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From: DAJ <daj9999>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:08:47 -0700 (PDT)
--- On Thu, 10/23/08, Nancy Gloe <ngloe at madison.k12.wi.us> wrote:
> So can "Lord Raglan's formula for a hero" be
> condensed to a reasonable degree?
There are several versions on the web, including one at
http://department.monm.edu/classics/courses/clas230/mythdocuments/heropattern/default.htm
That page also applies the formula to several heroes (including the mythological Perseus and to Harry Potter).
We usually look at the first 12 points, since the later ones clearly deal with stages/ages Percy hasn't reached:
1. Hero's mother is a royal virgin; (no) 2. His father is a king, and (yes, if King of the Sea counts) 3. Often a near relative of his mother, but (not as far as we know, but his mother's background is somewhat ambiguous) 4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and (yes!) 5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god. (yes) 6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grand father to kill him, but (yes -- pg. 40 in the paperback talks about the snake in his crib at preschool -- which my students also recognize thanks to Disney's Hercules -- though Percy's father/grandfather doesn't appear to be involved in the plot) 7. he is spirited away, and (?) 8. Reared by foster -parents in a far country. (yes -- all those boarding schools) 9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but (?) 10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future Kingdom. (too soon to tell, but he's been to Mt. Olympus and in the sea) 11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast, (yes) 12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor and (no, but in book one he is reunited with the woman he loves most in the world, which would seem to be the pre-adolescent version of this step)
DAJ
Received on Thu 23 Oct 2008 07:08:47 PM CDT
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:08:47 -0700 (PDT)
--- On Thu, 10/23/08, Nancy Gloe <ngloe at madison.k12.wi.us> wrote:
> So can "Lord Raglan's formula for a hero" be
> condensed to a reasonable degree?
There are several versions on the web, including one at
http://department.monm.edu/classics/courses/clas230/mythdocuments/heropattern/default.htm
That page also applies the formula to several heroes (including the mythological Perseus and to Harry Potter).
We usually look at the first 12 points, since the later ones clearly deal with stages/ages Percy hasn't reached:
1. Hero's mother is a royal virgin; (no) 2. His father is a king, and (yes, if King of the Sea counts) 3. Often a near relative of his mother, but (not as far as we know, but his mother's background is somewhat ambiguous) 4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and (yes!) 5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god. (yes) 6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grand father to kill him, but (yes -- pg. 40 in the paperback talks about the snake in his crib at preschool -- which my students also recognize thanks to Disney's Hercules -- though Percy's father/grandfather doesn't appear to be involved in the plot) 7. he is spirited away, and (?) 8. Reared by foster -parents in a far country. (yes -- all those boarding schools) 9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but (?) 10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future Kingdom. (too soon to tell, but he's been to Mt. Olympus and in the sea) 11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast, (yes) 12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor and (no, but in book one he is reunited with the woman he loves most in the world, which would seem to be the pre-adolescent version of this step)
DAJ
Received on Thu 23 Oct 2008 07:08:47 PM CDT
