What is a hero? This question has been asked hundreds upon thousands of times, and answered even more.

It was an eternal truth of the Ancient World, shown in countless pieces of artwork and legends. But now, in the 21st century, the concept of a hero is alive and thriving. As a culture, we still glorify a hero, and aspire to be like them. Therefore, the concept of a hero is alive in the 21st century to a large extent, because a hero figure is still part of our culture, and because a hero is an immensely popular figure in literature, movies, and songs. The concept of hero is largely alive in the 21st century because as a culture, we identify with and aspire to be a hero. From a young age, fictional heroes in movies and books surround us. But as we grow older, heroes in the real world emerge, called heroes because of a certain deed they did. For instance, the pilot Chesley Sullenberger was hailed as the Hero of the Hudson Thursday night after he landed a stricken US Airways jet in the river - and made sure everybody got out alive.1 The use of a word hero in this context shows how much we, as a culture, admire a hero, and our understanding of a hero. Sullenberger successfully overcame a tremendous obstacle while having the lives of others in his mind, making him a hero in 21st century eyes. Also, the use of the word hero shows how much we admire a hero, and that calling someone a hero is a tremendous compliment. Finally, a hero figure most often appears, in the 21st century, in literature, movies, and songs. Many archetypes derived from the Ancient World have been applied to this hero characters, such as the archetypal underdog for Katniss from

Burke, Kerry, and Corky Siemaszko. "US Airways airplane crashes in Hudson River - Hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger III saves all aboard." New York Times. no. 12 (2009).
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Hunger Games. We even borrow characters from the Ancient World, as seen in the Disney movie Hercules. In this movie, there is a song about Hercules journey from the ordinary world to that of a hero, and what that entails. (Song below essay). 21st century creators also base characters off other ones from the Ancient World, such as Percy Jackson relating to the Greek hero Perseus. In fact, the various hit series created by author Rick Riordan relate to the Ancient Worlds concept of a hero, because he borrows myths and legends from Greece, Rome, and Eygypt, to create his own tale. But what is the 21st centurys personal take on the hero? I chose the Disney character Merida as a prime example of the 21st century hero figure. The concept of a hero has evolved to include females, a rare thing in the ancient world. Merida is not only depicted as a bow-wielding, strong character, but as someone who is able to experience human emotions, which makes her more relatable. And her concern for the well being of her family endears the audience to her, as well as her compassion, bravery, and strong will. Finally, she undergoes the classic Heros Journey, the adventure described by Joseph Campbell. Merida experiences the call to adventure, faces an obstacle, and surmounts it, which marks her as a true hero. She fits every criteria for the modern hero, someone who is strong and courageous, yet human, so we can relate to their struggle and root for their success. This concept is not unlike the concept of a hero back in the Ancient World, so one can see how alive the eternal hero concept is in the 21st century today. While the eternal truth is alive in the 21st century, one also needs to see the significance of the eternal truth on the world today. Many pieces of literature and movies are based of this eternal truth of a hero, as evident by the same hero format

for every story. The word hero is thrown around so much it becomes easy to forget why the word holds such a positive connotation for our world. The reason a hero is a important figure, both in the real world and the fictional one, is due to the creation of the eternal truth of a hero back in the Ancient World, so a hero justly is an eternal truth. In conclusion, the 21st century is full of heroes. In the real world and the fictional world, we admire heroes, aspire to be like them, and lift them up on pedestals as examples of the ideal person. The concept of a hero we have today, however, would be nothing without the influence of the ancient world. We took their ideas of a hero, and shaped them to fit the characters presented in our literature and art forms, and to the real-life heroes. Every hero has some universally shared trait, or story, showing how connected the concepts of past and present are. We owe all our hero figures to the Ancient World, and their original concept of a hero. Although the concept has evolved and changed over the years, we still retain the truth created in the Ancient World. The majority of heroes do share the same traits, and the same basic plot direction, due to this age old concept. As Joseph Campbells book title states, every hero figure is just one hero with a thousand faces.2

Campbell, Joseph. The hero with a thousand faces. Vol. 17. New World Library, 2008.