San Marcos High School - Crown and Sceptre Yearbook (Santa Barbara, CA)

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Hero M th: The Aura Of The Athlete The most famous myth of the past is that of the Hero. Society is founded on hero-worship said Carlyle, and this quote could be supported by the innumerable Hero myths that cultures devise. As the Greeks worshipped Heracles and Akhilleus, so we venerate our own heros - athletes, leaders, teachers, and others. The myth of the hero is incarnated each year in the guise of the Varsity Football player, or athletes of other sports who exude the same aura of heroism and strength. Robert Klein explains, We have a priority system in this country in which the athletes are placed at the very top. . . A true hero, Dr. Jonas Salk, discovered the cure for polio. . . fbutl there are not that many scientist groupies hanging around. Myths are often associated with rituals, the modern counterpart at San Marcos would be our athletic contests. Of E course there are other heroes - students who are particularly talented in a certain field, like acting or science, officers in the student govemment, and those who are, shall we say, socially adept. Teachers, too, become heroes for their students, representing wisdom, maturity, and experience - qualities which most students have in potential. The Hero is heroic to us because his qualities or actions are those that we can never have or do. They are emulated by those who strive to be confident, stron8, or wise, depending on the quality admired. Students, like everyone else, worship what they could potentially be. The extent of hero worship in high school, though, is greater, because students are finally being forced to deal with the real world. The success of others in doing so becomes their goal, and the person becomes a hero.

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Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. -Tennyson Knowledge, when wisdom is too weak to guide her, is like a headstrong horse, that throws the rider. -Francis Quarles Ji-Ll .xg other people need a basis, somewhere to stand in order to gain a somewhat objective view of their world. Of great value is having a mentor, a personification of the mythic figure 'LThe Wise Man? For students, the teacher that is remembered is the one who, apart from instilling knowledge of a particular subject in his students, teaches them wisdom. Like Nestor in the Iliad, such a teacher is insightful and anticipates the problems of those he deals with. What must also be kept in mind, in Carl Jung's words, is to not pretend to understand the world only by the intellectg we apprehend it just as much by feeling. Therefore the judgment of the intellect is, at best, only the half of truth, and must, if it be honest, also come to an understanding of its inadequacy. The mythic figure of the wise man is aged to represent experience gained over the years. Jung would agree that simply living each day makes one wise in some way.

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