Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Jason Vs. Perseus: Heroics III?

Who is more heroic: Jason or Perseus? Please sight at least one example from our text and use the "heroic code" terminology to defend your claims.

23 comments:

TomB said...

Perseus seems the more heroic of the two. where Jason is motivated by want of his kingdom, perseus is driven by the honor of the guest-host relationship. both valiantly succeed in their quests, but what i see as the key trait is that Perseus acted with only godly aide and his own cunning, and Jason with the help of the many grecian heroes and the gods as well, accomplishing very little on his own.

ccoates3571 said...

Out of Perseus and Jason I think that Perseus is the more heroic. I believe that because Perseus does a lot of the work all on his own where Jason had a lot of help. The only help that perseus got was just how to do it but he then did it by himself. Like when he had to talk the eye from the grey women Hermes told him how to do it but then Perseus then went and did it. So therefore a hero that does it all by themselves is a better one then one that has gods and his comrades to do everything and he takes the credit.

willf said...

I believe that Perseus is more of a textbook case of a hero because his identity definatly helps him on his travels to get the head and he is defending his honor. Jason is more of a hero at heart even though he betrays the woman.

MATT TODD said...

At first I didn't see either of these men as heroes because of the help they received from the gods. In class on Thursday you said that getting help from the gods is valiant. In this case it made it much harder to decide the better hero. Perseus gets a ton of help from the gods, but this is a good thing because he deserved the help he received. He was locked away in a bronze box for no reason then journeys to get the greatest gift of all for someone else. He doesn't really get anything out of this journey. That is very heroic of him, and then he gives the head back to Athena as a returned favor. Jason on the other hand receives a lot of help from the gods as well but he doesn't seem to return the favor. He also receives an extraordinary amount of help from Medea and doesn't return the favor. Also he seems to do this quest so that he can be king unlike Perseus who isn't really getting anything out of his quest. In the end I believe that Perseus s a much greater hero than Jason.

MollyT177 said...

I would have to say that Perseus is more of a hero. Jason seems to be driven by selfish desire, and in the end doesnt even uphold the image of a hero, not only that but throught all his quests he was aided by several other great heroes. Perseus does all his quests and such on his own, not only for himself but for the sake of his mother, he truly upholds the imag of a hero.

Hannah G. said...

Perseus was the more heroic of the two because, unlike Jason, Perseus never claimed that his journey was done with the help of just one source. Medea helped Jason much throughout his quest, but in the end, he rejected her, telling her it was not her who helped him complete his journey, but it was Aphrodite. Perseus, on the other hand, took the god's help willingly, but never claimed their deeds as his own or denying their aid. Perseus did not only recieve guidence from the gods, but he returned to them honor and glory; where as with Jason, it was only take, there was no give.

Kyle M. said...

I would have to say that it varies between each at certain parts of each story. Perseus is more heroic as far as the heroic code goes, but jason's actions are on a much more epic level. When perseus is caught in a jam he relies on the items directly from the gods. Jason is helped more indirectly from the gods.

sarahk said...

Perseus is more heroic than Jason. Perseus has a desire to be recognized and because of his hubris he wants to get his grandfather the best gift for his marriage celebration. Perseus goes on his adventure to please , while Jason goes on his adventure out of greed almost. Jason is trying to get the golden fleece so he can be king. Also, Jason ends up disrespecting the one person who has assisted him the most, while Perseus saves the life of Andromeda then also frees the islanders of Agros from their tyrant ruler.

Kyle said...

Personally I think they're the same. They both had to face horrible monsters. Perseus with Medusa and Jason had to face the sirens. I think we should not ask who's more heroic but how each one differs as a hero

Lynch G said...

I concur with Tom that Jason seems more to be driven about getting his kingdom back. Plus he is not very nice to his wife. I agree also that Perseus was more heroic because he also accomplished more on his own. However the ancient greeks would have seen him as less heroic because they thought that to be helped by the gods was not shameful at all.

Miles M said...

Perseus to me, seems a little more heroic than Jason. Perseus is asked to do a favor for Athena and does it for no real reason. That is very heroic of him, and then he gives the head back to Athena as a returned favor. Jason on the other hand gets alot of help just to become king and puts other people in danger, that does't seem very heoric to me.

HeavenlyJoker said...

Taking out that they were both helped by the gods, I think Perseus is the more heroic. Despite that Perseus is doing it for his mother and as I recall Jason is motivated by a relative's right to throne (making them both have simmilar causes this way), I feel that Perseus was purer in his intentions. For example, he stayed heroic until the end, and even gave back to one of the godesses who helped him. Perseus didn't even thank the gods, and he betrayed the girl who loved him in the end. NOT very heroic.

JDavis said...

Perseus is the more heroic of the two characters. Jason recieved help from the woman whom cupid made love him, and then batrayed her. Also Jason had a whole team of men and the gods assisted him with much of what he did. Also Jason had a personal gain in his quest in that he was trying to get his kingdom back. Perseus does his deeds to uphold his honor and his mothers honor.

Andrew H said...

After much thought, I believe that Perseus is definitly the more heroic of the two, for Jason appears only to be motivated for his own reasoning and his own self gain. Also, Jason requires help not only from the gods but also the majic of Medea. Perseus proves to be a stronger hero by tricking the gorgon witchs and killing Medusa. After this Perseus rescues his to be new wife Andromeda from a sea monster. Thus making Jason a whimp, who still could do better than I ever could.

Margaux L said...

Perseus to me is more heroic. Although Jason is heroic he needed help from the gods and magic of Medea, which in Greek times that was more heroic but today I don’t think it is. They both succeed but Perseus takes into account more of the guest-host relationship and Jason is more driven by what the kingdom wants. Perseus accomplished more on his own and to me that more heroic he seemed to have better intentions.

Danger Walter said...

Just like Matt said, we learned that being helped by the gods was seen as a heroic and valiant accomplishment. Just the fact that a god believes in one's cause is enough to instill grace on a mission. Perseus was lucky enough to not have one, but two gods come to his aid, and he concurrently did not upset any gods. Jason, on the other hand, upset gods and people alike with his actions. Perseus' divine intervention is what sets him apart from jason in terms of a hero.

Plus Jason was deceptive, brusque, and very uncouth towards Medea. As Trotter always says, "Respect women, now apologize to the class Mr. Walter".

forrest m. said...

I agree with Kyle in that the minor differences between the two heroes should not be seen as inequalities, but rather, simple differences, as they concretely are. The competition put in place by the readers does not seem important in comparison to the deeds they actually accomplished in the end. Whoever loses this "competition" will most likely no longer be considered a hero, but a petty underachiever; however this distortion can create an inaccurate spectacle to put one's thoughts through.

P_lanning69 said...

To me Perseus is more heroic because he has more of his own persona myth unlike Jason of whom, who has many people and gods helping him along a journey for something his king wants.
Perseus was also driven by revenge which is a big archetype in stories, myths, and movies. Jason driven by his kingdom and lust for power and inevitable betrayal cause his downfall with Medea.

nick larson said...

Perseus is the greater hero out of the two because of the help he recived from the two gods Hermes and Athena (which makes a man more heroic when gods help). Although Jason still recieved help from other gods but it wasn't like Perseus. Perseus had help with tools and directions but still had to battle Medusa on his own while Jason got help in a way that all he had to do is travel.

Collin M. said...

By far Perseus is the more heroic of the two. They both are motivated for similar reasons and they both receive help from the gods, but Jason constantly uses others to his advantage to get what he wants. In the end he rejects the girl he promised to marry and marries another just because he liked her more. On the other hand Perseus relies on his own skill and the help of the Gods to accomplish his task. When all is said and done Perseus reached his goal honorably and valiantly while Jason reached his goal through spite and trickery.

cyoung said...

I'd have to say that Perseus is more heroic than Jason, because unlike Jason, Perseus has a good cause for going on his quest. Perseus was on a quest to save his mother and Jason was on a quest to claim his spot as king. Perseus was kind to women while Jason got Medea pregnant, married some other women, and exiled Medea from the country.

blakeh said...

Between the two, i would say that Perseus is more heroic than Jason. I believe this because it seemed to me that Perseus was loyal to his beliefs and his goals although he was opposed by daunting tasks that tested his will to survive. Jason on the other hand seemed to be more motivated by his own personal desires and utilized the gods and his crew to obtain them. Both are aided by the benevolent gods but as opposed to Jason, Perseus gives back to the gods that had helped him. It seemed that Perseus' journey required much more individual strength as opposed to Jason and his desire to obtain the golden fleece regardless of how he did it.

Emma Grace said...

Perseus, overall, was more heroic because his wants for his quest were not for himself soley, but rather for his country as well. Perseus recieved the help from the Gods of Olympus, suggesting that they condoned his action, whereas Jason, ultimately was punished for all the wrong doing during his quest with the tragic death of his wife and children.