From DR. BOLI’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MISINFORMATION.

Superheroes. According to Prof. Wilton Beard of the Classics Department at Duck Hollow University, the superheroes in modern comic books and motion pictures, with their masks, exaggerated gestures, introspective monologues, conflicts with fate and destiny, and lives of inner torment, are in every respect equivalent to the heroes of Greek tragedy, except way dumber.

Comments

  1. Alan Kellogg says:

    Keep in mind that myths come to us through a filter of years and dozens of editors correcting language, grammar, and other such things. Modern super heroes don’t benefit from these filters, so they’ve got a long way to go. When Superman goes through a millennium of editing he’s going to look a lot more like Apollo.

  2. Dr. Boli says:

    Dr. Boli will meet you on this spot one thousand years from today. If Superman is still being edited and re-presented at that time, Dr. Boli will buy you an ice-cream cone.

    • Alan Kellogg says:

      How will I prove I am who I say I am and you prove you are who you say you are?

      • Dr. Boli says:

        If Superman is still being discussed one thousand years from today, Dr. Boli is willing to buy ice cream for anyone who remembers this conversation. You will recognize him as the older gentleman handing out free ice-cream cones.

      • Alan Kellogg says:

        The RPG GURPS notes that real wealth has increased over the centuries. If this observation holds true, in the next millinnium I expect the good doctor to be able to afford ice cream for Earth’s population.

  3. Superman will be. He’s the Moses in the Bullrushes story for our millennium. Batman and Spiderman may be still written about and remade a thousand years from now…but frankly, most of the rest of the superhero genre won’t be.

  4. The Cobbler says:

    Actually, when it comes to Apollo, we should keep in mind that the gods in the classics often seem as dumb as our superheroes; so, maybe we should be worried about Aquaman outranking Batman, Superman et al. in a thousand years.

  5. Aquaman outranking Batman and Superman in the public or literary consciousness a thousand years from now would not be terribly worrisome for me. But what keeps me awake at nights is the fear that Snooki will be considered one of the great literary characters of 21st century Western civilization, sort of the Morgana Le Fay or Grendel’s Mother of our generation. I don’t actually watch Jersey Shore, of course, so I have no idea how well the other characters map onto those of Arthurian legend or early Anglo-Saxon heroic sagas.

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