“Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time it gets you killed in painful and nasty ways. (Riordan, 1) The Lightning Thief begins with the typical introduction of a potential hero, in this case Percy Jackson, described as an eccentric. He thinks he has ADHD, is dyslexic and doesn't really fit in with any crowd. (Riordan, age 2) Not only does Percy have a difficult life at school, but he never gets to know his biological father and his mother marries a creep who treats them both badly. (Riordan, 17) In the Iliad the hero Achilles is introduced, he too was born a demigod but his destiny is slightly different, he was born into a life of near-immorality as the only way to die is if Hector de Troy is killed. (Fagles 1990, 79) Achilles is the greatest warrior of the Greeks and accepts his fate by setting out to kill Hector (Troy's greatest warrior), regardless of the inevitable outcome. This state of mind is typical of that of a Hero. These depictions of Percy and Achilles parallel the lifestyle that Joseph Campbell describes as in a hero's journey. Although not all aspects of the hero's journey are covered in the novels The Lightning Thief and The Iliad, Percy Jackson and Achilles are perfect candidates for becoming heroes. The early lifestyle of Percy, a misunderstood teenager, and Achilles, a great, relentless warrior, allows them to separate themselves from society, be tested and challenged by supernatural obstacles, overcome these obstacles, and in the end Percy's case, he could finally return home with greater potential. understanding of who he is, and in Achilles' case, he accepts the fate of death. Furthermore, it is mind-boggling how a scholar's theory can be applied to stories that have been told long before and after the middle of a paper, after he has written it. accepted, will follow it at least to some extent. For example, if generation after generation told people that the sky was orange, once it became accepted, people would know that it was true for the most part. There will always be oddballs who think otherwise, but their ideas won't be accepted because there is already an idea in place. To relate this idea to the stories, if someone were to find a way to write about a hero who would be completely unparalleled from what Joseph Campbell theorized, the possibility of that novel becoming published or well known is slim to none. sucks, because it's abnormal and people don't like change or things they feel uncomfortable with. If people don't understand why the hero book is written that way, they won't want to read it or refer to a character in the novel as a "hero." »..”