TOP 10 HEROES OF MYTHOLOGY (SUPERMAN-BATMAN SCALE)

 

Okay, so I’ve ranked my Top 10 Heroes of Mythology – but how would they rank according to my Superman-Batman scale for heroes?

That is, how would they rank from the divine or semi-divine superman to the mortal who achieved their heroism through skill or training?

Although not too many surprises here – by their nature, most mythic heroes tend towards the superman end of the scale.

 

 

MORE SUPERMAN THAN BATMAN

 

(1) VISHNU

 

The Superman of Hindu mythology – and what’s more that’s multiplied across all his avatars, particularly his major world-saving ones.

Although it’s somewhat ironic that my Hindu pantheon entries in ninth and tenth place in my Top 10 Heroes of Mythology top the Superman scale.

What puts him on the top of my Superman-Batman scale is that he is so superpowered that he resembles a cosmic entity than mere superman. In other words, he out-Supermans Superman. He even outmatches Superman’s nickname as Big Blue with his literal blue hue.

 

(2) SHIVA

 

It was a close call between Vishnu and Shiva since both are seen as ultimate cosmic principles but I though Vishnu just had the edge on Shiva. Also, Shiva’s epithet as the Destroyer, even if it is of demonic forces, seemed a little off-brand for Superman.

 

(3) HERACLES

 

The Superman of classical mythology.

Yeah, we’re talking pretty high on the semi-divine or divine superhuman scale by birth as son of Zeus. After all, as an infant, he strangled two giant serpents sent by Hera to kill him, one on each hand.

 

(4) THOR

 

It was a close call between Heracles and Thor as to which one ranks more to the Superman end of the scale. Thor pulls off some pretty superhuman feats in Norse mythology but I ranked Heracles just a little bit higher. For one thing, Thor is a little too reliant on his hammer while Heracles could pull off superhuman feats with his bare hands – indeed with his bare hands as an infant.

For another, Heracles holds up the whole world at one point. But most of all, because there was something of a direct contest that I could match between them – Heracles successfully wrestled no less than Death to defeat, and while Thor could wrestle the personification of old age to something of standstill, he could not defeat it.

 

(5) ACHILLES

 

Not quite so much Superman as Heracles but Achilles is still up there – the archetypal divine hero and supreme warrior of the Greeks.

Born of a divine mother (the nymph Thetis) and a mortal father (the king Peleus of the martial Myrmidons, a name just crying out for comics), Achilles was virtually a pagan Greek superman unmatched in battle. Like Superman, he was physically invulnerable except for a kryptonite-like weakness in his heel. Unfortunately, unlike Superman he doesn’t fight so much for truth and justice, but for glory and booty (in every sense of the latter) – and at times he somewhat resembles the Hulk more than Superman. Indeed, the Iliad is essentially the story of how you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry – “Sing, Goddess, of the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles”.

 

(6) ODIN

 

Again, a close call between Achilles and Odin, particularly given the latter is a god, but the gods in Norse mythology are closer to mortals than in other pantheons. I just think Achilles would have the edge on Odin in combat (as indeed Achilles seemed to against the gods in his own pantheon) and also that Odin relies more on wits and wisdom in the style of Batman – wits and wisdom he earned at the price of sacrifice.

 

(7) HORUS

 

The Egyptian gods are surprisingly hard to rank against other pantheons on the Superman-Batman scale. They are clearly divine superhumans…but they just seem to lack the same feats as the heroes of classical mythology and Norse mythology.

Horus is definitely at the Superman end of the scale, even to the point that they have remarkably similar origins as infant children saved from disaster by their parents for divine greatness – except for Horus, it’s his mother Isis that’s the literal equivalent of Superman’s rocket launching him to safety from Krypton’s destruction

 

(8) OSIRIS

 

Just a little lower than his son Horus on the Superman scale – Osiris more resembles the death (and regeneration) of Superman while Horus resembles the birth and origin of Superman.

 

 

MORE BATMAN THAN SUPERMAN

 

 

(9) ODYSSEUS

 

There’s a touch of semi-divine superman about him, being descended from Hermes (on at least a few mythic accounts) but otherwise Odysseus is the Batman of classical mythology and certainly of the Trojan War. Like Batman, he won his battles through brains rather than brawn – he relied on his wits, guile and versatility, earning his epithet as Odysseus the cunning. Like Batman, he was born into high position as king of Ithaca. And like Batman, his story in mythology is essentially a series of gambits, from the war-winning Trojan Horse to his epic decade-long quest to return home in the Odyssey itself, making his way through a Batmanesque rogues gallery of femme fatale figures and bizarre villains (with the god of the sea Poseidon as the ultimate Joker).

 

(10) KING ARTHUR

 

While there’s a touch of being divinely ordained (and supernatural abilities), King Arthur in mythology is not so much divine superman as he is the peak of human perfection – helped of course by the magical weapons or items that are the Arthurian equivalent of Batman’s gadgets.