Hercules, Theseus, Perseus, and Jason

What Makes A Great Hero?

Due to courage and honorability Theseus, Perseus, Hercules, and Jason are categorized as great heroes. A hero in today’s standards are seen to have different traits than a mythological hero. To come to the status of a hero in Greece you should be courageous and honorable at all times. To be someone’s hero today is a lot easier than in mythological times; today you can just simply be a celebrity and you could be known as someone’s hero. Theseus is categorized as a great hero because of his courageousness and honorability during his quest to claim his father. During his quest to claim his father he came across many enemies and not once did he run away or stop trying to progress in his quest. At the beginning of his quest, he was offered a ship so he could take the less dangerous route to Athens. Theseus said no and turned it away. He wanted to be honorable and courageous and not take the easy way out and instead he walked all the way to Athens. Perseus is categorized as a great hero of Greece because he was honorable and courageous during his quest to find and slay Medusa to save his mother from being forced to marry the evil King Polydectes. During his quest, Perseus was courageous when he went into Medusa’s lair knowing what could’ve become of him. But yet, Perseus still proceeded to walk into her lair and use the shield as a mirror and cut off her head. Perseus seemed honorable when he was heading back to stop the marriage and found Andromeda tied up on the shore waiting to get sacrificed by her own people to the sea serpent. Perseus rescued Andromeda and asked her mother and father for her hand in marriage. The gladly accepted. I think that that was highly honorable of him to save her and then marry her. Perseus came back and stopped the wedding from taking place and he let Polydectes look into the eyes of the gorgon, Medusa, and he was instantly turned to stone. But on the way back to stop the marriage he stopped where Atlas was holding up the sky and like he promised turned him to stone so he would not have to have the burden of the world on his back any longer. Hercules was a great hero in Greece because he was honorable and courageous during the Twelves Labors that were put upon him. Hercules had to do the Twelve Labors because Hera was angry at him. Hera was angry because Zeus had cheated on her with a mortal and then conceived Hercules. Hercules was very courageous and honorable during these Twelve Labors. When he had to go get the Golden Apples he had to find out where exactly they were, so he stopped by where Atlas was and had him help. Atlas was glad to help Hercules, but Atlas wasn’t honorable to his word. Hercules and Atlas traded places till Atlas got back with the Golden Apples. Hercules was honorable to take Atlas’ place for a while. Atlas comes back with the Golden Apples but doesn’t trade places with Hercules right away, that is until Hercules tricked him into holding up the sky for a minute. Hercules then took the Apples and left. Hercules was courageous when he had to go kill the wild boar that had been terrorizing people. He didn’t know what he was getting into, but he didn’t care because he had courage and wasn’t gonna let anything stop him from doing what he had to do. Jason, last but not least of all the heroes, was honorable and courageous on his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Jason was courageous due to the fact that he finished all of the tasks for Pelias to regain his rightful place on the throne.Jason was honorable when he retrieved the Golden Fleece. He was going to give it to Pelias, like he promised to do. Before he had the chance to give it to him, someone stole it and gave it to Pelias. Jason was honorable and courageous when he landed on the Island of Lemnos. He listened to Atalanta and was courageous to believe her and honorable enough to do what she asked him to do. They left the Island of Lemnos before they got killed by the women who had killed all the men on the island. All in all, Theseus would fit the description of a hero in today's standards. Theseus would fit these the best because he turned Athens into a democracy by being honorable and giving up his royal power over the people of Athens. He made all the men, women, and children equal to one another. All four heroes are great heroes, but Theseus was the best. He showed more courage and honorability than any of the other heroes in mythology. Due to courage and honorability Theseus, Perseus, Hercules, and Jason are categorized as great heroes.