Hero myths are the best-known mythological stories, involving bigger-than-life characters that are easily recognizable. In ancient Greece, characters such as Homer's Odysseus, Apollo, and Achilles were viewed as heroes, much like today's comic book "super heroes."" Super heroes and their plotlines involve characters who put themselves in harm's way to protect something (a city, a building, a bus full of school children) or a particular person (Lois Lane, Gwen Stacey, etc.). Whether it's ancient Greek mythology, 20th century comic book characters, the themes and morality issues are very similar. In other words, "the story they tell belongs to us all."" (Powell, 1990, p. 8).
One super hero who's sole purpose is to protect his city is Batman, created by Bill Finger in 1940. Batman doesn't possess the typical powers associated with other super heroes, but he keeps his focus on protecting Gotham City from crime and corruption, exhibiting many of the characteristics common in his mythological counterparts. Like Homer's Odysseus, Batman exudes the characters of a deity; including strength, courage, and selflessness.
Batman is much like Homer's Odysseus. He embodies the same qualities which are exhibited by mythological heroes who ".stand for something more, something that crosses boundaries."" (Rohac, n.d., p. 1) He lives in Gotham City, a place inhabited by "everyday" people, and this reinforces the mythological idea of a hero; protecting the common man. .
In afterlife mythology, when Odysseus visits the Land of the Dead, he does so exuding his heroic quality of strength. Like Batman, Odysseus requires strength, not in the physical sense, but the emotional and mental sense because "the Land of the Dead is a place marked by emptiness and despair " (Powell, 1990, p. 67) that only a heroic man can encounter on his epic journey. Batman has grown up in Gotham City and following his father's death the city is in the tight grips of crime again and under the control of a powerful gang called ˜the mutants' (Reynolds, 1992).
