Jenae Long

Mythology and the Cosmos

5/12/17

Community Identity

Smith

It seems that community meant many different things for the ancient Greeks and the other

cultures that we have studied. They loved to pay attention to heroes and see what they could do

for the greater good for their communities, such as defeating beasts that are pestering people,

getting rid of intruders, and keeping everyone safe.

The community from the play about Jason, Medea, and the Argonauts relied on Jason to

take the throne from Medeas brother. Jason tried to live up to the role of a hero, but relied

heavily on Medea to do his dirty work to get there. Medeas role as Jasons enforcer was very

important, yet her work gets overshadowed by Jason. It seems that the womans role in the

community is to do what they need to so that the men can be successful, or at least claim to be

successful. The role of the man was to be powerful.

In the Mongolian hero story, Jangar always put aside his own interests to help his

community. If this village was being invaded, he would run to defeat the invaders. What is even

more impressive, is that Jangar was a child, it was just his natural instinct to protect his

community. He was very well liked for his bravery.

 I believe that I am involved in many different communities. I am a part of my work

community, school community, and home community. Each community says something

different about me. Within my work community, I am a leader. Within my school community, I

am a friend and student. Within my home community, I am a daughter. As a whole, these

groups say that I am fairly well-rounded.

My home community wants me to visit often, and stay close by, which is not something

that I see myself doing for a long period of time. This could disappoint the people in my home

community. In my work community, I am expected to be a leader, but I am also expected to be a

friend by the people that I work with. I have to find a way to be both, which can be difficult. I

decide which actions to take by thinking about what is best for both me and the community that I

am in.