All societies have epic heroes. For instance, Beowulf served as an epic hero in his society in 500 A.D. Beowulf saved the Geats from the evil Grendel, his mother, and the dragon. Indiana Jones was an epic hero in the 20th century. He saved mankind from the Nazis. All epic heroes share the same traits, which are legendary or heroic actions are central to his or her culture, race, or nation. Indiana Jones proved himself to be an epic hero by being able to do things ordinary men can't do, being able to quest to achieve something for mankind, and representing values of his society.

In the movie “Indiana Jones the Raider of the Lost Ark” he showed many characteristics. One of them was being able to do things ordinary men can’t do. In the scene where Indiana Jones had found where the Ark of the Covenant was located, and him and some friends went there and they realized the bottom of the pit was covered with snakes. Jones might not fear a lot of things but a snake was his biggest fear. For him to be a man and admit to his fear of snakes and overcome his fear is a sign of an epic hero. In another scene he had traveled to try and find the emerald. As he was looking for it the Nazis was searching high and low for, but Jones knew where he could find it. He visited an old friend who family was last seen with it. She denied having it so as Jones exited; the Nazis entered trying to hurt her to get the emerald. But, Jones He fought all them with a little help from her. Her bar was burned down in the process but they kept the emerald. In Another scene Jones jumped from a moving train onto a horse. He was

Another characteristic he showed was the quest to achieve something for mankind. He knew that if he had let the Nazis get a hold of the treasures, they would be unstoppable. So he figured, go and find all them and put them in the museum for the people to see and take care of. He tied himself to a truck to stop to stop the Nazis farer in their process of trying to destroy the world. Anyone who wields it is invincible. But also the Ark of Covenant. It was a danger to anyone that got ahold of it. It cleared a whole room of Nazis that was looking to see what was coming out of it. Which it was God? They all turned in to dust.

But, finally the last characteristic he showed was representing values of his society. In the movie three values of Jones society caught my eyes and they were religious, bravery, and intelligence. The scene before he went to go discover the emerald from his lady friend, there were two men in his classroom asking him about the journey and what a lot of stuff meant. He showed that he was religious because he knew the 10 Commandments and was able to explain every one of them. Also at the end when the Nazis had removed the cover from the Ark of the Covenant Jones knew not to open his eyes as god came out the box. He showed bravery in the middle of the movie as him and hid lady friend was dropped in the pit and closed in there full of snakes and the fire was going out. They both were horrified of snakes but Jones didn’t show his fear of the snakes and was able to get them out of the pit. Lastly, he showed intelligence throughout the movie by being able to find out where the treasures were hidden before the Nazis were could even think about looking. He found the golden statue, the emerald, and the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.
All throughout the movie Indiana Jones was the epic hero of the story. He saved mankind from being destroyed by the Nazis as Beowulf saved the Geats from Grendel, his mother, and dragon