SienaLewis

Ms.Williams
st
English1
Hour

21September2015

TheRelationBetweenSuperheroesandGreekGods

Beingachildyouhearalotaboutsuperheros.Inschooltheywouldaskyouwhatyou
wantedtobeandyouwouldsayIwanttobeasuperhero,likeSupermanorWonderWoman!
butyouneversaidyouwantedtobeZeusorAphrodite.Growingupyouneverreallyheard
th
aboutGreekGodsunlessyoulearneditin6
grade.MostpeopledontknowwhatGreekGod

represents.Thesuperheroeswearefamiliarwith,aremoderndayversionsoftheGreekGods.

SomepeoplearentfamiliarwithwhattheGreekGodsrepresent.TheGreekGodshave
manymeanings,theyrepresentwhatAncientGreeksvaluedandbelievedin.Theyvalued
havingahigherpowerandrespectingtheirpowers.AlotofpeoplealwayssayYouneverwant
toangerthegods!.IfyougrewupinGreektheyvaluedrespecttohigherpowers.Todaythe
typesofvaluesandreligionsyoucanpracticeareveryvast.Intheancientyears,almosteveryone
hadthesamebeliefs,thereforethewaytheysaytheworldwasdifferentfromhowweseeit
today.Itdoesntmatterifyoudontbelieveinanythingorwhatreligionyoupractice.Even
thoughGreeceslifestylewasdifferentthanourstoday,theSuperherosresembletheGreeks
Gods.

Supermanisthemostknownsuperheroofthemall.ZeusisthemostknownGreekGod.
Theyreflecteachotherscharacteristics.ZeusistheGodoftheSky,andthemostpowerfulgod.
Supermanisasupernaturalhumanthatcanfly.Healsohassuperpowers,hehassuperstrength.
Heisthemainsuperherothateveryoneknows.ManypeopleknowthesuperheroBatman.Heis
averydarkandscarysuperhero.Batmanisintelligentandknowswhattodowhensituationsgo
wrong.Heisexcellentatcombatandfighting,yetheisntverydurable.Hadesthegodofthe
underworldisresembledthroughBatman.Theybothresembledarkthings.Hadesisoneofthe
weakestgods,yetheisverydangerous,justlikeBatman.SomemoviesandTVshowshavetraits
ofthegod,Poseidon.Heisthegodofthesea.Hecontrolseverythingaboutthesea.The
superhero,Aquaman,representsPoseidonwell.Theybothcanbreathunderandoutofwater.
Aquamanhassupervision,sohecanseethroughthemurkywaters.Poseidonknowswhats
goingonalloverthesea.Theybothcanseealotofthesea,sotheycanprotecttheirhome.
PoseidonandAquamanbothhaveenoughstrengthtoshaketheearth,carrychunksoftheroad,
andjumpoutofwater.WonderWomanandAthenaareveryclosetomirrorimagesofeachother.
WonderWomanisoneofthestrongestsuperheroes,shehasnoweaknesses.Athenawasborn
withacompletesetofarmouron.Theybothareprotectedverywellbytheirstrength.Theyare
bothverybeautifulpeople.WonderWomanandAthenaaremeantforwarsandfighting.They
bothfightforwhattheylove,theirpeopleandhomes.Theseladiescontroltheirpeople,butina
peacefulway.TheGreenLanternhasbeenasuperheroforalongtime.Therearemanytypesof
greenlanterns.Greenlanternsareabigarmythatfightfortheiremotionalpower.Theyboth
haveotherstobackthemup.ThesuperheroFlashhassuperspeed.ThegreekgodHermesisthe
godofcommerce.Theybothareveryfast.Flashlovedtosolvecrimes,sincehismotherdiedand

thekillerwasneverfound.Hermeswasthemessengerforthegods.Hewasabletosend
messagesfromthemortalstotheimmortals.

Theauthorof ComicBooksVS.GreekMythology:TheUltimateCrossoverforthe
ClassicalScholar
says,Comicbookshaveavarietyofinfluences,butGreekmythologyhasa
tendencytobeoneofthemostnoticeable,particularlyinwesterncountriessuchastheUnited
StateswhichhaveahistoricalconnectiontoancientGreekcivilization.AndrewS.Latham.The
comicbookswereadtodayhaveverysimilaritiestoancientGreekMythologyandtheGreeks
morals.

Thesuperhero,WonderWomanisanAmazon.ShereceivedherpowersfromAphrodite,
oneoftheGreekGods.AphroditecreatedtheAmazons.ThisshowsthatWonderWomanwas
directlyreflectedfromtheGreekGods,theyhadalottodowiththesuperheros.

Manypeoplewouldntthinkthatthesuperherosinthecomicsweseetodayarebasedoff
oftheancientGreekGods.Whenlookingatthesuperheroscharacteristicsyoucanseehowthe
GreekGodswerereassembledthroughthesuperheros.ThesuperherosrepresenttheGreekGods
characteristics,butwithamoderntwistoftheirdailylife,howtheytalk,dress,andtheirmorals.
MostpeoplewouldntseethesimilaritiesbecauseofhowoldtheGreekGodsare.Inourdaily
livesweoverlookthegoodmoralstheGreekGodsandsuperheroeshave.

WorkCited
TheSuperheroMythology:TheCreationofaCulture
.Dir.ChrisG.Steinberger.Perf.Jeff

Watkins,KeithWard,andJoeMusolino.
YouTube
.N.p.,29June2012.Web.24Sept.
2015.

"WonderWoman."
DCComics
.WarnerBros.,11Jan.2015.Web.24Sept.2015.
LATHAM,ANDREWS.
COMICBOOKSVS.GREEKMYTHOLOGY:THEULTIMATE
CROSSOVERFORTHECLASSICALSCHOLAR
.Thesis.TheUniversityofTexasat
Tyler,2012.N.p.:n.p.,n.d.Print.

Nelson,Ken."Superheroes:WonderWoman."
Ducksters
.TechnologicalSolutions,Inc.
(TSI),Sept.2015.Web.24Sept.2015.<
http://www.ducksters.com/biography/wonder_woman.php>.
Riordan,Rick."MeettheGreekGods."
MeettheGreekGods
.N.p.,n.d.Web.25Sept.2015.