heroes and tyranny

From: Loren Miller <loren_at_wharton.upenn.edu>
Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 10:56:56 EST

Peter Metcalfe responds to me:
> >To become a hero, you need to transform yourself from an ordinary
> >person into a great person with a goal to free society from a tyrant.
>
> Hmm? Most Heroes are tyrants in their relation to society IMHO...

Ask why.

And ask if we really give all our respect and devotion to a hero who became a tyrant.

Campbell writes that the ultimate test the would-be hero faces is the one where he can become a force for freedom and change, or a tyrant to maintain his own static social order. Luke Skywalker had the choice to become Darth Vader's replacement. Argrath (IMO) eventually has the opportunity to take the place of Moonson or the Red Goddess, I'm not sure which. Arkat had the choice to become Gbaji. If these heroes had taken this choice then they would no longer be worthy of veneration, for in the end, in the most crucial test of all, they would have failed.

• -- +++++++++++++++++++++++23 Loren Miller <http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren> Life at the water's edge is the real life for men and women, and penguins

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