Category: Hero
We’re excited that you’ve joined the conversation! At HMU, we want to continue the great authors’ conversations in a contemporary context, and this blog will help us do that. We look back to Aristotle and the early philosophers who used reason and discourse to gain wisdom and now we endeavor to do the same every day.
CATEGORIES
July 31, 2026
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
According to Emily Wilson, a Greek hero is extraordinary because of their connection to the divine. The closer one is to the gods, the more heroic the human. So, heroes don’t need to do good deeds or have impressive moral standards. Instead, Greek heroes are uncannily victorious, beyond superior on the battlefield. One might say they have a lot of plot armor.
July 24, 2026
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
Last week, I talked about my own shortcomings as a reader of The Iliad. I am just now starting to realize the importance of discussing Achilles’ wrath. I have always struggled to face it because it leads me to the darkest of human truths. His “cataclysmic wrath” (as coined by Emily Wilson) evidences itself in books 20-23 when Achilles kills everything in his path,
July 17, 2026
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
Recently, I’ve been talking a lot about fate. For example, in The Iliad, everyone knows the fate of Achilles – even Achilles. In fact, Achilles’ death is so unimportant to the telling of the tale, that it’s not even included in the book. This confirms that the end of the story is less important than the arc of the journey.
February 20, 2026
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
In Book Eight of The Odyssey, King Alcinous of Phaeacia treats Odysseus to a series of entertainments. First music and food, then games and sport. At this point in the epic, Odysseus has yet to tell his tale of woe. The Phaeacians do not yet know his name or identity. Instead, the king requests the best performers in honor of the guest.
July 25, 2025
Thanks to Chad Greene, a 2023 Fellow in Ideas recipient, for today’s post.
Part One: Why to Study Hugo Hercules
Although the study of comic books and graphic novels is becoming more and more popular with both teachers and students at the college level, faculty may feel like it’s difficult to find an introductory text suitable for their students that is not only historically significant to that medium,
» Read more about: “Just as Easy”: Introducing Students to Comics Studies with Hugo Hercules »
February 7, 2025
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
Last year at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association conference what started out as a discussion on adventure novels turned into a discussion of why popular culture circles have stopped writing about war. This conference alone used to hold numerous War and Culture panels. These have dwindled in recent years. I find this astonishing considering that there are at least a dozen major conflicts in the world right now.
April 5, 2024
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
It’s an unlikely pairing, but reading Moby Dick feels a lot like taking a deep dive into a Queen album. First, you’re in gospel, then punk rock, then opera, and all of this about some seemingly mundane thing, like a bicycle. Or, in the case of Moby Dick, into the world of whaling. There are entire chapters on the shape of a whale’s head,
December 15, 2023
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
Apollonius of Rhodes fleshed out the story of Jason and Medea in The Voyage of the Argo. It describes a love story within a tale already full of adventure. More than a few things strike me as interesting about this work, such as the ship itself which creates a safe space for this rowdy band of heroes.
January 13, 2023
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
Readers of Euripides might suspect that he disliked gods and heroes. For example, The Bacchae makes Dionysus appear like a megalomaniac. Hippolytus presents Aphrodite as a ruthless gamer. And in Heracles, the great hero returns from war only to brutally murder his family. Even many of Euripides’ contemporaries disliked his violence,
May 21, 2021
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s blog.
One thing that I love about Shakespeare is his ability to develop rich characters. King Lear, Hamlet, Falstaff, Henry V, Richard II: though problematic, they have vivid internal battles and complex natures. I can imagine Richard lamenting his fallen status on the beach as he recalls many sad tales of deposed kings. Or I think of Lear walking the heath,