Please help! Compare and contrast the heroic qualities of these contemporary heroes with those of Hercules.

There is a major difference in the motivation behind a hero’s “noble” actions. Classical heroes are from a time when life was a lot harder and people had to be selfish to survive. Greek hero myths were supposed to inspire people of the time to go out and achieve fame through glorious and heroic deeds. In this way most classical heroes acted on much more selfish motives, looking to see what they could gain out of a task or quest. There are many different examples of this but I will use Odysseus’ long journey home as an example. The quests Odysseus completed along the way served only to benefit him and ensure he made it home. Outwitting Circes, leaving Calypso and defeating Polyphemus were all things that would help Odysseus and his men reach Ithaca again. Modern heroes however, are people who do good things not for themselves but for others in need of help. Often there is a personal motivation behind their good deeds but I believe that it is done much more selflessly than classical heroes. In the episode “Memories of Boom Boom Mountain” we learn of Finn’s motivation to be a hero. He had been abandoned as a child, and left crying in a dirty diaper on top of a hill. He “cried for a whole day but no one came to help him. That day he vowed to help anyone in need no matter how small their problem.” This idea is also supported by other modern superheroes. Batman, Superman, Robin, Flash, Ironman; in short, most modern superheroes hide behind a mask, or other form of secret identity. For me this just reaffirms how modern superheroes do not do heroic deeds for themselves and in fact shy away from fame and glory.