Notion : Myths and Heros: In which way, in our society, the hero is a hero or is an anti-hero?

A myth is a story that may or may not be true. There may not be records or other proof that they happened, but at least some parts of myths may be true. Some myths may have started as “true” stories but as people re-told them some parts may have been changed by mistake, or to make them more interesting. As an example, to make the myths more attractive, the heroes have been created. The myths are very old stories, they came from the ancient time and for example one of the oldest hero is Ulysse from the Iliade and Odyssée by Homere. A hero is a person who is admired for his courage, force, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. In which way, in our society, the hero is a hero or it is an anti-hero? In a first part, we will see the heroes in our society. And in a second part, we will see the anti heroes and their characteristics.

First of all, in our society, the heroes are the people who are endowed of super or extra-powered physical and psychological capacities. Concerning the physical capacity, we can quote the super heroes as Captain America for their very strong force. For the psychological capacity, we can rather consider the war heroes who are the symbol of courage and bravery. In our society, the heroes as Robin Wood are perfect justiciars; the heroes are a right of wrongs, they defend the injustices. The heroes are idealistic people and for all these reasons they are glorified by the society. Among all the people in the society, the children are those who are the most attracted by the heroes. First, because the majority of myths and stories that are told to the children contain heroes. As an example, the comics read by the children all tell the stories of very different kind of heroes such as the cow boy Lucky Luck, the super hero Superman or Batman. All the young children dream to be heroes and they identify themselves as heroes. In addition, for a very long time, our societies have tried to reach the perfection spread by the myths and the heroes. Most of the people would like to look like a hero, as strong, immortal, brave and courageous. The problem if we consider that is the possibility of a society where all the people become identical with the same characteristics (force, intelligence). In the movie Welcome to Gattaca, we have a perfect example of such a society as only the people who are considered as perfect because they have been genetically pre-determined can live normally. However, in this movie, the real hero is not those we think as this man is considered by the others as an anti hero.

In the second time, we will see the anti heroes. In ancient times, the anti heroes were considered as bad guys, the enemies of heroes. Hence, the anti heroes were often complex people who became bad after a specific event. These anti heroes were characterized by psychological disorders (for example the Jocker) and a strong desire of power. In this context, the anti heroes were definied as negative heroes for example Fantomas or as disappointing heroes. However, since many years, the definition of the anti heroes has changed. Now, the anti heroes are viewed as the opposite of heroes and we see the appearance a new vision of the anti heroes. In fact, nowadays, the anti hero is defined as an ordinary person who acts in a heroic fashion and is able to think like a hero. In contrast to the heroes who are idealized, the anti heroes are normal, full fault, often geek or not integrated. They are persons that nobody

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