Hero Essay

The journey of heroes in literature and movies have not changed much at all over 

time.  Even if the journeys themselves are not similar, the sequel of events that happen 

over the course of the journey are almost identical. Any two hero stories can be 

compared and they will most likely both begin with a call to adventure and end with 

either them heading back home or saving the day.  The Odyssey, by Homer, was written 

hundreds of years ago.  The main character, Odysseus, has many of the same 

characteristics of heroes in todays world, such as from the movie Spiderman.  Not only 

do they both share many of the same physical characteristics, but they also both travel 

similar journeys. 

 One extremely common characteristic of a hero is strength.  Odysseus is 

described several times as being very strong.  Although in the beginning of the 

Spiderman, Peter Parker is very weak, he becomes significantly stronger after being 

bitten by the spider.  Strength is also associated with power and both of these 

characters show powerful behavior.  Spiderman is faced with many challenging tasks 

involving saving people from danger.  These tasks require not only physical strength, 

but mental strength as well.  When the Green Goblet throws the cars off the bridge, 

Spiderman has to figure out exactly how to save them by using his brain.  Odysseus 

faces many similar obstacles, such as when he was fighting the cyclops.  

 The journey of both of these heroes are very similar as well.  The first step of the journey 

is the departure when they are both called to their journey in some way, whether they know it or 

not.  This would be when Spiderman is bitten by the spider and starts to change and when 

Odysseus has to leave and sail Troy before the Trojan War.   Another step is the reward.  

Odysseus's reward is his homecoming to his wife and son and for Spiderman it is getting to kiss 

Mary Jane.  

 Although Spiderman and Odysseus have many similar characteristics, there are  

a few main differences as well.  One of the main and most obvious differences are the settings.  

The Odyssey takes place several hundred years ago in the Mediterranean.  Spiderman is set in 

modern day New York.  This means that Spiderman also has many more advancements in 

technology. Although in some ways this is an advantage, it is also a disadvantage.  If there was 

not any modern technology in Spiderman, Spiderman would have no problem taking down all of 

the bad guys.  Odysseus would have probably had a much easier time fighting the cyclops of he 

had a big gun to kill them all quickly.   In conclusion, even though Spiderman and The Odyssey 

were written centuries apart, the journey and characteristics of the heroes are still very similar.  

This also proves that the role of the hero archetype has barely changed from some of the very 

first hero stories ever written.