Readings: The Knight of the Cart, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

One of the most popular superhero franchises today is Marvel’s Avengers, as its superb comic and movie series has propelled its characters into the world of pop culture. That being said, there is a reason why they are so popular; they draw from the very same themes and ideas that made the Knights of the Round Table so well-known during their literary invention.

King Arthur’s knights are among the first literary characters to form a team of heroes dedicated to protecting their land and their society, much like the Avengers. In The Knight of the Cart, Lancelot and the other knights devote themselves to saving Guinevere. Similarly, the Avengers put everything on the line to defend the world from villains like Loki and Ultron. Additionally, each Knight and Avenger has a different personality; Lancelot and Iron Man are both charismatic and popular, while Gawain and Captain American are trusting and humble.

The Knights and the Avengers also serve a similar purpose in the society that they are written, as they act as the model for the ultimate classical heroic ideal. This classical ideal draws upon the ancient legends of mankind, where mighty warriors bridged the gap between Man and God. These heroes would prove their worth by wielding some kind of godly ability; Arthur pulls sword from stone and wields the legendary Excalibur, and Thor is the single person who can lift the hammer Mjolnir and summon lightning. This godly ability shows that the heroes were chosen by the divine or supernatural, and had the mandate of defender of society. Though an unreachable standard to even the greatest of real human “heroes,” it is important to note that this same kind of heroes have progressed throughout human history.

Reading: The Knight of the Cart (Chretien de Troyes)

In The Knight of the Cart, the main character (Lancelot) undergoes a series of trials and tribulations in his journey to save Queen Guinevere from her captor. However, because this is set in an Arthurian world, Lancelot is honor-bound in all of his actions and statements, with presents himself with multiple moral dilemmas. When he first meets the knight guarding the bridge, he swears that he will defeat him in battle; when finally has him at his mercy, a girl begs Lancelot to show the knight mercy. This presents a conflict of honor, as Lancelot must choose between honoring his oath to kill the knight who offended him, or to show him mercy in the spirit of chivalry. Another instance is when he muses over whether or not to “sleep” with his hostess. He has pledged his loyalty to Guinevere, yet he feels he must honor his oath to his hostess, as she allowed him to stay the night. That being said, he unflinchingly returns to the house to sleep with her, “for he could not break his promise” (Troyes 220). This notion of honoring one’s words is one of the most common motifs of this Arthurian romance.

Another curious theme within this story is Lancelot’s curious decision-making ability when it comes to basic moral sense. For instance, he hesitates to save the hostess girl from being raped, an action that one would normally consider obvious. Lancelot also initially treats Sir Gawain with a certain level of flippancy, snatching one of his spare horses and riding off with it to save Guinevere.

This stark difference between Lancelot’s actions regarding honor-bound duty and moral sensibility in the initial part of the story set the stage for his interactions with Guinevere later on.

Reading: A Practical Guide to Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Christopher Vogler)

In reading the article breaking down Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Vogler asserts that “In his study of world hero myths Campbell discovered that they are all basically the same story – retold endlessly in infinite variations.” I would apply this idea to modern mythical figures; namely, Superman, arguably the most famous of modern fictional heroes. Though the story of Superman has varied over the years due to different comic book series and movies, I will focus on the film Man of Steel. In this movie, Superman’s story parallels the heroic monomyth and many of the symbols and images within it are in fact references to mythical heroes and religious subtexts. Following the path of the Campbell’s monomyth, Kal is initially resistant to embracing his abilities (REFUSAL OF THE CALL), but is motivated to become a savior to mankind by an AI version of his father (MEETING WITH THE MENTOR). In the main crisis of the story, he battles against General Zod, a Kryptonian who seeks to destroy humanity and terraform Earth for surviving Kryptonians (SUPREME ORDEAL). He defeats Zod (REWARD), and is becomes Superman to planet Earth (RESURRECTION, RETURN). Regarding parallels to mythical religious themes, Kal-El is an alien born on Krypton that sent away from his home planet to save him from certain destruction, just as Moses was placed into a stream by his mother to prevent the Egyptians from killing him. Additionally, the name Kal-El contains the suffix “el”, often used to denote God in Hebrew. Superman in this film is also implied to be a Christ-figure, as there are multiple references to Jesus in a few of the scenes.