Symbolic Godzilla

The Origins of Humanity’s Superheroes + A Softer World Comic June 9, 2008

Horne and Comeau’s A Softer World photo-comic recently posted a strip involving the origins of our heroes (click on the image to enlarge):

According to Joseph Campbell and other social anthropologists, the heroes of a culture often reflect the values of a culture. Yet so often our heroes, even as far back as ancient Greece, reflect the orphaning expressed in this strip: Batman, Theseus, Luke Skywalker, even Oedipus Rex. Why is it that humanity requires its heroes to be separated so violently from the family unit? Is it a flaw in the species, a need for adversity, or something deeper? Even Ben Franklin, famed American cultural icon, has separation from his family as an integral part of his “myth.”