Shaka Zulu a hero according to the Hero’s Quest
A hero takes a challenge that may be considered way bigger than him or herself. Though a hero may be an ordinary individual, his works portray him as a person of great strength and endurance irrespective of overwhelming obstacles. The theory on Hero’s quest portray hero’s as individuals who exist in an ordinary day or common day but posses fabulous forces than assist then in gaining decisive victory. Through the hero’s win they tend to safe innocent persons, it is then that they come back with mysterious win and power to restore peace on fellow men. Joseph Campbell a great American psychologist writes a few stages that a person has to go through to be referred as a hero. The stages of a hero are quite familiar to many mythological stories that involve a hero’s journey.
Religious worship and traditional cultural stories assisted in the formation of several hero’s in history. For instance, The Shaka of Southern Africa who is a hero of the Zulu people. Shaka is known for gathering a huge army in the southern Africa region and using it to establish a great empire in the early 1800s. Shaka just like most other hero’s confirms the theory presented in the Hero’s quest, whereby hero’s have a humble background. He was born in the Kwazulu- natal province and out of wedlock. Having spent most of his childhood in his mother’s settlement, he had an ordinary upbringing. The second stage of a hero rather than having a humble beginning as depicted in hero’s quest is identification of a challenge that needs addressing. Shaka felt that there was an opportunity to unify and expand the Zulu people and it is at this point that he served as a warrior. Later his power and greatness is noted when he managers to form his army that assisted to conquer hundreds of chiefdoms and brought together the Zulu kingdom. It is through this kingship and conquest that Shaka is referred as a hero among the Zulu people. His legacy similar to the image of a hero in the Hero’s Quest by Campell has lived for many years. The Zulu kingdom survived the death of its founder and even several military attacks.