On the Shoulders of Giants

In an earlier post, I pondered on the art of storytelling, and how we seem to connect to specific customs and abstract thoughts through them. In this post, I’d like to delve a little more into an important feature of stories, and indeed an important aspect of our day to day lives- heroes, archetypes, and legends. Through our nature we tend to look up to others, and imitate those people and attitudes we value. Stories give us certain larger than life characters that we can imitate and aspire to, allowing us to constantly be striving towards a better, more complete version of ourselves. Like Superman. Like Hercules, Aragorn, and St. Francis.

 

But first, let’s take a step back. What’s the deal with heroes? Why do we need them? Why fictional heroes- wouldn’t real ones be better? All great questions, glad you asked! The answers lie within human nature, and of course, philosophy. You see, there are certain abstract qualities we call virtues. Virtues are inherently “good” general qualifiers attributed to certain actions to describe those actions as “good” in some way. For instance, justice is a virtue, and a just action is one that acts in line with the overarching virtue of justice, and is thus good in that respect- it is just. Justice is not the only virtue, and being a virtue, is abstract. This means that even when something is considered just, it might not be better than other alternatives. Multiple actions may be just, some might be more just, and some actions might be just as well as another virtue, say merciful. Further, the abstract nature of virtues means that we may not have a full comprehension of that virtue- our understanding of it can change over time as we begin to better understand its implications. All this combines in the following way: Virtues are good, and should be sought for their own sake.

 

Virtues are abstract qualities that connect to real life, concrete actions. We describe actions as virtuous to qualify it as behaving according to our current understanding of that virtue. We value virtues, so we value actions that behave according to those virtues. When presented with a choice, we believe you should chose the virtuous action over the non-virtuous action. When multiple actions are virtuous, further consideration must take place. This is where heroes come in.

 

Heroes have several roles in respect to virtue. First, they help to make concrete in one’s life what that virtue means. For instance, the Greeks valued strength. Hercules shows what the virtue of strength means. A hero’s actions enlighten us as to how to act out that virtue in our lives. Second, Heroes help us to decipher which actions are more virtuous, and which virtues are “higher” virtues than others. Through a hero’s actions and consequences, we are shown which are more in line with the virtue in question. Is it a greater show of fortitude to resist the one ring completely, as Aragorn did in letting Frodo go, or to attempt to take it and use it to save one’s home, as Boromir wanted? Tolkien’s answer is obvious- Boromir dies, and Aragorn tastes victory.

 

When we are presented with a choice embodying different virtues, heroes help us to determine which is greater. In their lives they can chose one virtue over another, and teach us in the same way as above, but we can also compare two heroes, and find one superior to another. Odysseus embodies the virtue of wisdom, Hercules strength. Which virtue is greater? Well, which hero do we hold in higher esteem? The ancient Greeks actually seemingly valued Hercules more, although today we might say Odysseus, indicating the change in culture over time.  

 

So why heroes? Because heroes help teach us the complexities of abstract virtues, and how to live those virtues out. They show us what a life lived according to strength, wisdom, fortitude, justice, ect… look like. They also help us to decipher which virtues are greater than others. Through imitating our heroes, we can become more virtuous, and deepen our understanding of those concepts we want to guide our actions. What’s more, it is part of being human to experience the world from a first-person view. We don’t fully understand the objective reality around us. As such, our minds can cloud our perceptions, and we can begin to rationalize ourselves away from those virtues we hold dear. But looking up to heroes- larger than life figures that lived out our virtues- can help us to stay on track. After all, we want to be like our heroes, and so we want to act like them. This helps us to realize the difference between real and fictional heroes.

 

Real heroes are people who live in our lives, or in our past. They’re real people that we look up to, and we imitate so as to become better people ourselves. They’re extremely valuable, and we all have them. They’re better than fictional heroes in that they’re real people living in the real world, showing us these virtues in the here and now. However, fictional heroes have the one-up on them in that fictional heroes don’t mess up. They can show the deepest facets of a virtue in a way that real life can’t. Aragorn would never exist. Yet, we look up to him, and can learn from his example. Fictional heroes give us the ability to always be striving for more. They are larger than life- they embody an ideal. We may look up to our real life heroes, maybe even become like them, but fictional heroes will always be greater- always be showing us the next, and final step all at once. Our fictional heroes give us a context within which to admire our real-life heroes. They show us what virtue is, which then allows us to be able to admire how real-life heroes live up to that virtue. So, we need both.

 

Now, to make it real. The other day, I participated in a Transitus service (a prayer service commemorating the life and death of St. Francis). St. Francis was an extraordinary man who started a movement that grew so fast even his first followers could not figure out why people were coming. His movement was one of poverty, peace, and service, attempting to rebuild the Catholic Church that had been scarred and decimated in his time by scandal (sound familiar?). Yet for all the stories we have about him, it’s hard to determine what’s fact and what’s legend. But does this matter? The legend of St. Francis, and the real-life hero, both embody the same virtues. The legend, perhaps, can be even more useful in spurring others to follow his example. And yet, the real-life Francis who referred to one brother as “Brother Ass,” rolled around naked in snow, cried over a fake snow-family, and perhaps never made amends with his family, while perhaps embodying the ideals of peace and humility a little less than the legend, still embodies those concepts in a very human way, and shows other virtues as the man wrestled with his sin in an attempt to find his God. St. Francis is a legend. He is a hero. His legacy is the archetype of the joyful friar. He was a great man, revered by many, and even praised by a Sultan, who allowed him to travel in the holy land during a time of war. In imitating his legend, we try to become more humble, to serve our brothers in sisters in the lowliest places, and to sow peace wherever we go. In his heroism, we find a truly human and fallible man, who may have been wrong about some things, who may have acted like an ass to “Brother Ass,” but who still worked to the glory of God. He reminds us that heroes can mess up sometimes, but they’re still worth following. This is what the reverence of the saints in Catholicism is all about. The saints show us how to live holy lives, how to connect to God, and how to live out those virtues we aim to follow.

 

So find your legend. Find your hero. Become your archetype. It is through stories and their notable figures that we identify with and recognize virtues worthy of guiding us. It is through our legends, heroes, and archetypes which we imitate that we come to live these virtues in our lives. So who, or what is yours?