Wednesday, March 4, 2015

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 Tuesday, March 10th.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Based on the elements of the heroic code, Jason appears to be more "heroic" than Perseus. Jason wants to claim his rightful place as king, without bloodshed. He says to his cousin, "Keep all the wealth you have taken, the flocks and the tawny herds of cattle and the fields, but the sovereign scepter and the throne release to me, so that no evil quarrel will arise from them" (Hamilton 119). Jason then proceeds on a quest for the object that will grant him his kingdom, the Golden Fleece. He must prove himself worthy of recognition and honor. Then, after he has become king, he loses his heroism. As the "Myth and You" text says, he falls to hubris and loses everything in his pride. Perseus, on the other hand, is a hero to the end. He desires to prove himself a warrior. He receives help from the gods to kill Medusa. Then he uses her head to free his people from tyranny and saves Andromeda from a terrible death. Perseus is the character readers like to hear about because he remains honorable throughout his life. Jason has the potential to be a hero, based on the heroic code, but Perseus is the true hero.

Anonymous said...

After learning about the elements of the heroic code. I do believe that Jason seems to be more "heroic" than Perseus. Jason thinks he is high above everyone and wants to claim his place as king. After he makes this decision Jason then decides to proceed on his quest that will grant him his Kingdom, the Golden Fleece. He then has to prove himself worthy of this, with going through quests, with the help of some other Gods. I believe that Jason has the potential to the real hero.

Lucy L. said...

I think that if we follow the elements of the "heroic code", then Jason is more heroic than Perseus. After all, he is seeking his place as king, which counts as desire to be recognized, feeling worthy, and pursing prizes. He also tried not to kill others, only trying to prove his worth. However, once he had what he wanted he was not very heroic: "And then Jason showed the meanness that was in him, brilliant hero as he had seemed to be: he engaged himself to marry the daughter of the king of Corinth." He dumped Medea as soon as she was of no more use to him. On the other hand, while Perseus killed, he killed a monster not for love of killing but to free himself and his people from a terrible tyranny. He did not seek a kingdom for himself, but rather gave it to someone who deserved it. While maybe not in the heroic code, his willingness to care for others and help them and expect nothing in return makes Perseus more heroic to me.

Anonymous said...

Perseus is more of a hero to me, but Jason fits into the heroic code better. He fits into the code because of his wants the spoils of his journey which is to be king. He also does everything in his power to achieve this dream, like exiling Madea as soon as he doesn't need her anymore."then Jason showed the meanness that was in him, brilliant hero though he had seemed to be..." Perseus on the other hand is less like the traditional Greek hero because he isn't trying to be recognized as a hero, he when's just trying to gain the approval of one person. I think Perseus is more of a hero that Jason because I believe that heroes should not search for recognition and glory. I think that heroes are also good people and Jason was messed up because he used Madea for her power.

Anonymous said...

I think its Perseus because even though Jason shows some heroism he also show the most greed as well. He gets the fleece but he has children with Medea then gets engaged to another woman. Exiles Medea and when all goes down hill he takes non of the blame on to himself. While Perseus is very child-est at but beginning but he keeps his word and promises made and comes back.

Anonymous said...

I think that Jason was more heroic than Perseus, although I think that Perseus finished his quest in a more noble way. Jason had good intentions, better than Perseus' intentions. Jason was determined to be king, so he set out for the golden fleece. Perseus strived for pride, so he set out for Medusa. Both struggle through their journeys, and show many heroic elements, such as the desire to be recognized, excessive pride, and honor. In the end though, Perseus comes home nobly while Jason ends up hurting people such as Medea, to get what he desires. Both display heroic elements, but Jason does more so.

Anonymous said...

Between the two heroes we read about in these myths I believe Perseus to be more heroic. He accepts the journey to bring back the head of Medusa with honor and bravery. He also seeks revenge for the treatment of his mother and saves his wife from a sea monster. Jason definitely displays what a hero is as well. He accepts the quest for the Golden Fleece with no fear, but Perseus appeared more heroic.

Anonymous said...

I thnk that Perseus is more heroic because he is determined to help save people. Unlike Jason who just seems to want the power and to be recognized. I think they both fight good battlles for what they want but I think the fact that Perseus didn't show the greed and wanting the glory really made him the bigger and better hero between the two of them.

Unknown said...

I think Perseus is more of the hero because of the fact that he wants to save his mother from the current king. He may be headstrong and kind of stupid, but he is courageous and he wants to help someone other than himself

Anonymous said...

After learning about the heroic code, I think Jason seems to be more "heroic" than Perseus. When Perseus was sent to get the head of Medusa, he seemed childish before and after he became more wiser. In Jason's story he was setting out to become King unlike Perseus.

Anonymous said...

To me Perseus is more of a hero compared to Jason,I say this because Perseus has meaning behind what he is doing, he is trying to save people while Jason is just trying to gain a reputation. Jason also shows greed, witch to me isn't very hero like. Perseus is much more noble and humble with what he does/did, Jason seems to be very foolish and immature with the way he acts toward things, doing things for himself instead of doing things for other people witch is what hero's do.

Anonymous said...

Both heroes conquered deadly beast and defeated all odds. Though at the ends of their stories Jason does not poses the same heroic qualities as Perseus. Jason blames everything on Medea and takes no responsibility. He leaves his family behind for a new beautiful wife. Perseus stays true to himself and saves his mother.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, Perseus is more heroic because he risked his life to save his mother. He knew that the task was almost impossible, but embarked on it anyways. It turned out that the gods would help him in his quest, but Perseus did not know that when he decided to attempt to save his mother. Jason also embarked on a very dangerous journey, but for his own gain. He wanted to gain the thrown. Perseus was more heroic than Jason because he risked as much as Jason, but for someone else.

Anonymous said...

The heroic code is about one’s identity and role in being part of a warrior society, the desire to be recognized, immortality, not want to lose face or honor, feeling worthy, pursing prizes, having fame, and a division of spoils. In The Quest of the Golden Fleece, Jason seems to be more heroic than Perseus even though Perseus seems to be more of a hero. In the myth Jason is much more egotistical and wants everything. He wants to be king, making him feel worthy. Compared to Perseus looking out for others and giving back. He only wants to do whats right. Jason has many qualities of the "heroic code" like hurting Medea's feelings and caring more about himself than others.

Anonymous said...

I think Perseus is more heroic because although he does have a little pride he journey seems to be more heroic. Perseus has to work for his Medusa's head. He has to be aided and he is willing to take help from the gods. Also, it took a lot courage. He did it all for the sake of his mother which is sweet.

Anonymous said...

I kind of think that Jason is more heroic than Perseus. Although both are heroes and are able to conquer great feats, however, I think that Jason demo straights more of the heroic code. Both have very pure motives but I believe that Jason acts with more foresight and is able to put together a more successful quest from the start. Perseus leave rashly and returns a more mature person, rather than Jason returns changed and selfish.

Anonymous said...

Based on the heroic code, I would say that Jason and Perseus are equally heroic. Although their myths end in different ways, they both only fulfill some of the aspects of the code. Jason has very noble intentions, but at the end of his quest he falls to hubris and loses everything that he had gained. Perseus, on the other hand, began the journey with less noble intentions, but he finished in a very noble way.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion Perseus is more heroic than Jason. Perseus' reasoning for what he did is to save his mother, while Jason's only reason is ego and wanting to reclaim the throne.

Anonymous said...

Considering both of the stories portray extreme strength and bravery, both Jason and Perseus have heroic qualities. What needs to be taken into account is the purpose of the strength and the purpose of the courage. Considering the fact that Perseus showed more genuine reason for his actions, I think he is more heroic. Jason had some selfish intent behind his actions, therefore not matching the complete definition of a hero.

Anonymous said...

I think that Perseus is more heroic than that of Jason. That said Jason fits the heroic code more than that of Perseus. First of all Jason wants to claim his rightful place as king, but he wants to do this without bloodshed, what then occurs is Jason telling his cousin to keep his wealth as well as other things. The only thing Jason wants is the Sovereign Scepter and the Throne. So what Jason decides to do is go on a quest to fetch the Golden Fleece. He successfully retrieves the Golden Fleece and ends up with his place on the Throne. Perseus in comparison is less traditional than the ordinary Greek Hero because he unlike Jason is not trying to be recognized as a Hero. Perseus's goal is not to be recognized by the people around him or even the glory that in-sues after his journey. I feel that the biggest difference between the two which helped me decide who was more heroic was their outcome. Perseus comes home nobly while Jason for instance ends up hurting the people close to him such as Medea, to fulfill what he desires. In the end both Jason and Perseus clearly display heroic elements, but in the end Perseus stands out to me.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, Perseus is the hero. He humbly takes on the challenge and he completes the challenge, albeit with some help from the gods, but he isn't doing it for himself. He's doing it for his mother, and to save the people of the kingdom from where he's from. That is what makes him a hero to me.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, Perseus is the hero. He humbly takes on the challenge and he completes the challenge, albeit with some help from the gods, but he isn't doing it for himself. He's doing it for his mother, and to save the people of the kingdom from where he's from. That is what makes him a hero to me.

Anonymous said...

Based on the heroic code, I think that Jason is more heroic than Perseus is. He fits in the heroic code in the sense that he goes on with the quest that would guarantee him his kingdom. But I Perseus, to me personally, is more of a hero because he is not only thinking about himself- but is trying to save his mother form a current king- being fearless and courageous.

Anonymous said...

I'd say that Perseus is the more heroic character. Jason has not been heralded much in my opinion, whereas Perseus is glorified. And no wonder - Perseus came from fairly humble beginnings and didn't stem from a warrior society and he didn't have the desire to be recognized like Jason, but he didn't want to lose faith when challenged to slay the gorgon Medusa. In addition to that, he used his talents (or what he does best) to free his mother; a task which he pursued with arete. Jason's legacy paints him as a very self absorbed individual, someone who comes from a warrior society as he approaches his uncle undoubtedly prepared for the task to retrieve the golden fleece. Furthermore, he displays excessive pride/hubris and no sense of remorse for his actions - like that time he replaced his wife. Though Jason shows traits associated with the Heroic Code they are the flawed traits, whereas Perseus is a more noble character. Therefore, I conclude with the notion that both Jason and Perseus exhibit heroic qualities in equal measure, but Jason exhibits flaws where Perseus exhibits the fine points.

Anonymous said...

Jason is most definitely more of a hero than Perseus based on the heroic code. First of all, Jason had a desire to be recognized because he wants to be king believes he is the rightful owner of the throne. Another rule of the Heroic code is that the person doesn't want to lose face or honor. This could also apply to Jason because just like I said before, Jason wants his crown back and wants to keep his honor as the King. Perseus on the other hand is less of a hero based on the heroic code because Perseus has no need to be recognized, he doesn’t really need to hold up any honor in order to complete his mission. All in all, based on the heroic code, Jason is obviously more of a hero.