Hero Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
- This article is about the type of character. For other meanings, see Hero (disambiguation).
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2 List of famous heroes 3 Quotes 4 See also 5 External links |
Overview
A person normally becomes a hero by performing an extraordinary and praiseworthy deed. Traditional deeds are slaying of monsters and saving people from certain death. A hero normally fulfills the definitions of what is considered good and noble in the originating culture. However, in literature, particularly in tragedy, the hero may also have serious flaws which lead to a downfall, e.g. Hamlet.
Sometimes a real person might achieve enough status to become a hero in people's minds. This is usually complemented by a rapid growth of myths around the person in question, often attributing to him or her powers beyond those of ordinary mortals.
Some social commentators prescribe the need for heroes in times of social upheaval or national self-doubt, seeing a requirement for virtuous role-models, especially for the young. Such myth-making may have worked better in the past: current trends may confuse heroes and their hero-worship with the cult of mere celebrity.
Well-known heroes approach the gods in status in some cultures. The word hero comes from ancient Greek, where it describes a culture hero who figures in mythology. The Greek heroes were often the mythological characters who were the eponymous founders of Greek cities, states, and territories. These mythological heroes were not always role models or possessed of heroic virtue; many were demigods, the offspring of mortals and the gods. The age when heroes of this sort were active, and where the stories of Greek mythology were set, is frequently known as the "heroic age;" the heroic age ends shortly after the Trojan War is over and the legendary combatants have returned to home or exile.
Most European indigenous religions feature heroes in some form. Germanic, Hellene and Roman heroes, along with their attributes and forms of worship have been largely absorbed by the Orthodox and Catholic denominations of Christianity, forming the basis of modern day Saint worship.
In modern movies, the hero is often simply an ordinary person treated unfairly by society who prevails in the end.
List of famous heroes
A book of recent fame, dealing with the telling of heroic stories, is called The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell.
Also see "In Quest of the Hero" Alan Dundes, Otto Rank and Lord Raglan,
Princeton Univ,Press 1990 * On Heroes, Hero Worship and the Heroic in History" Thomas Carlyle
- Heroes and Gods Moses Hadas and Morton Smith, Harper and Row, 1965
Quotes
- Here I come to save the day!
- — Mighty Mouse (1940)
- — Mighty Mouse (1940)
- Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy
See also
External links
This is an Article on Hero. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Hero