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| Me in the fifth grade-complete with winged sandals! |
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Living a mythic life...
For me, the Greeks and their legends meant one thing in my childhood: Heroes. Like many elementary school kids, the more I learned the Greek myths and stories, the more enthralled I was with Odysseus, Jason, Heracles and all of the other legendary heroes. In fact, when I was in the second grade, I played Odysseus in the school play of the Iliad (a very watered down version) and I dressed as Perseus for a elementary school wax museum.
That same charachteristic of how the Greeks idolized their heroes and how we do the same with our Movie, pop and sport stars. We follow them like avid fan-boys and then immortalize them in bronze for the world to remember. The thing about it is, we all have some form of this in us, just like I did when I read the myths myself at seven years old.
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I like the analogy to society and pop culture today. It seems so archaic to idolize and immortalize a person or idea, but in reality, we do that everyday! Even after a person dies (like Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, etc.) we still praise them! I'm convinced they won't ever truly die... just like ancient heroes.
ReplyDeleteI actually read the book with Pegasus on the cover in your picture when I was a child. I too was fascinated by the stories of the heroes of Greece. My favorite movie was totally Hercules when I was a kid and I totally dressed up as him and went to school even when it wasn't Halloween.
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