Heroes just sound more heroic when you describe their accomplishments with active verbs! In fact, every story sounds better with active verbs. As a general rule, active verbs are a better choice 99.99% of the time when you are telling a story. So, use active verbs whenever you can! Here are some examples:
The head of the monster Medusa was chopped off by Perseus.
Perseus chopped off the head of the monster Medusa.
The robber Sciron was killed by Theseus by being pushed off a cliff.
Theseus killed the robber Sciron by pushing him off a cliff.
Phineas, king of Thrace, was rescued from the vicious Harpies by Jason.
Jason rescued Phineas, king of Thrace, from the vicious Harpies.
A golden sword was used by Heracles to cut off the last head of the Hydra.
Heracles used a golden sword to cut off the last head of the Hydra.
Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons, was defeated by Achilles.
Achilles defeated Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons.
The household gods of Troy were brought safely by Aeneas into Italy.
Aeneas safely brought the household gods of Troy into Italy.
The riddle of the Sphinx was answered correctly by Oedipus.
Oedipus answered the riddle of the Sphinx correctly.
If you would like to review the basic differences between active verbs and passive verbs, see this blog post: Active and Passive Verbs.
Here you see Perseus holding up the head of Medusa; visit Wikipedia for more information.
