Humans have throughout the ages had a need of having people to look up to in order to gain strength and inspiration, as well as learn things from them. Deep inside humans, there has always been a desire to tell or write stories, whose purpose - entertain, touch, or teach - has always been the same, independent of the medium used and the time in history. The stories, which throughout the ages have captivated their audience, have often been about heroes that, through their courage, valor, and strength have performed great deeds that have bestowed upon them honor, fame, and reputation. Heroes have existed ever since humans began to tell and write stories, but the heroic ideals have been in a constant cycle of change. They have done so in order to fulfill the need for heroes that the society of the time harbored, and even today it continues to fluctuate. The purpose of this essay is to compare and analyze the differences present in the heroic ideals during the antiquity with the ones that exist in today's society.

The antiquity was a flourishing period in many areas, but particularly philosophy and literature. Within literature, some of the most well-known and popular heroic stories were written and then handed down to posterity. One of these can be found in Homer's famous epic named the Iliad. It is the story of how the hero Achilles receives his status as a hero in the Trojan War by slaying Hector, the son of the Trojan king, in a battle outside of Troy's walls. Achilles was agile, brave, and possessed great strength, which is evident in Homer's comparison of Hector and Achilles. He is praised as a strong, brave, and athletic man, but in the end, it is still his great deeds that make him a hero.

Another famous hero of antiquity is Odysseus. He participated, just like Achilles, in the Trojan War and was the brain behind the proposed idea of the Trojan Horse. Though he mainly gained his status as a hero through Homer's epic named the Odyssey. The epic is about Odysseus's ten year long odyssey home from the Trojan War, and how he relentlessly faced a number of tough and difficult challenges and trials during it - which he survives, thanks to his cunning and courage. This is clearly evident when he saves himself and his crew from captivity in the Cyclops Polyfemos's cave.

Even though these heroes are different in many ways, they share many characters with each other. They rarely show any external and internal signs of weakness and often never experience any failures. They live (mainly) according to the Apollonian ideal, and as individuals, they are not very complex. The acts that they perform often have strong personal motives, such as revenge or to survive. The physical capacity of a hero was valued higher in ancient times, but Odysseus and his great intellect showed that strength was not always the deciding factor when it came to overcoming the trials and challenges present in his time. Though, the heroic deeds were always central in determining whether a person was regarded as a hero or not.

If we change the focus from antiquity and instead look at today's heroes and heroic ideals, we are faced with a diverse variety of heroes that fall under different several categories. Some of the most popular heroes in today's society are referred to assuper heroes, and one of the most famous among them is -a familiar figure to most aspiring heroes - Spiderman. He was initially a normal teenager named Peter Parker from New York, who gains super powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. Even though he is strong and valiant, he is far from perfect and struggles, just like many teenagers, with problems in school and with love. His heroic deeds are focused on providing protection to the city he loves. He feels a responsible and duty-bound to help the city's residents because of his super powers; even though he frequently ended up in difficult situations. Yet when he is not Spiderman, he tries his best to live a life as a normal teenager.

In contrast to all the super heroes in today's society, there are a lot of ordinary people who could be regarded as heroes, without possessing any kind of supernatural abilities. One example is Erin Brockovich. She is a single mother who works as an assistant at a law firm and becomes a hero after she almost, alone, puts an end to a power company letting out highly contaminated water into the community's tap water (leading to people getting mortally sick). She manages said feat by refusing to give up no matter how difficult the situation was, even despite having a chaotic personal life. Erin Brockovich demonstrates to people that anyone can become a hero given the right ethics and will, as long as they are passionate about what they're doing and do their utmost to benefit humanity.

These two heroes are, in many ways, opposites, yet they have many similarities to each other. They have complex personalities, which makes it interesting and exciting for the reader or viewer to follow their journey as they succeed, against all odds, and arrive at new insights. Both are far from perfect and the persons both have external and internal problems as they're constantly fighting and developing as humans. Furthermore, they also make mistakes. All of this makes them vulnerable and, most importantly, human; which makes it possible for the reader or viewer to relate to them and thereby also feel empathetic toward the successes and setbacks they encounter along the way of their journey. Many of today's heroes, like the aforementioned ones, have the sense of justice as the driving force behind their sacrificial acts and cumulative responsibility. There is an increasing emphasis on the intention a hero has and what mediums they use to protect what's important to them. However, their actions thesmelves have continued to hold extreme importance.

In conclusion, we can say that the heroic ideals of the antiquity and modern age have, while having very similar foundations, established a considerable fluctuation in execution. From almost entirely being focused on a hero's physical characteristics, we can find that psychological characteristics are increasingly being highlighted and are often central in the deeds of modern-day heroes. The ideal that heroes should be perfect, without any significant external or internal problems and mistakes as well as they should not have any complex personalities is also nearing elimination in society's expectations. Today's situation is almost the opposite; people in today's society want to be able to relate to the situations the hero goes through. Their, sometimes disoriented, life and sacrificial actions create understanding sympathy amongst the readers or viewers. Despite these differences, the core of the heroic ideals has remained the same; a hero is to succeed in the enormous, difficult and dangerous situations that present themselves, and rise above the circumstances, no matter how difficult they may seem. When everything else is put aside, this is what has always defined a hero, and will continue to.