4 October 2007
Self-evident
In an offline comment (albeit second-hand) on the concept of heroism, someone equated it with domination. Even worse, they tried to act like non-physical domination was somehow more noble or heroic than physical. That's kinda scary.
In one of those iconic books of my life, Boorstin's The Image, he discusses how heroes have been replaced by celebrities. Those who have accomplished noble feats that help others have been superseded by those who are famous for being famous.
There's a lot in those statements to debate, and I hope I'm quoting him correctly enough, but have we devolved into a point where hero equals bully?
In my recent archaeological digs through my old comics, I found a large format Conan the Barbarian from February 1989 (actually: The Savage Sword of Conan!). In it, he was a thief that was slightly less thieving than his companion thieves (whom he eventually had to hunt down and kill). This is what we grow up with.
Conan could be considered an updated (and equivalent) Heracles.