I wrote this a while ago for a Mythology class. I got an "A" on it! Since the image I chose that went along with the question for this essay isn't in the image bank for the blogs, I've inserted a link to that picture...
I hope you all like this, after all, it is Luke Week!


There is no greater warrior hero than Luke Skywalker, a young man of great strength, determination, and power. His nature is very much like that of those warrior heroes in the Iliad. "The heroes we meet in the Iliad are, like Heracles, divided souls" (Harris, p. 365). Just as Achilles must fulfill his warrior nature, Luke must also decide if he is to fulfill his destiny as a Jedi Knight.
At the beginning of Luke's great adventure with the Rebellion against the overbearing Empire run by the Sith lord Darth Sidious (also known as Emperor Palpatine), he is torn between doing what his uncle, Owen Lars, believes Luke must do and what his mentor, Ben Kenobi, says is inevitable. Luke must either stay and help Owen on the moisture farm or become a Jedi Knight like his father before him. As the heroes in the Iliad "each can fulfill his gifts, his inner nature, only by being what he is" (Harris, p. 365), Luke must also go by his own feelings and instincts. In George Lucas's novelization of Star Wars, Luke must rely on the Force and stretch out with his feelings to deflect the laser blasts from a floating "remote" training device. When Ben puts a helmet on him to prevent him from seeing the remote with his eyes, Luke manages to deflect the blast with his lightsaber trusting only what he felt where the remote was moving. "'I told you you could,' Kenobi informed him with pleasure. 'Once you start to trust your inner self there'll be no stopping you" (Lucas, p. 101).
A viewer may interpret the attached image by Hugh Fleming any way he likes, but what is most apparent are the warrior hero-like qualities. Luke Skywalker, the man in the image, has his eyes forward, intently focusing on his quarry. His fists grasp his green lightsaber tightly, ready for combat. Sweat beads on his brow and under his icy blue eyes as if he has just been in a tiring scrabble with a squad of stormtroopers. His tousled hair frames his face, soaked with perspiration. His jaw is closed while his lips remain in a kind of state of repose, slack while trying to catch his breath during a break in his battle with the unknown combatant(s). The colours of his cloak and tunic are muted with dark blues and blacks while an aura of light, the source being his laser sword, reflects on his face, suggesting that he is ready for anything. As is stated about Hector and Achilles, they "arrive at the same moment of recognition and make the same decision: 'Let it come.' For the epic hero, as for the hero of the later tragedies, the readiness is all" (Harris, p. 365). The fiery colours in the background almost encircle Luke's head like a halo, giving him a divine quality. The background's mottled appearance reflects his mottled past, and just as darkness almost consumes the light behind him, it almost consumes him during the final battle between father and son. Luke's pose, though not full-body, lends an air of action to the well-wrought painting. It relates verily to the image of the warrior hero, as the lightsaber may be compared to the sword of a Greek warrior. The painting is very clear in its depiction of a youthful Luke Skywalker at the peak of his Jedi potency, as many vase paintings and carvings or sculptures of traditional warrior heroes by the ancient Greeks may depict. The Greeks portrayed their heroes as youthful in appearance yet physically strong as youths are wont to be.
After Return of the Jedi and before the next novel known as The Truce at Bakura, Luke makes a name for himself among the Rebels. He was now known as the last of the Jedi. As the text Classical Mythology relays, the warrior hero's reputation is an important part of the hero's own story. "The Iliad describes a world in which the glory of the hero is not merely the consequence of divine gifts" (Harris, p. 366). This could be interpreted, for Luke's case, as that he is not only a good fighter, and a generally good person, through the Force, but through his mind and heart as well. His compassion for his friends, his sister Leia, and his father Darth Vader/ Anakin Skywalker, is not a weakness as Emperor Palpatine likes to believe of Luke, but a strength. A definite strength. With the Force aiding him in all his actions, including his act of compassion for his father around the end of Return of the Jedi, he is an unstoppable hero.

"Vader spoke again, even weaker - almost inaudible. 'Go my son. Leave me.'
At that, Luke found his voice. 'No. You're coming with me. I'll not leave you here. I've got to save you'" (Kahn, p. 175).

The above passage from the novelization of Return of the Jedi by James Kahn exhibits the truth of the warrior hero's nature. It is truly not only through divine influence that a warrior hero gets his glory, but through his genetics, an influence that controls a lot of the way the hero thinks and acts; through his wits and compassion, he steps outside his comfort zone and takes control over his destiny.
Luke Skywalker is truly the greatest warrior hero to ever have been created. A hero from birth, he was meant to find his role in the universe and unlock the key to his father, and worst enemy's, heart; to turn him back to the good side and show him that he hasn't been fully reinstitutionalized to believe in everything the dark side stands for. The typical Greek warrior hero would have to go through similar pains like the ones Luke had to suffer to become the successful Jedi that he was. It is likely that the ancient Greeks would consider Luke a warrior hero among their own. Not historically accurate, but certainly a truth, the warrior hero is like Luke. A hero for all to believe in.

Harris, Stephen L. and Gloria Platzner. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. 4th Edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Kahn, James. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. New York: Ballantine Books, 1983.

Lucas, George, Donald F. Glut, and James Kahn. The Star Wars Trilogy. New York: Random House Publishing, 1993.

The above...things...are supposed to be part of my works cited. I left that in there for good measure.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this. Especially all those Luke fans out there...

Thank you, and may the Force be with us all,
Orillia Darkstar