Systems of Religion and Politics

The popular story of men and women who are supernaturally powerful exists in every culture or religion. Yet, not all of them started off as paragons of human supremacy. Instead, the character develops through a set of events known as the hero’s journey. Make sure you read about this in detail in your assigned reading for the unit.

Select a culture from the following list and a hero associated with that culture. Please select a culture different from your own, and take this opportunity to explore a tradition and a hero that may be unfamiliar to you.

• Abrahamic Religion: The Prophet Muhammad, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus, Ruth, Ester, Sarah, Mary
• Aztec: Quetzalcoatl
• Celtic: King Arthur
• Egypt: Osiris, Thoth, Cleopatra, Nefertiti
• English: Beowulf, Robin Hood
• Greek: Achilles, Icarus
• Indian: Krishna, Rama, Ravana, Durga, Draupadi
• Japanese: Okuninushi, Susanoo, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto
• Mesopotamian: Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Utnapishtim
• Norse: Thor, Loki, Siegfried, Bödvar Bjarki
• Polynesian: Maui
• Popular Culture: Bruce Wayne, James “Logan” Howlett, Kal-El
• United States: John Henry, Paul Bunyan, Florence Nightingale, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Shirley Chisolm, Sojourner Truth

Address the topics and questions listed in steps A and B below in the form of a well-organized paper. You must support your analysis using 2 credible sources from the AIU Library (use the attached for conducting the TRAP test). You must use APA reference and citation format for the sources you use to support your explanations and arguments. Be sure your submission includes a title page and reference page, and the length of your paper (not including the title and reference pages) must be at least 3 double-spaced pages.

Part A:

Complete a hero’s journey analysis of your chosen culture and figure based off pages 102 and 103 in Chapter 5 of the textbook. 

Part B:

• Discuss the significance of heroism and the characteristics of the selected hero to the origin country's culture, such as careers, literature, music, religion, or art. Please provide 2 specific examples (e.g., Gilgamesh was King, Kal-El a reporter, Bunyan a woodsman).
• Identify 2 modern or historical examples of your heroic figure’s archetype, and describe their similarities and differences (e.g., Gilgamesh and King Arthur or Utnapishtim and Noah).
• In your opinion, based on your research, why do humans of all cultures crave the stories of these superhuman figures (e.g., humankind’s desire to explain existence).