What makes a character a hero? Considering the various epics we have read—Homer’s Odyssey, Euripides′s Medea, and Vergil’s Aeneid for example—discuss the criteria that make a character a hero in classical mythology. Are heroes always “good”? What kinds of relationships do heroes have with others? What are some similarities and differences between various heroes’ characterizations? How does narrative structure play a part in constructing a hero’s character? Your paper should focus on the heroic protagonists of these three epics—Odysseus, Jason, and Aeneas—and how, or whether, their characterizations construct a set of heroic criteria in classical mythology. Discuss at least two of these heroes in your paper. Your main goal in this paper should be to devise an interesting and effective thesis that responds to the prompt above and to develop it in accordance with the criteria set out in the rubric. This paper does not require you to use any secondary sources; your focus should instead be your own engagement with the primary sources and the effective development of your own argument. For the purposes of this class, ‘primary sources’ are original ancient sources, either texts or images. You may assume that we know the plots of the works you discuss, so there is no need to summarize beyond the immediate point that you are making.
