Heroes Never Sweat the Small Stuff: Fortuna in The CW’s Supernatural

Abstract

The TV show Supernatural (2005–2020) features itinerant brothers Sam and Dean Winchester battling pagan gods from ancient Greco-Roman mythology who pose a threat to the present-day American way of life. The show utilizes two key concepts to define perils to American culture and values: the frontier myth and the myth of American exceptionalism. In a remote town in Alaska (i.e., the frontier), the brothers encounter the Roman goddess Fortuna, who reveals to the Winchesters how they can protect America. Fortuna’s appearance signifies a shift in how the show’s heroes, Sam and Dean, see themselves: they are forced to experience the despair everyday Americans feel when their luck runs out. A critical analysis of several key episodes will demonstrate that as the series advances, the focus on the brothers’ erasure of pagan threats to America is replaced by a critique of monotheistic religion, a reexamination of the myth of American exceptionalism, and social commentary on the problems with a culture based on consumerism.

Keywords:

• American Dream
• American Exceptionalism
• Fortuna
• frontier myth
• Greco-Roman myth
• heroes
• Supernatural

Notes

1 See Kripke, quoted in Knight (12), who also references Neil Gaiman’s work as an inspiration for some of the show’s storylines: “The idea that a bunch of gods could be living undercover in the United States comes from Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.”

2 Kripke, quoted in Knight (11), describes the motivation behind God’s characterization in the story: “We were asking ourselves questions: “Where does God stand in all of this? Is the universe just one massive test for humanity?”

3 In his discussion of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Adrian Acu argues that, within the Marvel cinematic universe, there is a certain value now attached to the everyday superhero (i.e., Hawkeye, who does not possess superhuman powers) being employed as part of a larger organization; he keeps the Avengers “grounded through his everyman existence” as an employee who is following SHEILD’s mission (196). Supernatural rejects this model because Sam and Dean do not work for pay and do not want to be affiliated with a larger corporation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer Ann Rea

Jennifer A. Rea is professor of classics and affiliate faculty in the Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies at the University of Florida. She is the author of Legendary Rome: Myth, Monuments and Memory on the Palatine and Capitoline (Duckworth Academic, 2008) and Perpetua’s Journey: Faith, Gender, and Power in the Roman Empire (Oxford UP, 2017). She has written numerous articles and book chapters on classical reception in modern science fiction and fantasy.