Joseph Campbell, a famous writer, famously once said “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself ”. Campbell’s quote perfectly describes the ideal hero through their bravery and sacrifice. The Iliad, an Epic by Homer, describes an ancient Greek war between the Achaean army and the Trojan army ten years before the fall of Troy. A brave Achaean warrior, Achilles, is known for being well-respected and feared by his enemies. He leads his men into action with much ferocity and bravery. Outside of literature, Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani, received the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts on promoting education for women in the Middle East. She became a target by the Taliban because she was a role model for women controlled by the Taliban which they did not like. In Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, the protagonist Achilles most closely fits the canon of “a hero”, as portrayed by Malala in her speech as a person who puts others before themselves, because they both risked their lives for the sake of another and they both were compassionate even towards their enemies. …show more content…
Achilles demonstrates this when his good friend falls in battle and he vows to fight to honor him. When reminded of his fate to die an early death, he replies, “Then let me die, since I could not prevent the death of my companion” (113.74-75). Even though Achilles knows his fate is to die in the war, he chooses to fight for his friend’s sake. It takes a true hero to sacrifice their life for someone else. In Malala’s speech, after explaining how she was shot for her beliefs she claims that from that, “strength, power and courage was born” (Malala). Instead of giving up in order to protect herself from further attacks, Malala chose to keep her movement going. She is willing to risk her life everyday to promote a cause that she believes in, which marks a true