Notion mythes et héros

Notion:                                 Myths and Heroes

To deal with the notion of myths and heroes, I chose to tackle the subject of major sportsmen and women, which corresponds to these two ideas. To illustrate my notion, I will use 3 documents. We can easily explain the notions of heroes in sports. It can be defined as a person admired for his courage and noble qualities, who performs outstanding achievements, someone who can be a role model for many people. Otherwise, in the sport world, a hero can sometimes become a myth, who has been unequalled, at the top of his category, that is to say who cross times and is universal. Nevertheless, people doesn’t born heroes. Consequently, we will wonder how a tragedy can turn an ordinary athlete into a hero are even a myth, and on the contrary how it can harm the rise of an athlete and his popularity. In a first part, we will focus on favourable points a tragedy can bring to the athlete’s carrier and life, then we will see that it can also delay or harm his glory.

First of all, we can say that heroes most of the time become heroes thanks to their qualities, but also to an important event , that make them becoming hero are myth. Let’s take the example of Bethany Hamilton. The document I will use is a report by a journalist, which tells the story of the manifold heroism of this young pro surfer. Bethany, 17, was on her way toward a successful surf career when she went surfing with her friend Greg. This is when the tragedy happened: a shark attacked, and Bethany had her left arm torn off by the shark, while trying to rescue her friend. But she and her friend survived, and since this day, Bethany has become a pro surfer.  She was and is still hailed as a heroine, for her bravoure, her perseverance and her amazing abilities. She now fights for other disabled people conditions. In the document, we have the report of a critic who has just seen “Soul surfer”, a movie based on Bethany’s life. He says he was very impressed by the young lady, like everyone, who is still amazed that she has become such an icon and role model for millions of young people. Bethany is a real heroine, partly thanks to her accident, because she is not only a great athlete, but also a heroine who sacrificed herself for her friend, and now tries to help other disabled people. She proved she was selfless and cold-blooded, and above all, humble.

However, a tragedy can have the opposite effect. It can be a disadvantage for the athlete. For instance, a dramatic salute ruined the life of John Carlos, and his career. My explanation will be based on an article published in International Herald Tribune, in 1984, which is based on John Carlos’ testimony. This athlete and his team mate, in the Olympics in Mexico City, in 1968, were standing on the victory platform (because they won gold and bronze medals at 200m), barefoot, heads bowed and most of all with their black-gloved fists thrusts skyward. They did this salute, to denounce discrimination of black people, and they chose this moment to make it meaningful, and highly symbolic. Unfortunately, this salute earned them no less than 35 years of pain and discrimination. Indeed, they were seen as traitors or black Panthers, they couldn’t find a job and John’s wife committed suicide. But their recognition and thankfulness has finally arrived, in 2007, when a statue representing the two athletes on the victory platform was erected in their former university, in San Jose in honour of their heroic rebellion. Likewise, the redemption of the extraordinary boxing talent of Mohamed Ali was really delayed, by his impugned behaviour and engagements. But he is now considered as a real myth of boxing.

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