Qualities of a Hero
Dec. 30th, 2010 10:40 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
chubbyleng.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
queensthiefHey everyone! I just wanted to share a little something. This Christmas my sister gave me a book called “How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth” by James N. Frey. This book basically… teaches a person how they can use themes, characteristics, motifs, etc. from myths to write a good story, even if they intend it to be completely contemporary.
So… I’ve just gotten the first few chapters over, and I can’t help but think of Eugenides when Frey was spelling out the basic qualities of a mythical hero. It’s SO accurate, and that surprises me! I’ve always thought of Eugenides as a character that I’ve never encountered before… you know, there’s nobody else like him that I’ve read about before. (Of course, the fact that I’m not much of a reader doesn’t really help, hehe ^__^), but still. Now I start to think about the heroes of the stories I’ve liked and tried to compare them to each other. ^^
Anyway, see what you think about this. Here are the qualities of a hero that Frey mentions:
1. The Hero Has Courage (or finds it in the course of the story): Very true… I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other character that solves his or her fear quite the way Gen does it. ^^ I think we all remember that convo he had with Eddis about him being afraid of Attolia and couldn’t stand it… so he went back to Ephrata. Heehee. And even in The Thief, the only time I ever really got the notion he was sort ‘afraid’ was when he was in the temple, and pondering whether such things like ghouls actually existed. Even in Attolia’s presence, he seemed more… playful than anything else. To me at least.
2. The Hero is Clever and Resourceful: Definitely. I don’t think I need to explain this one further. I think we’ve all been awed with Gen’s brilliance. ^^
3. The Hero Has a “Special” Talent: Uh, yes!!! Thievery… stealing things that are not even tangible. And his cunningness can be part of it too. And his great acting skills! And his ninja skills!
4. The Hero Is an “Outlaw”, Living by His or Her Own Rules: Yesh. He’s deviant, and everybody knows it. Although in the Queen’s Thief series, Gen is not the only “outlaw”, at all. I think pretty much all the characters are out of the ordinary. There’s Helen, who’s brilliant like a queen, but definitely doesn’t act that way in some aspects. Attolia, of course, who refuses to succumb under her barons’ wishes and goes out of her way to keep her power. Magus too… and Sophos. I don’t think Costis applies to this one though, although I could be wrong.
5. The Hero is Good at What He or She Does for a Living: Again with the stealing… if he managed to steal Hamiathes’s Gift twice, then he’s perhaps one of the most talented thieves ever in Eddis’s history. Maybe.
6. The Hero Has Been “Wounded” (Maimed, Disgraced, Grieving for a Lost Loved One, Etc.): Need I say more? I think Gen experiences all of these things. But perhaps the latter he experiences off the scenes, before the book started.
7. The Hero is Motivated by Idealism: I think this is a harder one. What I mean is, it’s obvious that Eugenides does the things he does for the betterment of everyone, but I just can’t pinpoint the ‘idealism’. Peace, perhaps, for Eddis? Fame, too, once in the Thief but he changes his mind pretty quickly about that. Can anyone tell me what Gen’s motivation is in KoA and CoK? I’m leaning on “to be a good king” or something like that, but I remember that he doesn’t even want to be king.
8. The Hero is Sexually Attractive/ Sexually Potent/ Has an Insatiable Sexual Appetite: Uh…. Uh…. Gen?? Lol. It’s funny to think about this now, because when I’ve read all four of the books, it *never* crossed my mind at all! I just assume that he is attractive because there’s no reason not to think so. I don’t even consider him like “drop dead gorgeous” or anything like that. Just normal… with a good sense of fashion. Is that reason enough to think he’s sexy? Lol…
As for the second one, again I don’t have reason not to think so, until recently when I’ve seen a few theories going around saying that Gen’s taking medication because of his inability to get Attolia pregnant… but they’re just theories, right?
The third one… well, it’s a children’s series, so I don’t even think it’s a matter of speculation. ^__~ (but since it’s fun to speculate, I’ll just say that I don’t think he does… not until after he got married, anyway, and even that’s questionable, haha.)
9. The Hero Very Often Has Hubris: I think so especially in The Thief before his belief in the gods was very solid. I think now he’s more… I dunno, respectful, I’m guessing, towards his gods. For sure he has a complicated relationship with them. On one hand he knows that his fate is in their hands, and on the other he’s having trouble coping with the fate he’s been given. I think so, anyway. ^^
10. The Hero is Usually Stoical: True for most heroes, but not Gen. And that’s why I like him. He’s so human. ^__^
11. The Hero Is Usually Loyal: Yup! We know how dedicated he is to Eddis. Well, *was* should be more appropriate, but I know that his loyalty to her wouldn’t evaporate with marriage vows, on a personal level. On a political level though… it’ll be harder. Now he’s loyal to Attolia (the queen; I think moreso than the actual country itself) too.
12. The Hero Has a Special Birth: Yesh. One of his grandfathers was king of Eddis, and the other was the Thief of Eddis. At least, that’s how I interpret this ‘special birth’ business….
13. The Hero Sometimes Has a Special Destiny: Gee… I don’t need to explain this one, right?
14. The Hero is Sometimes Branded: Scar… missing one hand… what else? We know Sophos also has the broken nose and cut lip.
15. The Hero is Sometimes Cynical: In Gen’s case, it’s really not ‘sometimes’, right? Hehe.
16. The Hero is Sometimes “mouthy”: See what I mean about the book being accurate? It almost makes me wonder if the author has Gen in mind too.
So… those are the qualities of myth-based hero!! What are your thoughts? Feel free to disagree with some of my interpretations. But for the most part, I think Gen is pretty much the walking definition of a mythic hero.
Oh and since I haven’t read many books, I’d love to hear if this is really the case for most protagonists in your other favorite books too.
Oh, by the way, I've succeeded in getting a friend to read The Thief (one and only friend I've managed to convince so far), but she didn't like it. She totally didn't understand the ending. Not that any of us was really prepared for the ending (if it was the first one we read from the series)... she thought that Gen was the actual Eugenides (god). And she didn't like it. *sigh*
Oh, and just one more thing, I promise!!! I've finally finished my first re-read of QoA!!!! It was really silly of me to just let it go without giving it another glance, but I'm usually like that with every other book. I had several questions listed out, but they're now condensed to only two, after I've dug around the older posts back in '06
So, one thing that confused me was this convo between Attolia and Chloe: (pg164 in paperback):
Attolia: Go fetch something for me.
Chloe: What would you like, Your Majesty?
Attolia: I don't know. Go find out.
What is it that Attolia wants Chloe to find out and fetch for her? Or am I making a mountain out of a molehill with this?
And one more... on pg. 276. Nahuseresh says, "It is not much to Eddis's advantage to have Attolia dead. Her titular heir is not fond of the Mede, but he would not hold the throne long." Who is the heir their talking about here? Attolia's or Eddis's? And who is it? I've never heard of either of them having an heir.
Thanks! Oh, and have a happy, happy New Year, everyone!
So… I’ve just gotten the first few chapters over, and I can’t help but think of Eugenides when Frey was spelling out the basic qualities of a mythical hero. It’s SO accurate, and that surprises me! I’ve always thought of Eugenides as a character that I’ve never encountered before… you know, there’s nobody else like him that I’ve read about before. (Of course, the fact that I’m not much of a reader doesn’t really help, hehe ^__^), but still. Now I start to think about the heroes of the stories I’ve liked and tried to compare them to each other. ^^
Anyway, see what you think about this. Here are the qualities of a hero that Frey mentions:
1. The Hero Has Courage (or finds it in the course of the story): Very true… I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other character that solves his or her fear quite the way Gen does it. ^^ I think we all remember that convo he had with Eddis about him being afraid of Attolia and couldn’t stand it… so he went back to Ephrata. Heehee. And even in The Thief, the only time I ever really got the notion he was sort ‘afraid’ was when he was in the temple, and pondering whether such things like ghouls actually existed. Even in Attolia’s presence, he seemed more… playful than anything else. To me at least.
2. The Hero is Clever and Resourceful: Definitely. I don’t think I need to explain this one further. I think we’ve all been awed with Gen’s brilliance. ^^
3. The Hero Has a “Special” Talent: Uh, yes!!! Thievery… stealing things that are not even tangible. And his cunningness can be part of it too. And his great acting skills! And his ninja skills!
4. The Hero Is an “Outlaw”, Living by His or Her Own Rules: Yesh. He’s deviant, and everybody knows it. Although in the Queen’s Thief series, Gen is not the only “outlaw”, at all. I think pretty much all the characters are out of the ordinary. There’s Helen, who’s brilliant like a queen, but definitely doesn’t act that way in some aspects. Attolia, of course, who refuses to succumb under her barons’ wishes and goes out of her way to keep her power. Magus too… and Sophos. I don’t think Costis applies to this one though, although I could be wrong.
5. The Hero is Good at What He or She Does for a Living: Again with the stealing… if he managed to steal Hamiathes’s Gift twice, then he’s perhaps one of the most talented thieves ever in Eddis’s history. Maybe.
6. The Hero Has Been “Wounded” (Maimed, Disgraced, Grieving for a Lost Loved One, Etc.): Need I say more? I think Gen experiences all of these things. But perhaps the latter he experiences off the scenes, before the book started.
7. The Hero is Motivated by Idealism: I think this is a harder one. What I mean is, it’s obvious that Eugenides does the things he does for the betterment of everyone, but I just can’t pinpoint the ‘idealism’. Peace, perhaps, for Eddis? Fame, too, once in the Thief but he changes his mind pretty quickly about that. Can anyone tell me what Gen’s motivation is in KoA and CoK? I’m leaning on “to be a good king” or something like that, but I remember that he doesn’t even want to be king.
8. The Hero is Sexually Attractive/ Sexually Potent/ Has an Insatiable Sexual Appetite: Uh…. Uh…. Gen?? Lol. It’s funny to think about this now, because when I’ve read all four of the books, it *never* crossed my mind at all! I just assume that he is attractive because there’s no reason not to think so. I don’t even consider him like “drop dead gorgeous” or anything like that. Just normal… with a good sense of fashion. Is that reason enough to think he’s sexy? Lol…
As for the second one, again I don’t have reason not to think so, until recently when I’ve seen a few theories going around saying that Gen’s taking medication because of his inability to get Attolia pregnant… but they’re just theories, right?
The third one… well, it’s a children’s series, so I don’t even think it’s a matter of speculation. ^__~ (but since it’s fun to speculate, I’ll just say that I don’t think he does… not until after he got married, anyway, and even that’s questionable, haha.)
9. The Hero Very Often Has Hubris: I think so especially in The Thief before his belief in the gods was very solid. I think now he’s more… I dunno, respectful, I’m guessing, towards his gods. For sure he has a complicated relationship with them. On one hand he knows that his fate is in their hands, and on the other he’s having trouble coping with the fate he’s been given. I think so, anyway. ^^
10. The Hero is Usually Stoical: True for most heroes, but not Gen. And that’s why I like him. He’s so human. ^__^
11. The Hero Is Usually Loyal: Yup! We know how dedicated he is to Eddis. Well, *was* should be more appropriate, but I know that his loyalty to her wouldn’t evaporate with marriage vows, on a personal level. On a political level though… it’ll be harder. Now he’s loyal to Attolia (the queen; I think moreso than the actual country itself) too.
12. The Hero Has a Special Birth: Yesh. One of his grandfathers was king of Eddis, and the other was the Thief of Eddis. At least, that’s how I interpret this ‘special birth’ business….
13. The Hero Sometimes Has a Special Destiny: Gee… I don’t need to explain this one, right?
14. The Hero is Sometimes Branded: Scar… missing one hand… what else? We know Sophos also has the broken nose and cut lip.
15. The Hero is Sometimes Cynical: In Gen’s case, it’s really not ‘sometimes’, right? Hehe.
16. The Hero is Sometimes “mouthy”: See what I mean about the book being accurate? It almost makes me wonder if the author has Gen in mind too.
So… those are the qualities of myth-based hero!! What are your thoughts? Feel free to disagree with some of my interpretations. But for the most part, I think Gen is pretty much the walking definition of a mythic hero.
Oh and since I haven’t read many books, I’d love to hear if this is really the case for most protagonists in your other favorite books too.
Oh, by the way, I've succeeded in getting a friend to read The Thief (one and only friend I've managed to convince so far), but she didn't like it. She totally didn't understand the ending. Not that any of us was really prepared for the ending (if it was the first one we read from the series)... she thought that Gen was the actual Eugenides (god). And she didn't like it. *sigh*
Oh, and just one more thing, I promise!!! I've finally finished my first re-read of QoA!!!! It was really silly of me to just let it go without giving it another glance, but I'm usually like that with every other book. I had several questions listed out, but they're now condensed to only two, after I've dug around the older posts back in '06
So, one thing that confused me was this convo between Attolia and Chloe: (pg164 in paperback):
Attolia: Go fetch something for me.
Chloe: What would you like, Your Majesty?
Attolia: I don't know. Go find out.
What is it that Attolia wants Chloe to find out and fetch for her? Or am I making a mountain out of a molehill with this?
And one more... on pg. 276. Nahuseresh says, "It is not much to Eddis's advantage to have Attolia dead. Her titular heir is not fond of the Mede, but he would not hold the throne long." Who is the heir their talking about here? Attolia's or Eddis's? And who is it? I've never heard of either of them having an heir.
Thanks! Oh, and have a happy, happy New Year, everyone!
