Greetings! I am curious how educators feel mythology, specifically Greek and Roman, parallel with archetypes of superheroes. How can the two be explored in the classroom at multiple grade levels? Thank you!

10/18/2013

12 Comments

 
12 Comments
Amanda Gulla
10/18/2013 03:46:44 am

Hi Yvonne-

This is a favorite topic of mine. I teach a course to undergraduates called The Hero's Journey in Literature and the Arts. It is a multi-genre course- we read books and poetry, see many films, and I've used visual art, music, dance and theater performances in the class. The central text is always The Odyssey, and I relate it to everything else in the course from The Wizard of Oz to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Indiana Jones. The other day I was working with a student teacher in an eighth grade class and they were studying both the book and the film The Life of Pi, and I realized that that story too is deeply rooted in The Odyssey. There is lots of potential here. In my college class we start out by reading and viewing a documentary with Joseph Campbell so we relate everything to what he says about how these journey stories reflect the human experience and always have. I'm not sure I'd go that metacognitive with younger kids, but it's not really necessary to get the point across that the human race has essentially been telling the same stories across the globe for thousands of years, which is really very cool when you think about it.

Amanda Gulla

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Jeannine Blankenship
10/18/2013 03:47:58 am

I'm touching on those two very thing while reading Beowulf. Archetypes can be viewed and applied to any piece of literature.

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Carla Beard
10/18/2013 03:48:59 am

The pattern you want to explore has a few names: the journey of the hero, the hero's quest, the monomyth. Joseph Campbell's work on archetypes is where you want to start. Teachers have been constructing units that help students explore this pattern for many years. Google "hero's quest lesson plans" to find models.

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John Reilly
10/18/2013 03:49:45 am

Alex Romaniello and Gian Pagnucci just published "Enter the Superheroes" on that subject. Superman was written as a direct analog to Achilles, and though the others may not line up as neatly, I think the trick would be choosing the right comic issues to read (or movies).

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Peter Elliott
10/18/2013 03:50:36 am

Over the years of teaching Hamilton's Mythology and The Odyssey, I have found superheroes provide an excellent connection in two ways.

First, the Hero Cycle. The typical superhero origin story mirrors the quests of Perseus, Theseus, Hercules, and others. (You could also use Harry Potter or Hunger Games if you wanted to). If you are unfamiliar with the comics, the various film adaptations are even more set in following the structure of the Hero Cycle as well.

In general, some of my students would become frustrated with the various versions that Hamilton includes of individual myths. Again, I would shift to superheroes as a modern analogy. Take Spider-Man. There are two different film franchises, four different cartoon series, a television series, and perhaps eight different comic series with dozens (if not a hundred or more) writers. Which is the "true" version? The most popular? The most current? The oldest or first?

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Michael Dufresne
10/18/2013 03:51:42 am

It is not that the ancients parallel modern heroes, but that most modern heroes, whether fictional superheroes or real people, experience the classic hero's journey as identified by the ancients. Whatever archetypal role or power today's heroes play, if they are developed beyond their primary, flat trait, they tend to be given a taste of the challenge, growth, overweening pride or confidence, fall, and redemption of mythological heroes.

I have seen my sons unwittingly experience this as they play a new video game. Naive and unskilled recruits begin a quest, level up and face greater opponents, ultimately develop strengths and confidence, experience surprising setbacks, learn from their failures, and grow toward completion of the mission in a way that goes beyond simply obtaining the initial prize.

Introducing a hero unit with any grade level can begin with a study of age-appropriate hero-based games or comics or movies or books (Alex Rider, Olympians series by Riordan, etc.). The kids know the pattern. Then you can describe a "new game" featuring a Greek hero. Have students demonstrate the pattern by creating modern heroes. Have each student group develop a character with traits and an appropriate back story, then have each group member create an adventure, which the group then illustrates or acts out and videos.

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James Fromm
10/21/2013 06:05:10 am

You may have already found this on the web but, if not, here is a link to a recent Master's Thesis that just might prove useful:

http://dspace.uttyler.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10950/73/Latham_Andrew.pdf?sequence=1

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Lucia Papile; Medford MA
11/7/2013 02:10:44 am

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings at a single bound - Look - Up in the Sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman. Yes, Superman, strange visitor from another planet who came to earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel with his bare hands and who, disguised as Clark Kent a mild mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never ending battle for truth, justice and the American way.

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Kristina Aste-Mayer
11/7/2013 02:12:11 am

Hi,

I have found the hero's journey tremendously successful in teaching "The Odyssey" to 9th graders. A great place to start is this TED talk: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-makes-a-hero-matthew-winkler

This video is an engaging and accessible presentation of the hero's journey and could be used as a "flipped" lesson or an activator at the start of a unit.

Hope that helps!

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Bill Stifler
11/7/2013 02:13:08 am

I teach World Mythology, and the resources on my web site may be of help: http://www.billstifler.org/HUM2130/index.htm

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Peter Elliott
11/7/2013 02:16:37 am

Over the years of teaching Hamilton's Mythology and The Odyssey, I have found superheroes provide an excellent connection in two ways.

First, the Hero Cycle. The typical superhero origin story mirrors the quests of Perseus, Theseus, Hercules, and others. (You could also use Harry Potter or Hunger Games if you wanted to). If you are unfamiliar with the comics, the various film adaptations are even more set in following the structure of the Hero Cycle as well.

In general, some of my students would become frustrated with the various versions that Hamilton includes of individual myths. Again, I would shift to superheroes as a modern analogy. Take Spider-Man. There are two different film franchises, four different cartoon series, a television series, and perhaps eight different comic series with dozens (if not a hundred or more) writers. Which is the "true" version? The most popular? The most current? The oldest or first?

Reply
JOSEPH link
1/1/2017 12:23:29 am

I can't wait to read lots of your posts.

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