Journal 3: Sept. 9, 2013
Analyze a passage from the reading
“The moral objective is that of saving a people, or saving a person, or supporting an idea. The hero sacrifices himself for something-- that’s the morality of it. Now, from another position, or course, you might say that the idea for which he sacrificed himself was something that should not have been respected. That’s a judgment from the other side, but it doesn’t destroy the intrinsic heroism of the deed performed. (Campbell, p.127)
This passage describes how a hero can come about. Campbell says that the hero must sacrifice himself for something other than himself, therefore proving he is selfless, and that he has gone through a transformation of his mythology, a death and resurrection, if you will. He also says that these transformations or sacrifices occur with a moral goal or objective in mind. The act has to be worthy of a hero, and not just some random everyday occurrence. He also says that the moral objective is relative. Someone outside the world of the hero might look upon the act and disrespect it, but this still doesn’t discredit or disvalue what the hero did. He still sacrificed himself for a cause and proved himself as a hero. Campbell goes on to use examples of this, talking about how Napoleon ravaged Europe during his conquests, killing many people. Yet he was a hero in France; he was risking his life for the betterment of his country. The same can be said about Christopher Columbus traveling to the New World and both unintentionally and intentionally killing Native Americans. He was a hero for Portugal and Spain, conquering these savages somewhat unknowingly, as biological warfare transpired with great ignorance on the Europeans’ part. Now we can look back on this and say he committed genocide and mass murder, which is true by today’s standards, but back then he was a hero to his country and all of Europe.
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