Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Jason Vs. Perseus?

Who is more heroic: Jason or Perseus? Please sight at least one example from our class text, the Myth and You text, and use the "heroic code" terminology to defend your claims. Complete this response by 2:30p.m. on Thursday, October 24th.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Based on the stories we have read, I think Perseus is more heroic than Jason, due to his slaying of many monsters. Among these monsters was Medusa, a powerful and deadly Gorgon. Her head had snakes on it and one glance at her would turn a person into stone. He killed her with the help of the shield from Athena. Besides Medusa, Perseus saved Andromeda from a sea monster by using Medusa's decapitated head. Jason was heroic in some aspects, but in this situation Perseus rises above him.

Anonymous said...

Based on the stories that we have read I believe that Perseus is more heroic. Not just because present day films are being made of him an books and stories are being told but because he killed medusa. He was a great hero because he did it not for himself but for his mother and to help everyone from being turned to stone.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Perseus was more heroic than Jason because he did not leave or disappoint the people who helped him. He did not exhibit more hubris than Jason. Perseus even gave Athena the gift of Medusa's head for a thank you for her help. Jason however ended up leaving the girl who helped him and married someone else almost without a thought of her. Jason's pride was shown only by taking the challenge of getting Medusa's head for the King in order to get his mother back.Jason is almost on a quest for immortality as well.

Anonymous said...

Perseus has shown more heroic qualities than Jason. From our reading, Jason proves himself to be rude and dishonest. He rarely follows heroic or guest/host code. Perseus also faces much more wanton monsters such as Medusa: a serpent headed Gorgon that mortifies at one glance. Perseus slays the monster with the help of the gods and goddesses, but shows gratitude opposed to Jason.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Based on the stories I think Perseus has shown more heroic qualities than Jason because he is very humble and he thanks the gods for what they give him. Jason thinks that he can do everything himself and then is rude to the people that help him.

Tyler R said...

After reading both of these stories, I believe that both Jason and Perseus show many heroic qualities due to their courageous missions. I believe that Perseus is more heroic because he respected Hermes' and Athena's opinion and he did not simply leave people who tried to help him. Also, Perseus knew he was most likely going to die but he went anyway and killed Medusa in order to save his mother.

Anonymous said...

With the knowledge from the texts that we have read in class, Perseus is more likely to be the heroic one. he obtains less Hubris than Jason and he is more courageous for his mother than for himself. His only personal gain would be with getting his mother back. Jason considers only of himself when he is in battle, his men have no meaning to him.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Perseus is more heroic than Jason. Perseus did not violate the guest/host code and wasn't very hubris compared to Jason. Even though Perseus did receive help from Athen and Hermes he is still more brave than Jason. Jason had a ton of little tasks in which were semi-easy to accomplish compared to Perseus who had a massive task with great risk of death to try to accomplish.

Anonymous said...

When comparing each story we read, I don't think Jason or Perseus are very heroic in general. While they both hold pride and wanting to succeed in their ventures, each were helped through out their whole journey, not doing very much work themselves. If I had to choose, I would say Perseus for his better character. Perseus went on his journey to save Andromeda while Jason went to gain the throne for himself. So Perseus was doing a deed for someone else, not just himself. Also, Perseus showed thanks and gratitude to his helpers while Jason turned on Medea and gave no thanks for her help. So even though each character was successful on their journey, I find how Perseus acted in his situation made him more heroic than Jason.

Anonymous said...

I think that Perseus is more heroic then Jason because although neither of them is a hero independently Perseus honors the gods who help him while Jason leaves the person who helped him.

Emily Merlin said...

I believe that Jason is more heroic than Perseus. Jason faced many trials and challenges with minimal help from the gods, but he was followed by a group of heroes. Perseus only had one task and he barely did anything on his own. He didn’t face any challenge without the help of a god. Perseus is also guilty of having the hubris characteristic. Both of them attempt their adventures in the pursuit of excellence.

JonathanC said...

Based on what we have read from the book, Perseus seems to be the more heroic person. It was said in class that aid from the Gods is a sign of honor in Greek Mythology, and Perseus receives great gifts by both Athena and Hermes, with Athena even guiding his sword strike that slays Medusa. This reveals the greatness of Perseus. He does align with some of the ideals of Huberys as his excessive pride gets him into this situation. Also, he doesn't betray his wife and drive her to madness like Jason did, instead Perseus completed his task for the love of a woman. Perseus was also very humble when he killed Medusa, as he gave the head back to Athena, instead of saving the powerful tool for himself.

Anonymous said...

In terms of our definition of heroes through the heroic code, I would definitely consider Jason to be more of a hero than Perseus. Jason, though he violated the guest host relationship more so than Perseus, his adventure followed more of the rules of the heroic code than Perseus'. Such as his desire for fame and fortune, and his seeking to prove himself to everyone and the gods by getting the golden fleece. On the other hand, Perseus wasn't seeking fame or fortune, just the release of his mother and he really didn't try to prove himself to anyone. Some could even say he degraded himself by hardly doing anything himself, all of his accomplishments during his adventure were aided by the gods themselves.

Anonymous said...

Perseus is more heroic than Jason because Perseus does not violate the heroic code more often. Perseus is prideful and shows Hubris by accepting the challenge to kill Medusa. Jason violates the Heroic code multiple times during the Quest for the Golden Fleece, and is also very prideful.

Anonymous said...

Based on what we have looked at in class I believe that Jason is more heroic than Perseus. Because according to the heroic code, a hero is someone who seeks glory for themselves. So based off of that Jason would be defined as more of a hero because his quest was so he could be king while Perseus quested to save his mother and not to find glory for himself.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, Jason was more Heroic than Perseus. Although Perseus did slay the all feared Gorgon, Medusa, that was the only challenge he faced. This was also the result of Hermes and Athena guiding him through the entire journey. They gave him all his gear, gave him the idea to use the shield as a mirror, and even guided his hand when cutting off Medusa's head (while she slept). Jason dealt with 13 trials, including the dead warriors, the harpies, and even a dragon. Whether he was assisted by the gods or not, he still faced far more trials than Perseus, and conquered them all as well.

Anonymous said...

Jason is not as kind as Perseus. Perseus is a hero no doubt, however Jason has a very just reasoning behind his heroic quest. I agree with Mia and how she said that it was Jason's pride that led him to his victory, and Perseus was very heroic to want to save the life of an innocent woman.

Klarissa Schwiethale said...

I would say that Perseus is far more heroic. Unlike Jason, he fights for the freedom of someone other than himself - his mother. Perseus does show hubris in the sense that he believes he is strong enough to kill Medusa. However, he also shows humility by excepting the help of the gods Hermes and Athena. In all, I would say that Perseus exhibits a character of far more herioc qualities than Jason.

Anonymous said...

I think Perseus is more heroic in the act that he never loses face or honor unlike Jason who lost his children, wife, and honor all from his lack of caring for Medea. But in the end Jason is more heroic in the Greeks eyes because he follows all of the heroic codes, like excessive pride. Jason always thinks that he is worthy of everything and that there is nothing that is ever going to stop him. Furthermore, with that pride he also develops a arrogant side which creates him to think that the world revolves around him. This is shown when Medea kills their children, “...he cursed her, never himself, for what had come to pass.” (135). Even when it was Jason’s fault for Medea going crazy and killing her children, he still never blamed himself for the accident that happened. This ending also concluded that Jason follows the code of a ‘tragic downfall’, because before he had nothing to complain about. He had Medea, his own children, and the golden fleece. But in a flash, Jason lost it all to his excessive pride which lead to his downfall. This was the total opposite of Perseus’ story because he lived happily ever after with his beautiful wife and his very own castle. Therefore Jason is more heroic in the Greeks eyes and Perseus is more heroic to our eyes.

Anonymous said...

After reading both of the stories, both heroes exhibit qualities of just that; heroes. Both go on daring missions to prove themselves and gain something. Out of the two though, Perseus is definitely the better hero of the two. He is going to get Medusa's head to save his mother, and he does so successfully. Jason gets the Golden Fleece, but in the end due to his actions, Madea kills the lady that he loves.