What is the epic hero? The main character? Saying he is just a main character is belittling the man. He is the wanderer, the traveler, and the genius disguised in beggar's clothes. Today, heroes are far from what the epic heroes once were. Why? Well today, no one needs to be the son of pain to be a hero, no one need to something great or earn numerous honors in wars to prove themselves.
However, they are still heroes, just on a smaller scale. They have proven to an individual or a small group of people that they are capable of showing some kind of prowess. Modern heroes can also be movie stars, and other famous rich people that are on MTV. These people have an expertise that allows them to be heroes, just like the epic heroes. Compared Odysseus with Jason Kidd, Odysseus is a hero for what he did in the Trojan War, and Jason Kidd is a hero to the needy people he helped in the organization NBA Cares, and the New Jersey nets fans that counts on him to carry the Nets to the NBA Finals. These two people are both heroes.
They have gained fame due to the fact that they can do something expertly. Odysseus can fight wars and think out cunning battle plans, while Jason Kidd is a hero to Nets fans because he is a baller. Today, it takes less to become a hero. In our society, as long one can entertain, he or she can become a hero. Let's look at Jason Kidd again; he is a public entertainer by playing basketball in the NBA. Minor heroes, like kids' parents, become heroes by being affectionate and displaying that extra something that makes them the best people in the world. Who do I think is hero? I have no heroes in my life. I learn not to depend on someone, because all that is going to happen is that you lean too hard and eventually topple over. Heroes do not matter to me, for they are nothing but a figment of my extensive imagination. A hero to me is a psychological presence developed by long term closeness or awareness of someone. People look for many things when choosing such a “someone”. One of the most common is in line with most people nature tendency to depend on a psychological factor because it gives them comfort: helpfulness.
Over the past few days, in a class of mine, I have heard many introduction speeches that my fellow students gave. We had to include 3 positive things about the person we were supposed to introduce. The most common adjective given about the people being introduced was “helpful”. Because we yearn for this dependence and security (yes, man cannot live without a certain degree of security), we tend to look up to someone that shows “helpfulness”. Hero or no hero, I believe that faith is enough to keep a man going, and that is the closest thing that I have to a hero.
