Antiheroes

An antihero in a work of fiction is the protagonist who is unlikable and villainous, but still is the main focus of the story. A perfect example of an antihero is Travis Bickle from Martin Scorsese's 1976 film Taxi Driver. Taxi Driver is about a discharged marine who takes a job driving taxis in Manhattan to cope with his insomnia. Disgusted with the filthy city filled with underaged hookers and street crime, he decides to buy some weapons and goes through a rigorous workout. In the end of the film, after a failed assassination attempt on the senator, Travis visits a brothel and shoots up the place. Travis was once a brooding, cynical man, but the city transformed him into a psychopathic murderer! This man is clearly the villain of the film, but you can't help but feel for the angry, lonely man. Travis just wanted to make Manhattan a cleaner, safer place. His cause was noble, but his execution was what made him a villain. It takes a truly talented writer to make an audience feel sympathy for a "villain". This "villain" was fed up and just wanted to change a city for the better.

Is Hades Heaven or Hell?

In Homer's The Odyssey, men and woman who die have their souls sent to the underworld called Hades. You're cursed to roam the purgatory-like realm as a doomed soul. In Hades, your form depends on how you perished on the day of your death. Women who died on their wedding day would materialize in Hades with their white wedding dresses. Valiant soldiers who died on the battlefield would show up in the underworld still dressed in armor, possibly with gaping wounds or missing limbs. Men and women who died of old age would wonder Hades as elderly souls. That seems pretty grim right? Imagine if an infant perished and was sent to Hades. The infant soul would wonder around for eternity without the ability to speak or walk. What if it was a pregnant woman who perished? Imagine a woman who was eight months pregnant, having to carry around a baby for eternity! Imagine an extremely battle-scared soldier, without a head, intestines seeping out of his belly button. For others, Hades could be a paradise. Elderly people could just relax, finally free of all responsibility. Some people can't wait for death, so that they can communicate with lost friends or relatives. It's funny how such a horrible place could be heaven for some and hell for others.