Hero or
Not? It’s All Personal.
In our discussion of heroes in that extremely chaotic chat room, Emily mentioned that in her family, one was a hero if one was true to themselves to the very end. In this sense of the word “hero,” I do believe that Socrates, in Plato’s “The Apology,” is a hero. He refuses to bring himself down to the level of the “weeping and wailing and lamenting” (Plato, in Bump’s Course Anthology 55) common man that the court sees everyday. Instead, he holds himself above these common and mundane actions, acknowledging that “there is no doubt that if a man will throw away his arms , and fall on his knees before his pursuers, he may escape death” (Plato, in Bump 55). Below, the image on the left depicts the trial of Socrates and the right depicts a man begging for forgiveness. In the second, the man is devaluing himself, and placing all the power and honor in the hands of the other person. Socrates refuses to be self-deprecating.
The Trial of Socrates
Man Begging for Forgiveness
Instead, he establishes himself as a worthy man, saying that he will not do things that are “unworthy of me” (Plato, in Bump 55). Socrates stays true to himself, and does not lower himself to groveling and begging. He retains his dignity and honor, making him worthy of hero status. However, many may find that this retention of values to be nothing more than a defiance of authority or an attempt at fame. Mark G. Yudof, the president of Texas System, would have undoubtedly found Socrates a hero, for he states that the key to maintaining one’s faith (religious or not) is to “be authentic to yourself” (Bump 59).
Should this “authenticity” to self be the basis for which to decide heroes? If we examine King David on this same level, he would be deemed a hero as well. David is known as “the man after God’s own heart.” As a child growing up in the church, I thought that this meant that David had done no wrong, and I was terribly shocked to hear that he had had an affair, gotten the woman pregnant, and had the woman’s husband murdered in battle. How could this man be a man after God’s own heart? How could this man do something so terrible, yet be considered one of the greatest leaders to Jewish people had ever seen?
David and Goliath
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
It must have been David’s intense passion for God, his passion for his people, and his never give up, never surrender attitude. David invented the story of the underdog. Without armor and a simple slingshot, David killed the giant, most prized fighter of the enemy’s army, Goliath. His bravery commanded respect from the king, the army, and the entire Jewish nation. His passion and steadfast faith (a form of authenticity) should have him labeled a hero, if not his sheer bravery. Even today, movies are made about underdogs and their fight to win. It is even seen in sports, as many fans find themselves rooting for the underdog.
But David, in my opinion, is not
only a hero because of his bravery, but because of his faith. David restores the
Perhaps “authenticity” does broaden the spectrum too much and create unlikely heroes, but it gives us all to be heroes in our own right. So is Socrates truly a hero? David? I think that these questions can never be fully answered. They can only be answered by each individual based on his or her perception of heroes and hs or her interpretation of the “hero’s” actions. It’s all personal.