230041 ‘Accompanied but alone’: Epic Heroes and Their Companions from Beowulf to The Avengers (S) (WiSe 2022/2023)

Andrea: "Unglücklich das Land, das keine Helden hat."
Galilei: "Unglücklich das Land, das Helden nötig hat."
(B. Brecht, Das Leben des Galileo (1939/43)

“At the beginning of Paradise Lost, Milton’s Satan embodies pretty much everything we’ve found heroic since pretty much the beginning of Western culture–he’s beautiful and incredibly strong, he’s a gifted rhetorician, he’s a natural organizer with a gift for putting his followers in position where they can best use their talents, and he has that “never say die” spirit we love so much. You don’t have to watch a lot of Hollywood movies to recognize the type: he’s Braveheart, he’s Thor, he’s Henry V, he’s George Washington, he’s John Wayne and Russell Crowe rolled together. [...] So while it dramatically makes sense to present Satan in full superhero mode at the beginning of the poem, there’s also a serious theological point being made. Milton wants us to be ever-vigilant not only against outside forces that might tempt us from presence of God, but also (and more importantly) against our own selves.”
(https://stevesofgrass.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/paradise-lost-miltons-satan/)

Bibliography

It is absolutely imperative that if you want to participate in this class, you are prepared to read substantial chunks of Beowulf (c. 1000) as well as of John Milton's Paradise Lost (1668ff). You will also have to watch and digest several superhero films. The more you know of the MCU films (not the TV series, though, and not DC), the better.