Exploring the Contemporary Hero
Moshood Danmola
I organised a workshop to explore ideas of what attributes made a hero in history in contrast to the modern day. I wanted to learn about other people's opinions on what traits they associated with heroism in mythology and if they felt these had changed in relation to today. I facilitated a series of tasks related to this idea. First we created the 'essence' of a past hero by pouring varying amounts of water into the jar to represent characteristics chosen by the participants. The amount of water we poured represented how important we thought that trait was. Historical hero were considered to be made up of Humility, Power, Beneficence, Strength, Skill, Confidence and Bravery. The hero we had created was an ideal version of humanity and lacked any negative traits, I was interested in how this ideal is reflected in society as we often associate greatness with flawlessness. I believe, in mythology, the idea of being a hero is connoted with flawless figures, with all heroes if not most heroes being portrayed as godlike.The second task we reconstructed the hero in terms of modern day imaginings of a hero, and these ideas shifted, being more open to emotive form of existence.The water provided a fluid material through which to discuss these ideas and represent how ideas of heroism have changed over time.
