[Modern Heroes: How do Modern Heroes differ from Ancient Heroes?]

1. Star Wars

2. Princess Diana

Modern Heroes

We've been thinking a lot about ancient heroes and heroic tales, as they show up in the great ancient epics. What I want to consider today is our modern conception of a "hero" and to what degree that does or does not overlap with the portrayal in ancient epic. (Which is slightly different from how it does or does not overlap with "heroes" as they show up in ancient Greek and Roman myth.)

In modern times, it is common to toss about references to "epic" and even direct references to the Odyssey and so forth, when discussing some of the prominent journey tales. Let's begin by looking at one of the most prominent "informing" tales in contemporary society, Star Wars:

1. Star Wars

Star Wars as "religion"

George Lucas, On Star Wars [from Andrew Gordon, "Star Wars : A Myth for Our Time," Literature/Film Quarterly  6 (1978) 314-326.]

Andrew Gordon: "Lucas's achievement is to construct a coherent myth out of his pastiche of pop culture. The multiple cross-references, the archetypal characters and situations give it both reinforcement and deep resonances for an audience that may not consciously recognize the sources but will still respond emotionally to the conventions. Moreover, at its most fundamental level, the plot partakes of the timeless elements of epic myth."

As educated readers of epic, is this last statement true? Do we find in Star Wars the "real heroes", as Lucas claims? Video screening: as you watch the clip, jot down notes on elements in this tale that seem like, or unlike, the elements in our ancient epics. Pay particular attention to the figure of the Hero: in what ways is this like, in what ways different from, the epic heroic tales we've come to know and love?

Attachment to the mind's world of fantasy as opposed to a link to working through the real world around us? That is, as an obviously getting on towards middle age guy, I find a tale like Star Wars diverting, escapist, but a way of leaving life and its problems behind, not finally a metaphor for life, or a way of trying to work through thoughts about life. The much-enduring sadness of Odysseus and Aeneas, the uncontrolled fury and passion of Achilles, the complications where the "enemy" is NOT the bad guy (Hector, Turnus), where duty to family (Hector) or lover (Aeneas and Dido) conflicts with other serious duties: these speak much more to my own life (Iliad: Odyssey: Aeneid): but what about yours?

2. Princess Diana, a very different idea of "hero"

Enormous hullabaloo: 16,000 web sites, millions of letters, millions of flowers

Question: why WAS the image of Diana so interesting, so affecting. Again, enormously wide-spread in its appeal (my wife, for example! no TV, no magazines, but avidly interested in Diana)

Diana certainly was interesting for her philanthropy and so forth: no question that she espoused many good causes and the like (but so did Charles!). But is this really why we look back to Diana as a "heroic" figure?

But why, for instance, was her death so much more important to most people than the death of Mother Teresa-- a woman who will certainly become a saint, and one of the inspirational figures of our age, from an objective viewpoint?

Many say that Diana was affecting because she, though a public personality, had many of the problems that afflict the hoi polloi: adultery, boulimia, etc. (But so does Bill Clinton! Don't see much sympathy for him!)

So what is it that makes Diana such a big deal?

¶ Links into "fairy-tale" and mythic structures of power and importance: the Camelot princess (she's not even all that beautiful, but beautiful enough, and the images are certainly striking)

¶ The rite of passage: we see her move from virgin to seasoned veteran in the media wars: somehow this growth is an important part of the hero and the hero's journey, whether expressed through the hero him- or herself, or through a "second self" figure

¶ But with this background Ñ the critical link into that archetypal world of mythology Ñ a critical part to me is (1) the realness of the emotions (not so much the person: do any of us really know this woman?), (2) the complications of the conflicts. This is not a simple situation. Despite attempts to demonize Charles, he is hardly a devil (if far from entirely admirable), and despite attempts to glorify Diana (at least after her death), she is hardly without her faults. And the issues are central and complex issues that are very hard to work out: how to deal with your emotion (adultery, divorce) versus your duty (to state, to public: obviously strongly felt on both sides): moreover these emotions seem beyond what most people feel, thus truly heroic: most of us do not have to grapple with the sorts of problems, that sense of duty to state and public and philanthropy, that grappling with the public sphere (the media) that distorts the attempt to follow a life with valid and validating human emotions. That is, the HARDNESS of the choices these people had to make (not a simple choice between good and evil) makes the scene essentially different from heroic fantasy and essentially rather like our epic heroes

¶ It's hard in the end not to feel some sense of deep tragedy in the impossible situation this couple was put into: people with a (mostly) firm sense of duty to their position in public life, good people who spent their time and efforts almost solely on philanthropic efforts, but people with emotions, with lusts, with the desire to enjoy life, much like the rest of us: and the sudden death of Diana, painfully like the climatic ending of a good story, brings the whole thing crashing home: no longer prurient interest, but a deep sense of the tragic: rather like, I think, our deep sense of the tragic that informs our reaction to Aeneas, and in different ways, our complex set of reactions to the difficult situations of Achilles and Odysseus.

¶ A very common, rather facile notion is that Hero = role model, and of course this is sometimes true: but study of figures like Diana Ñ and Aeneas! Ñ can help us understand a different, more complex, and, I think, more essential idea of the Hero

¶ As I look back at my life, I can find little that is more helpful Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneas, for setting a framework to the discussion Ñ with friends, with other literature, and internally Ñ about a host of life's most important issues. I hope you find the same as life goes on.

¶ Sign-off.

Further Diana links, for the indulgent:

Washington Post Diana Photo Gallery

Princess Diana: "Everything you ever wanted to know": list of sites

The Web bids farewell to Diana: list of sites