OT - The diminshed role of the mythic hero in the post-modern west
Posted by:
Sawfish (IP Logged)
Date: 20 January, 2021 11:22AM
This is clearly off-topic, but a while back we made a stab at trying this out, if a forewarning is given, and the people in CAS are good, independent, imaginative thinkers, so...
For quite a while I've felt that there's a sort of cultural archetype that in a sense is universal, but seems to me to be more pervasive in modern western nations than in modern eastern ones, with the possible exception on the nations culturally in the sphere of India, which remain closer to the western model of the individual. This is the idea of the hero, a mortal with abilities that far exceed the norm, and to whom humanity feels a closer kinship than to the divine. Not truly demigods, but humans, with human frailties and motivations.
We're aware of mythical heroes, but I'd like to explore how the concept of the hero--a super-endowed human--has bled into modern life as the sports hero, the philosophic/ideological hero, and as in the case of the arts, the aesthetic hero. We might discuss how the role of the hero as the opponent of the divine, or the intermediary between the divine and the mortal, has evolved in the post-modern, when the concept of the divine, and its recognition, has radically diminished.
In short, when the divine was widely accepted as fact, the hero was an intermediary--a sort of ambassador to the divine, in some cases expressing human rebellion at divine law. Rather like the evolved role of eldest son in a patriarchy. But now, with a denial of the existence of the divine, the hero can no longer be a clear intermediary to the traditional authority figure(s), so what now is his role?
--Sawfish
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~