Wednesday, September 26, 2012


            Most modern heroes have very similar qualities or characteristics to each other. They are smart, strong, handsome, rich, and many more. Overall, they hold their societies perfect traits. These traits can be seen easily in the character Odysseus. Odysseus is smart by always debating with himself of what decision is best for the situation. He is strong because he has long endured pain, sorrow, and sadness. He is also very rich because he sacked Troy and even before he went to war, he already held a lot of money. Lastly, he is handsome because even the Goddess Calypso wishes to marry him. All of these traits can be seen in many recent movies, like the Avengers.
            In the Avengers, our main heroes are the Hulk, Ironman, Captain America, and Thor. All four of these heroes have some, if not all of the traits that were listed above. The hulk is strong, smart when not angry, and handsome. The Hulk however is not rich, in fact he runs away for most of his life, going to poorer countries, like India and South America. The Ironman has all four traits listed and Thor does as well. Captain America is smart, strong, and handsome. However, like the Hulk, he is not rich.
            As one can tell, overtime, the main traits of heroes in stories and in movies have changed. This, however, might just be that way because this movie has multiple heroes. A super hero who has all of these traits is Batman. Anyways, the paths heroes take have also taken a new form. Odysseus, from The Odyssey, goes on an adventure to find his way home. He leaves the island he was trapped on, makes it to shore, and begins his long journey home, making and staying at friends’ houses. Now, modern heroes always allow a villain to escape jail. The adventure is the hero fighting evil, losing at first, learning something new about themselves after they lost the battle, and then have a major battle that decides the fate of the villain and hero.
            In reality, we could see that the journeys our heroes take are quite similar. The only difference is that the evil, the final battle, and the mind changing experience for the hero, are now much larger, as in that it is much easier to identify them. Odysseus is fighting evil all the time, surviving from the God’s wrath and constantly at war to not give up and to keep fighting to see his family. So in total, heroes’ characteristics and traits have changed a little and the events in the journeys taken by them have become more emphasized.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

"Gods, we must have a council discussing Odysseus and his captivity on the island," said my father. Quickly  after the calling, the gods all assembled except for Poseidon, who was away to obtain his sacrifices. I started to speak first.
"We must let Odysseus leave the island, or at least we should try and help."
My father, brothers, and sisters all agreed with me except for my uncle, Poseidon. Since it was everyone versus one, I set off to find Telemachus. After I flew down and found Telemachus, I decided to transform into someone his father once new. As I entered his estate, he saw me and greeted me quickly.
"Come, come in stranger! You must have dinner with us before we talk!" said Telemachus.
"So be it," I said.
      After eating dinner, we discussed many issues, like why were there so many suitors in his estate, where did I come from, how did I know his father and many other subjects. In the end, before I took my leave, I said,
"Telemachus, if your father has not been seen and you have not heard if he has died, you must go and search for him."
"But there are so many suitors here, i am afraid that they will take my mother and everything that I own!"
"Well Telemachus, if you are half as good as your father was, you will go and search for him. Obtain a boat and a crew of twenty men. If you have gotten any courage or wisdom from me, you will go to Pylos and from there to Sparta. If you find out your father has died, return home and have a funeral. However, if he has not died, keep searching for him," I said.
      And with that, I left. As I flew back home, I knew I changed Telemachus. He is now smarter, stronger, and more courageous than ever before.
The Next Morning
"It is dawn and Telemachus has left already! It seems he has taken my words of wisdom to heart. I shall transform into the Mentor and go to him," I said.
      While Telemachus was in his council, I found a boat and crew that was perfect for our adventure to find his father, my friend.
"Mentor! The council has let me take the adventure to find my father, but they are not to fond of the idea," Telemachus said.
"No matter, let us get on the boat and take our leave," I said.
      After we got on the boat, I created a gust, which made our path to Pylos easier and quicker. The boat ride was long, but i was able to fly between Mt. Olympus and the boat. When we made it to Pylos, I mostly followed Telemachus because I did not want to inter fear that much. When we finally found Nestor, i did not speak much for most of this adventure, Telemachus would have to do most of the talking. I could only hope Telemachus knew what he was doing.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012


George and the Wolf

            One day, George was on an airplane that was headed for California. In this plane, there were very few people. After getting settled in, the airplane prepared to leave Texas. The airplane took with no problems and the pilot set to cruse. After a couple hours of flying, the pilot announced that they were over one of California’s large forests. Then, all of the sudden, one of the engines began to have a malfunction. George noticing the turbulence looked out of the window. When he looked, he saw that the engine was being jammed by something small because George was unable to see what it was. Before George could think about it, the airplane was going down. The oxygen masks fell right afterword, hitting George in the face. For some reason, George was still looking out the window to see what was jamming the engine. While looking out the window, he noticed the ground was coming closer to him at a fast rate. Knowing what was soon about to occur, George braced for impact. The next time George was awake, half the plane was gone.
            Waking up after the crash was hard for George. At first, George thought he was dreaming when he saw half of the plane gone. But after taking a good hard look at the scene, he realized part of the plane really was gone. Immediately, George got up and began looking for survivors. After searching the few parts left from the plane, George found out he was the only one left. Luck for George, surviving in the wilderness seemed easy because George back home loved to watch the Nature Channel as well as Survivor Man. Though injured in the arm from the impact, George began to scavenge for anything that could be useful to his survival. In the mists of his search, George heard nearby howls. From listening, it seemed like there were five or six. George took what he could grab and began to run knowing the wolves would be following him soon. After running for an hour, night fell upon him. Somehow surviving the night, George packed his few things and walked east, or at least the way he thought was east. After a couple days of walking, it seemed like George was going in circles, so he decided to stay where he was and set up camp. While out near a lake trying to find food, George spotted a wolf, maybe one of the ones he heard the day he crashed. This wolf, however, was very sneaky and tricky. Every time George caught a fish, the wolf managed to scare him, making him throw the fish, and thus letting the wolf eat it. Eventually, the wolf and George were able to get along and survive in the wilderness together. Then, about a month after the crash landing, George was able to use fire to signal a plane.
            Without George’s knowledge on living on nature and living with the wolf, George would not have been able to survive. After being rescued, George said good bye to the wolf, the wilderness, and most importantly, to California. George was able to get back home safe and sound. From that day forward, George has told his family and friends about his adventures with the wolf and how he survived. Though it was scary, George still sometimes goes to California and goes camping with friends, hoping he will be able to see his old, but good friend and companion, the wolf.

Thursday, September 6, 2012


                An archetype is a universal symbolic pattern and an archetypal myth explains the nature of the world and life. Archetypes and archetypal myths are seen every day on modern movies, in books, and in television shows. A good example is the Lord of the Rings series.
                The common archetype found in the Lord of the rings is the hero’s quest archetype. This archetype is shown throughout the series. The story of the hero’s quest (Frodo) begins in the hero’s ordinary world (The Shire). He then receives a call to adventure from a herald, which in this case would be Gandalf. At first, he refuses, but later he accepts the quest. Then, they begin on their quest meeting allies, enemies, they even faced death, and many other things. Eventually they complete their quest and head back home with their object of the quest.
                In the Lord of the Rings, Frodo is living in The Shire when he is confronted by Gandalf. Frodo then believes the life of adventure is not the life for him, but he later agrees to it. Frodo then makes some allies and enemies on his journey, completes his quest, and goes back home.
                Without the archetype, the book would not be the same because the archetype serves the purpose as being the structure of the story. If the archetype was not used, Frodo and The Fellowship of the Ring would not have even begun their quest. Overall, archetypes play important roles that can change everything in books, movies, and television shows.