Posted: Mar 09, 2010 2:25 am
Back in 1936, Major [wiki]FitzRoy Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan[/wiki], a.k.a. Lord Raglan, published a book on legendary heroes, The Hero, in which he worked out a sort of average hero biography:
1. The hero's mother is a royal virgin;
2. His father is a king, and
3. Often a near relative of his mother, but
4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather, to kill him, but
7. He is spirited away, and
8. Reared by foster parents in a far country.
9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but
10. On reaching manhood he returns to goes to his future kingdom.
11. After a victory over the king, and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor, and
13. Becomes king.
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully, and
15. Prescribes laws, but
16. Later loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which
18. He meets a mysterious death,
19. Often at the top of a hill.
20. His children, if any, do not succeed him.
21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless
22. He has one or more holy sepulchres
He scored several heroes according to his profile, and he found:
Oedipus 21, Theseus 20, Romulus 18, Heracles 17, Perseus 18, Jason 15, Bellerophon 16, Pelops 13, Asclepius 12, Dionysus 19, Apollo 11, Zeus 15, Joseph 12, Moses 20, Elijah 9, Watu Gunung 18, Nyikang 14, Sigurd or Siegfried 11, Llew Llawgyffes 17, King Arthur 19, and Robin Hood 13.
To use Lord Raglan's profile, one must interpret it rather loosely, like make "king" be a general sort of great leader, rather than only a hereditary political leader. Also, Lord Raglan tended to use the most mythical variants of incidents in some hero's life, so he'll have something to study, if nothing else.
Lord Raglan had carefully omitted Jesus Christ, not wanting to stir up additional controversy, but Alan Dundes took him on, finding a score of 19 for him. I myself have scored him at 18.5. In fact, he scores so high that some people have called the profile an effort to discredit Jesus Christ's (supposed) historicity.
I've also considered Krishna (16.5), the Buddha (12.5), Harry Potter (12/15), Anakin Skywalker (11), and Luke Skywaker and Leia Organa (movies: 7/11, novels: 10/15).
By comparison, well-documented heroes usually score very low, seldom above 6 or 7, especially in modern times. The main exceptions I've been able to find are Alexander the Great and Augustus Caesar, at about 10.
There are various problems with this profile, and I myself have thought of improvements:
This leads to the question of why mythic-hero biographies should converge onto a profile that does not match well-documented heroes very well. Could there be something psychologically attractive about it?
Such Lord Raglan convergence may also explain the numerous conspiracy theories about the assassination of President JFK. Many people seem to find it hard to believe that a lone lunatic could have brought him down. Instead, they prefer to believe something that fits into Lord Raglan criterion 18 about the hero dying a mysterious death.
1. The hero's mother is a royal virgin;
2. His father is a king, and
3. Often a near relative of his mother, but
4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather, to kill him, but
7. He is spirited away, and
8. Reared by foster parents in a far country.
9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but
10. On reaching manhood he returns to goes to his future kingdom.
11. After a victory over the king, and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor, and
13. Becomes king.
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully, and
15. Prescribes laws, but
16. Later loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which
18. He meets a mysterious death,
19. Often at the top of a hill.
20. His children, if any, do not succeed him.
21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless
22. He has one or more holy sepulchres
He scored several heroes according to his profile, and he found:
Oedipus 21, Theseus 20, Romulus 18, Heracles 17, Perseus 18, Jason 15, Bellerophon 16, Pelops 13, Asclepius 12, Dionysus 19, Apollo 11, Zeus 15, Joseph 12, Moses 20, Elijah 9, Watu Gunung 18, Nyikang 14, Sigurd or Siegfried 11, Llew Llawgyffes 17, King Arthur 19, and Robin Hood 13.
To use Lord Raglan's profile, one must interpret it rather loosely, like make "king" be a general sort of great leader, rather than only a hereditary political leader. Also, Lord Raglan tended to use the most mythical variants of incidents in some hero's life, so he'll have something to study, if nothing else.
Lord Raglan had carefully omitted Jesus Christ, not wanting to stir up additional controversy, but Alan Dundes took him on, finding a score of 19 for him. I myself have scored him at 18.5. In fact, he scores so high that some people have called the profile an effort to discredit Jesus Christ's (supposed) historicity.
I've also considered Krishna (16.5), the Buddha (12.5), Harry Potter (12/15), Anakin Skywalker (11), and Luke Skywaker and Leia Organa (movies: 7/11, novels: 10/15).
By comparison, well-documented heroes usually score very low, seldom above 6 or 7, especially in modern times. The main exceptions I've been able to find are Alexander the Great and Augustus Caesar, at about 10.
There are various problems with this profile, and I myself have thought of improvements:
- Splitting royal and virgin into separate criteria.
- Adding childhood-prodigy stories, like Augustus Caesar hushing up some frogs or Jesus Christ showing great learning in the Jerusalem Temple.
- Zeus, Oedipus, Perseus, Romulus, King Arthur, Krishna, the Buddha, Alexander the Great, Augustus Caesar, Harry Potter, Anakin Skywalker, and Jesus Christ had all reportedly fulfilled prophecies.
This leads to the question of why mythic-hero biographies should converge onto a profile that does not match well-documented heroes very well. Could there be something psychologically attractive about it?
Such Lord Raglan convergence may also explain the numerous conspiracy theories about the assassination of President JFK. Many people seem to find it hard to believe that a lone lunatic could have brought him down. Instead, they prefer to believe something that fits into Lord Raglan criterion 18 about the hero dying a mysterious death.