the world

We can find heroes who influenced the world, like Martin Luther King, who fought against the racial segregation in the United States and for the civil rights of African-American. Today, his image is mythic, it is a symbol. He embodied the myth of the non-violence, equality and freedom.

Another myth in the industrial sector is Henry Ford. He was very famous for his new way of manufacturing cars in assembly lines. His work inspired a lot of other companies. He didn’t go to school so long but he succeeded by himself. Henry Ford became a excellent and successful businessman, with the creation and the development of his new technique and his special offer : a car for the

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