Can a meaningful and motivating concept of heroism be reclaimed and articulated for our own times? Are there enduring resources, in the literary imagination and in the persistent human quest for truth, goodness, and beauty, that can ground and direct our own, renewed aspirations to greatness? After all, what makes for human greatness? What is a hero? What are the virtues, values, contexts, and conditions that constitute heroism and heroic achievement? How have images of the heroic changed and developed over history in relation to diverse cultural ideals, various accounts of the human person, and different worldviews?

This course will wrestle with these questions and venture to synthesize insights from history, philosophy, theology, and psychology, while focusing on select literary depictions of heroes and the heroic from classical antiquity to modern times. We will explore literary renditions of the hero performing different roles that configure profiles in greatness – the Hero as Warrior, Wayfarer, Man of Destiny, Thinker, Suffering Servant, Martyr, Saint, Prophet, Poet, and Leader. We will also engage the critique of traditional heroism in the modern age and assess the challenges to heroic ideals posed by modern democracy, secularity, science, cultural pluralism, and pervasive disenchantment.

This course pays homage to the late Dr. John X. Evans, one of the founding luminaries of the Phoenix Institute, and takes its cue from a similar class he taught over many years on Heroes and the Heroic. His class edified, challenged, and inspired a generation of Phoenix students. It is hoped that Heroism Revisited will have a similar effect and provide both food for thought and fuel for our own efforts to excel in our various callings.

Dr. Clinton Brand. Ph.D., English, Vanderbilt University. M.A. English, Vanderbilt University. B.A., English, University of Dallas. Associate Professor at the English Department of the University of St. Thomas.