Thursday, October 25, 2012

"Jason Versus Perseus?"

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. Complete this response by 2:30p.m. on Thursday, October 25th.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that Jason is more heroic because he had to accomplish more tasks while Perseus only had to kill Medusa.

Anonymous said...

When looking at Jason and Perseus, you can see many differences about the two. One of the differences is their personalities. Both of them were over confident, we see this in Perseus's story, "He would go off and kill Medusa...Nothing could stop him."(p.150-151) He was so sure that he could do it alone but without the help of Athena and Hermes he would have died. In the end Perseus had a happy ending to his story while Jason struggled with trials. I would pick Perseus as more of a hero because the reason he went to get Medusa's head was to save his mother. Where Jason was trying to take back a throne. Perseus's cause was much more noble and heroic.

Anonymous said...

I think that Jason is more heroic than Perseus is. The challenges that Perseus faces are out of pride instead of compassion. On page 149 of the text, it says "It seemed that Perseus had been led by his angry pride into making an empty boast. No man unaided could kill Medusa." It is true that Jason may have wanted to do things for his glory but at first he took on challenges for a noble purpose.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I personally believe Perseus is more heroic then Jason due to the fact that he did not betray the people that helped him. Jason betrayed his wife,"he engaged himself to marry the daughter of King of Coorinth."(Page 133) Or breaking the marriage he had with Medea. While Perseus did not betray any one.

Unknown said...

Even though they both were over confident "Nothing could stop him" page 150-151. He was sure he did not need help, but the gods came to his aid anyway. Jason struggled just as much and had the help of Medea. I think that Jason is more heroic because he had more tasks to accomplish and more challenges to face compared to Perseus, who only had to face Medusa, with the help and guidance of the gods

Anonymous said...

I think that they both have their ups and downs. some might argue that Perseus is more heroic than Jason, but he examines hubris when he says "I will go off and kill medusa and bring back her head"(pg 148). So it's hard to interpret who is more heroic than who.

Anonymous said...

I would Argue that Perseus follows the heroic code more closely than Jason, Jason in his quest, betrays a lot of people. Betrayal is not usually seen as a heroic trait, however, Perseus follows the heroic code well. Perseus is even full of Hybris, he is full of pride which is directly from the heroic code. He steps over the line, goes on a huge quest and ends up slaying Medusa . his pride is proven when he says, "he declared he would give him a present better than any there..." pg 148. as a noble young man, he made that kind of large claim.

Jeffreyrohde said...

I feel that Perseus is more heroic sure Jason had more tasks to accomplish but I feel like they were easier and Jason has more help then Perseus. Perseus had to overcome a greater task of killing Medusa.

Jamesc2014 said...

In Greek Mythology I believe that Perseus is a greater hero than Jason due to the fact that he is honorable towards the end and does not offend anyone similar to Jason. In "Mythology" Jason towards the end "though of ambition only, never of love or gratitude". Because he forgets his gratitude he receives a sorrowful ending. Perseus on the other hand honored the gods and all that helped him leaving him to be one of the only heroes in Greek myths to live happily ever after. Perseus is also more heroic because he slays Medusa with his own hand with the help of gifts, but Jason has to rely on Medea herself the whole time. That is why I believe that Perseus is more heroic than Jason.

Unknown said...

Perseus is more heroic for many reasons. Jason went on his journey to get his kingdom back while Perseus went for honor. Also when Perseus came back he and Andromeda "lived happily ever after." where as Jason "came full of fury for what she had done to his bride and determined to kill her..." This shows that the gods made sure that Perseus lived better than Jason because he was more heroic in many ways.

Anonymous said...

In reading the myths on Jason and Perseus, I feel Perseus upheld the heroic code more, whereas Jason just tries to be a hero. Jason's quests were for his own benefit to bring him fame and riches. Perseus takes on a quest, originally showing hubris when he declared his present would be the best present there, but later for the good of others. He is also given divine help from two gods, which means he is recognized for his goodness. He was given "a sword to attack Medusa with- which could not be bent or broken my the Gorgon's scales, no matter how hard they were" (pg. 150). With this, he was able to kill Medusa as he proclaimed he would.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Perseus is more heroic because Perseus was the kinder of the two heros. Jason treated people horribly this is shown in how Jason treated Medea "Jason flung away angrily from her "Your stubborn pride," he told her" This quote shows that Jason did not treat people nicely. Where as Perseus' quest he did it all for his mother.

Anonymous said...

I think that Perseus is more heroic than Jason because of the reason he is on his quest; to save his mother. Although both had help from the gods, Jason had additional help from Medea along his journey. This makes Perseus more heroic because he had to do it with less help as well.

Anonymous said...

Even though he has help from the Gods, Perseus is more heroic than Jason because he is more noble in his quest. Perseus aims to save his mother and the people by slaying Medusa, and does so without hurting others. Jason, however, only aims to take back the throne, and in the process betrays Medea and ultimately hurts others for his own gain. Because of his noble goals, Perseus is more heroic than Jason.

Anonymous said...

I feel as though Perseus is more heroic than Jason, because Perseus took on an even more challenging quest, one that many men before him had attempted and failed. Although Perseus had Hermes and Athena to help him almost every step of the way, i still feel as though his deed was more heroic than Jason's. Because Jason did a quest that only helped him, where as Perseus achieved something that would eventually help everyone because Medusa was a largely feared figure in Greek Mythology. "No one in his senses would have made such a proposal" which proves how deadly and heroic the task was.

Anonymous said...

i think jason is more heroic because what perseus did was show up to a celebration without a gift, not being a good guest, and went out to slay medusa almost to prove to polydectes that he wasn’t worthless, then when he returned, he turned polydectes to stone by showing him the head of medusa

Anna said...

Perseus is more heroic than Jason as killing Medusa required skill and intelligence, "in the mirror of the bright shield he could see them clearly..." (pg 151). He was on a mission to save his mother, which is honorable while Jason betrayed his men. Perseus has hubris as well, which is a part of the code.

KJ L said...
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KJ L said...
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KJ L said...

I feel they are both equally as heroic, because they were both helped by the gods and other people. not only this but they also both accomplished equally difficult tasks and at the same risk. if i had to chose one over the other i would Perseus is the more heroic because he did not get help from an army of super warriors

Anonymous said...

I think Jason was more heroic because he had more tasks that pushed him harder than Perseus had. Jason also had less help from the gods than Perseus had on his journey, even though neither of them would have survived with out the help that they got. Jason and Perseus were both confident :"nothing could stop him" page 150. But they way Jason struggled at the end if his journey and how much more he had to do than Perseus made him more heroic.

Peter H said...

Jason was more heroic than Perseus because Jason had more difficult tasks than Perseus and Jason originally had noble purposes. However, I believe it flips as Perseus uses his power to eradicate the evil waiting for him while Jason lets his pride overcome him and turns into a bad person.

Anonymous said...

Parts of the heroic code apply to both Jason and Perseus. However, Perseus has more of a moral reasoning. King Acrisius of Argos , asked Perseus to slay Medusa, a Gorgon. He gets a gift from Hermes and Athena, a shield, a satchel and a sword, using the shield as his eyes, grounding Medusa's head with the sword and placing the head in the satchel. Jason's personal desire to obtain the golden fleece and slay the dragon (was so cliché) always going for the bigger prize. For example Jason could have had Medea but then dumped her. He used the other heroes and did not do everything himself.

Anonymous said...

Between Jason and Perseus. I think that Perseus was a more "heroic" person because he followed the heroic code and carried out his quest alone.Jason on the other hand had the Argonauts with him and for a time he had Heracles. Perseus was more heroic but he only carried out one task. Jason carried out multiple tasks.

Anonymous said...

To me Perseus is the more heroic person because in his quest, he would only go alone and would display his victory following the heroic code, but Jason had the Argonauts and Heracles and carried out multiple tasks keeping a balance of the heroic code.