Universal Heroes, Univeral Truths

After reading the selected excerpts from Jewish and Greco-Roman texts, I was not sure just how they related to each other, much less how they fit together in the big picture with Joseph Campbell and Gawain. But then it struck me: “truth” as an attribute or aspect of heroism. Over the course of thousands of years, however, the definition of truth has varied across these several societies.

Campbell’s definition of a hero concluded with the hero returning to his congregation and preaching the truth he has discovered. Obviously, this truth – this message – differs depending on the situation. As I was analyzing the messages of Socrates (as described through his pupil, Plato) Isaiah, and Virgil, I was trying to grasp what they all had in common. Why were these texts so outstanding compared to their contemporaries? Why was a book such as Isaiah placed into the Bible when other texts of the same time period and nature were not included? Then I realized that these texts are so famous because of their messages, their truths. As Megan described in her post, these different societies dealt with many of the same philosophical questions and problems - the subject of immortality, most aptly discussed by soon-to-die Socrates (thus the topic was fresh on his mind), especially. But more importantly, I found, was the notion of righteousness. Socrates states that “the difficult, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death” (55). He places righteousness as disciplining the self, saying “the easiest and noblest way is not to be crushing others, but to improving yourselves” (55). The teachings of the Bible also preach righteousness, but much more along the lines of helping others rather than oneself. Isaiah, chapter 11 verse 5, states that “righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins” (60). Here righteousness and faithfulness are labeled as girdles. In Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain wore his shame around by wearing a girdle he accepted in hopes of saving his life. The girdle in both of these texts is symbolic of the truth that is to be conveyed.

Gawain and Socrates fall into the imperfect image of the hero that Thomas Carlyle described. He believed all heroes are flawed, and that their heroism arose not because of their moral perfection but in their dealing with difficulties. Obviously these men had their flaws, but because of how they handled their problems they were labeled as heroes. Both men used their imperfections as means to teach to the public the “truths” they had acquired during their journeys. And although they were not flawless, they are still remembered. Socrates is a universal hero for his lifelong teachings, not just for the truths he proclaimed moments before his death. Virgil is a hero of literature and John is a Christian hero for his participation and sacrifices to the movement following Jesus’ death. All of these men are not remembered because they were flawless or their writings were well-preserved; they are remembered as heroes for their truths. That is the secret link tying all of these excerpts together. And as the reader analyzes the image of the hero from Greece to Judea to Rome and to Scotland, there arise many recurring themes regardless of the society they are found in. The universal hero that Campbell described in his writings also includes the teaching of universal truths.