A hero (masculine) or heroine (feminine) is a person or main character
of a literary work who, in the face of danger, combats adversity
through feats of ingenuity, bravery or strength, often sacrificing
their own personal concerns for a greater good.
The concept of the hero can be found in classical literature. It is
the main or revered character in heroic epic poetry celebrated through
ancient legends of a people, often striving for military conquest and
living by a continually flawed personal honor code.[1] The definition
of a hero has changed throughout time. Merriam Webster dictionary
defines a hero as "a person who is admired for great or brave acts or
fine qualities."[2] Examples of heroes range from mythological
figures, such as Gilgamesh,
Achilles

Achilles and Iphigenia, to historical
figures, such as Joan of Arc, modern heroes like Alvin York, Audie
Murphy and Chuck Yeager, and fictional superheroes, including Superman
and Batman.
Contents
1 Etymology
2 Antiquity
3 Myth and monomyth
4 Slavic fairy tales
5 Historical studies
6 Gender differences
7 Modern fiction
8 Psychology
9 See also
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links
Etymology[edit]
The word hero comes from the Greek ἥρως (hērōs), "hero"
(literally "protector" or "defender"[3]), particularly one such as
Heracles

Heracles with divine ancestry or later given divine honors.[4] Before
the decipherment of
Linear B

Linear B the original form of the word was assumed
to be *ἥρωϝ-, hērōw-, but the Mycenaean compound ti-ri-se-ro-e
demonstrates the absence of -w-. R. S. P. Beekes asserts that the word
has a
Pre-Greek origin.[5]
According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,
the Indo-European root is *ser meaning "to protect". According to Eric
Partridge in Origins, the Greek word Hērōs "is akin to" the Latin
seruāre, meaning to safeguard. Partridge concludes, "The basic sense
of both
Hera

Hera and hero would therefore be 'protector'."
The word 'hero' is used in English to refer either explicitly to male
heroes or as a gender-neutral form (whereas the term heroine
designates only a female hero). The use of 'hero' as a gender-neutral
substantive has been current from at least the beginning of the 21st
Century. (The American Heritage Dictionary, 4th edition [2000], offers
this citation from the Washington Post: “Already a national hero in
her economically troubled South Korea,... [Se Ri] Pak is packing
galleries at [golf] tournaments stateside.”) In Greek the term
ἥρως (''hērōs'') was used exclusively to refer to men.
Geneviève Dermenjian, Jacques Guilhaumou and Martine Lapied in Le
Panthéon des Femmes Figures et Représentations des Héroines argue
that "hero" as a supposedly gender-neutral term carries a strong
implicit male bias.[6] See also Gender neutrality in English.
Antiquity[edit]
See also: Greek hero cult, Achilles, and Hector
A classical hero is considered to be a "warrior who lives and dies in
the pursuit of honor" and asserts his or her greatness by "the
brilliancy and efficiency with which they kill".[7] Each classical
hero's life focuses on fighting, which occurs in war or during an epic
quest. Classical heroes are commonly semi-divine and extraordinarily
gifted, like Achilles, evolving into heroic characters through their
perilous circumstances.[1] While these heroes are incredibly
resourceful and skilled, they are often foolhardy, court disaster,
risk their followers' lives for trivial matters, and behave arrogantly
in a childlike manner.[1] During classical times, people regarded
heroes with the highest esteem and utmost importance, explaining their
prominence within epic literature.[8] The appearance of these mortal
figures marks a revolution of audiences and writers turning away from
immortal gods to mortal mankind, whose heroic moments of glory survive
in the memory of their descendants, extending their legacy.[1]
Hector
.jpg/500px-Jorrocks_(AUS).jpg)
Hector was a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for
Troy

Troy in the
Trojan War, which is known primarily through Homer's The Iliad. Hector
acted as leader of the Trojans and their allies in the defense of
Troy, "killing 31,000 Greek fighters," offers Hyginus.[9]
Hector
.jpg/500px-Jorrocks_(AUS).jpg)
Hector was
known not only for his courage but also for his noble and courtly
nature. Indeed,
Homer

Homer places
Hector
.jpg/500px-Jorrocks_(AUS).jpg)
Hector as peace-loving, thoughtful as
well as bold, a good son, husband and father, and without darker
motives. However, his familial values conflict greatly with his heroic
aspirations in The Iliad, as he cannot be both the protector of Troy
and a father to his child.[7]
Hector
.jpg/500px-Jorrocks_(AUS).jpg)
Hector is ultimately betrayed by the
gods when
Athena

Athena appears disguised as his ally
Deiphobus and convinces
him to take on Achilles, leading to his death at the hands of a
superior warrior.[10]
An 18th century depiction of The Rage of Achilles, by Giovanni
Battista Tiepolo
Achilles

Achilles was a Greek
Hero

Hero who was considered the most formidable
military fighter in the entire
Trojan War

Trojan War and the central character of
The Iliad. He was the child of
Thetis

Thetis and Peleus, making him a
demi-god. He wielded superhuman strength on the battlefield and was
blessed with a close relationship to the Gods.
Achilles

Achilles famously
refuses to fight after his dishonoring at the hands of Agamemnon, and
only returns to the war due to unadulterated rage after
Hector
.jpg/500px-Jorrocks_(AUS).jpg)
Hector kills
his close friend Patroclus.[10]
Achilles

Achilles was known for uncontrollable
rage that defined many of his bloodthirsty actions, such as defiling
Hector's corpse by dragging it around the city of Troy.
Achilles

Achilles plays
a tragic role in
The Iliad

The Iliad brought about by constant de-humanization
throughout the epic, having his menis (wrath) overpower his philos
(love).[7]
Heroes in myth often had close but conflicted relationships with the
gods. Thus Heracles's name means "the glory of Hera", even though he
was tormented all his life by Hera, the Queen of the Gods. Perhaps the
most striking example is the Athenian king Erechtheus, whom Poseidon
killed for choosing
Athena

Athena over him as the city's patron god. When the
Athenians worshiped
Erechtheus on the Acropolis, they invoked him as
Poseidon

Poseidon Erechtheus.
Fate, or destiny, plays a massive role in the stories of classical
heroes. The classical hero's heroic significance stems from
battlefield conquests, an inherently dangerous action.[7] The gods in
Greek Mythology, when interacting with the heroes, often foreshadow
the hero's eventual death on the battlefield. Countless heroes and
gods go to great lengths to alter their pre-destined fate, but with no
success, as no immortal can change their prescribed outcomes by the
three Fates.[11] The most prominent example of this is found in
Oedipus

Oedipus Rex. After learning that his son, Oedipus, will end up killing
him, the King of Thebes, Laius, takes huge steps to assure his son's
death by removing him from the kingdom. But,
Oedipus

Oedipus slays his father
without an afterthought when he unknowingly encounters him in a
dispute on the road many years later. The lack of recognition enabled
Oedipus

Oedipus to slay his father, ironically further binding his father to
his fate.[11]
Stories of heroism may serve as moral examples. However, classical
heroes often didn't embody the Christian notion of an upstanding,
perfectly moral hero.[12] For example, Achilles's character-issues of
hateful rage lead to merciless slaughter and his overwhelming pride
lead to him only joining the
Trojan War

Trojan War because he didn't want his
soldiers to win all of the glory. Classical heroes, regardless of
their morality, were placed in religion. In classical antiquity, cults
that venerated deified heroes such as Heracles, Perseus, and Achilles
played an important role in Ancient Greek religion.[13] These ancient
Greek hero cults worshipped heroes from oral epic tradition, with
these heroes often bestowing blessings, especially healing ones, on
individuals.[13]
Myth and monomyth[edit]
The four heroes from the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the
West
The concept of the "Mythic
Hero

Hero Archetype" was first developed by Lord
Raglan in his 1936 book, The Hero, A Study in Tradition, Myth and
Drama. It is a set of 22 common traits that he said were shared by
many heroes in various cultures, myths and religions throughout
history and around the world. Raglan argued that the higher the score,
the more likely the figure is mythical.[14]
The concept of a story archetype of the standard monomythical "hero's
quest" that was reputed to be pervasive across all cultures is
somewhat controversial. Expounded mainly by
Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell in his
1949 work The
Hero

Hero with a Thousand Faces, it illustrates several
uniting themes of hero stories that hold similar ideas of what a hero
represents, despite vastly different cultures and beliefs. The
monomyth or Hero's Journey consists of three separate stages including
the Departure, Initiation, and Return. Within these stages there are
several archetypes that the hero or heroine may follow including the
call to adventure (which they may initially refuse), supernatural aid,
proceeding down a road of trials, achieving a realization about
themselves (or an apotheosis), and attaining the freedom to live
through their quest or journey. Campbell offered examples of stories
with similar themes such as Krishna, Buddha, Apollonius of Tyana, and
Jesus.[15] One of the themes he explores is the androgynous hero, who
combines male and female traits, like Bodhisattva: "The first wonder
to be noted here is the androgynous character of the Bodhisattva:
masculine Avalokiteshvara, feminine Kwan Yin."[15] In his 1968 book,
The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology, Campbell writes "It is clear
that, whether accurate or not as to biographical detail, the moving
legend of the Crucified and Risen Christ was fit to bring a new
warmth, immediacy, and humanity, to the old motifs of the beloved
Tammuz, Adonis, and
Osiris
_(cropped).jpg/440px-OSIRIS-REx_launch_(29445851042)_(cropped).jpg)
Osiris cycles."[16]
Slavic fairy tales[edit]
Ivan Tsarevich, a hero of Russian folklore
Vladimir Propp, in his analysis of the Russian fairy tale, concluded
that a fairy tale had only eight dramatis personæ, of which one was
the hero,[17]:p. 80 and his analysis has been widely applied to
non-Russian folklore. The actions that fall into such a hero's sphere
include:
Departure on a quest
Reacting to the test of a donor
Marrying a princess (or similar figure)
Propp distinguished between seekers and victim-heroes. A villain could
initiate the issue by kidnapping the hero or driving him out; these
were victim-heroes. On the other hand, an antagonist could rob the
hero, or kidnap someone close to him, or, without the villain's
intervention, the hero could realize that he lacked something and set
out to find it; these heroes are seekers. Victims may appear in tales
with seeker heroes, but the tale does not follow them both.[17]:36
Historical studies[edit]
Further information:
Philosophy of history and Great man theory
No history can be written without consideration of the lengthy list of
recipients of national medals for bravery, populated by firefighters,
policemen and policewomen, ambulance medics and ordinary have-a-go
heroes.[18] These persons risked their lives to try to save or protect
the lives of others: for example, the Canadian Cross of Valour (C.V.)
"recognizes acts of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of
extreme peril";[19] examples of recipients are
Mary Dohey and David
Gordon Cheverie.
The philosopher Hegel gave a central role to the "hero", personalized
by Napoleon, as the incarnation of a particular culture's Volksgeist,
and thus of the general Zeitgeist. Thomas Carlyle's 1841 On Heroes,
Hero

Hero Worship and the Heroic in History also accorded a key function to
heroes and great men in history. Carlyle centered history on the
biography of a few central individuals such as
Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell or
Frederick the Great. His heroes were political and military figures,
the founders or topplers of states. His history of great men included
geniuses good and, perhaps for the first time in historical study,
evil.
Explicit defenses of Carlyle's position were rare in the second part
of the 20th century. Most in the philosophy of history school contend
that the motive forces in history can best be described only with a
wider lens than the one that Carlyle used for his portraits. For
example,
Karl Marx

Karl Marx argued that history was determined by the massive
social forces at play in "class struggles", not by the individuals by
whom these forces are played out. After Marx,
Herbert Spencer

Herbert Spencer wrote at
the end of the 19th century: "You must admit that the genesis of the
great man depends on the long series of complex influences which has
produced the race in which he appears, and the social state into which
that race has slowly grown....Before he can remake his society, his
society must make him."[20]
Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault argued in his analysis of
societal communication and debate that history was mainly the "science
of the sovereign", until its inversion by the "historical and
political popular discourse".
Bust of
Nelson Mandela
.jpg/320px-Nelson_Mandela-2008_(edit).jpg)
Nelson Mandela erected on London's
South Bank

South Bank by the Greater
London

London Council administration of
Ken Livingstone

Ken Livingstone in 1985
The Swedish Diplomat
Raoul Wallenberg

Raoul Wallenberg saved the lives of tens of
thousands of Jews in Budapest during World War II.[21][22]
Modern examples of the typical hero are Minnie Vautrin, Norman
Bethune, Alan Turing, Raoul Wallenberg, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela,
and Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Annales School, led by Lucien Febvre,
Marc Bloch

Marc Bloch and Fernand
Braudel, would contest the exaggeration of the role of individual
subjects in history. Indeed, Braudel distinguished various time
scales, one accorded to the life of an individual, another accorded to
the life of a few human generations, and the last one to
civilizations, in which geography, economics and demography play a
role considerably more decisive than that of individual subjects.
Among noticeable events in the studies of the role of the hero and
Great man in history one should mention Sydney Hook's book (1943) The
Hero

Hero in History.[23] In the second half of the twentieth century such
male-focused theory has been contested, among others by feminists
writers such as
Judith Fetterley in The Resisting Reader (1977)[24]
and literary theorist Nancy K. Miller, The Heroine's Text: Readings in
the French and English Novel, 1722–1782.[25]
In the epoch of globalization an individual can still change the
development of the country and of the whole world so this gives
reasons to some scholars to suggest returning to the problem of the
role of the hero in history from the viewpoint of modern historical
knowledge and using up-to-date methods of historical analysis.[26]
Within the frameworks of developing counterfactual history, attempts
are made to examine some hypothetical scenarios of historical
development. The hero attracts much attention because most of those
scenarios are based on the suppositions: what would have happened if
this or that historical individual had or had not been alive.[27]
Gender differences[edit]
If the term "heroine" exists, "hero" is often the predominantly used
term even though its neutrality can be put into question. The
definitions of the heroine often refer back to the one of the hero,
but sometimes insinuate that their deeds are of less value, or were
obtained only thanks to their love of God or a country or of a man.
Therefore, implying that an external explanation for the extraordinary
nature of her deeds is needed to justify them. The warrior women is
considered unholy, unnatural. These figures tend to be erased because
they don't fit in the feminine values they are supposed to represent.
Acts of heroism coming from women are acceptable, during specific
time, like when men are at war, during times of crisis, but they are
otherwise often seen as suspicious. Moreover, women are often not
individualized, but praised as a group for heroic deeds. Women in the
military were often subordinated to tasks less likely to be praised
than armed combat, and are rather praised for their courage as a
general force, nurses during wartime are a good example of this
phenomenon. If their story gets told, they are made to fit in the
acceptable script. Their story is told in a way as to match the
expectations of femininity ex: maternal love, compassion, fidelity,
resistance, defense. Etc. So the set of strengths in which a heroine
could historically express her value are overall not the same and
perceived as less valuable than their masculine counterpart.[28]
In general, the cultural repertoire of heroic stories requires
different qualities for each gender. The contrast of the ideal
narrative line pits the autonomous ego-enhancing hero single-handedly
and single-heartedly progressing toward a goal versus the
long-suffering, selfless, socially embedded heroine, being moved in
many directions, lacking the tenacious loyalty demanded of a quest.
[29]
If they get mentioned in history, the way their story is told also
differs from their male counterpart, they are generally portrayed as
young and beautiful, their actions are limited to a short time lapse
in opposition to the possibility of a long heroic career for male
heroes, underlying feelings that led to their heroic acts are
underlined, overall less details about their life are kept and
emphasis is put over their tragic death. Not to forget that heroes and
heroines are part of a social construct, their history is told and
changes throughout history to serve different purposes of memory,
propaganda according to diverse social, political or religious
evolutions.[30]
Modern fiction[edit]
Further information:
Vanity Fair (novel)

Vanity Fair (novel) and Superhero
Batman

Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) in the 1966–1968 TV Series
Batman.
The word "hero" or "heroine", in modern times, is sometimes used to
describe the protagonist or the love interest of a story, a usage
which can conflict with the superhuman expectations of heroism.[31] A
classic example is Anna Karenina, the lead character in the novel of
the same title by Leo Tolstoy. In modern literature the hero is more
and more a problematic concept. In 1848, for example, William
Makepeace Thackeray gave Vanity Fair the subtitle A Novel without a
Hero, and imagined a world in which no sympathetic character was to be
found.[32] Vanity Fair is a satirical representation of the absence of
truly moral heroes in the modern world.[33] The story focuses on the
characters Emmy Sedley and Becky Sharpe (the latter as the clearly
defined anti-hero), with the plot focused on the eventual marriage of
these two characters to rich men, revealing character flaws as the
story progresses. Even the most sympathetic characters, like Captain
Dobbin, are susceptible to weakness, as he is often narcissistic and
melancholy.
The larger-than-life hero is a more common feature of fantasy
(particularly in comic-books and epic fantasy) than more realist
works.[31] However, these larger-than life figures remain prevalent in
society. The superhero genre is a multibillion-dollar industry that
includes comic books, movies, toys and video games. Superheroes
usually possess extraordinary talents and powers that no living human
could ever emulate. The superhero stories often pit a super villain
against the hero, with the hero fighting the crime caused by the super
villain. Examples of long-running superheroes include Superman,
Batman,
Spider-Man

Spider-Man and Wonder Woman.
Psychology[edit]
Social psychology

Social psychology has begun paying attention to heroes and heroism.
Zeno Franco and
Philip Zimbardo

Philip Zimbardo point out differences between heroism
and altruism, and they offer evidence that observers' perceptions of
unjustified risk plays a role above and beyond risk type in
determining the ascription of heroic status.[34]
An evolutionary psychology explanation for heroic risk-taking is that
it is a costly signal demonstrating the ability of the hero. It can be
seen as one form of altruism for which there are also several other
evolutionary explanations.[35]
Roma Chatterji has suggested that the hero or more generally
protagonist is first and foremost a symbolic representation of the
person who is experiencing the story while reading, listening or
watching;[36] thus the relevance of the hero to the individual relies
a great deal on how much similarity there is between the two. One
reason for the hero-as-self interpretation of stories and myths is the
human inability to view the world from any perspective but a personal
one.
See also[edit]
Action hero
List of female action heroes
Antihero
Byronic hero
Carnegie
Hero

Hero Fund
Culture hero
Folk hero
Germanic hero
Hero

Hero and Leander
Randian hero
Reluctant hero
Romantic hero
Superhero
Tragic hero
Youxia
List of genres
Hero

Hero of Labour
Heroism
Heroic fantasy
Space opera
References[edit]
^ a b c d "Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia".
academic.eb.com. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
^ "Definition of HERO". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2 October
2017.
^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". etymonline.com.
^ ἥρως Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English
Lexicon, on
Perseus

Perseus Digital Library
^ R. S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p.
526.
^ Dermenjian, Geneviève; Guilhaumou, Jacques; Lapied, Martine (2004).
Le Panthéon Des Femmes Figures et Représentation des Héroines.
Editions Publisud. pp. 7–41. ISBN 2-86600-981-9.
^ a b c d Schein, Seth (1984). The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to
Homer's Iliad. University of California Press. p. 58.
^ Levin, Saul (1984). "Love and the
Hero

Hero of the Iliad". Transactions
and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 80: 43–50.
doi:10.2307/283510.
^ Hyginus,
Fabulae 115.
^ a b Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles (1990). NY: Penguin
Books. Chapter 14
^ a b "Articles and musing on the concept of Fate for the ancient
Greeks" (PDF). Auburn University.
^ "Four Conceptions of the Heroic". www.fellowshipofreason.com.
Retrieved 2015-12-07.
^ a b Graf, Fritz. (2006) "
Hero

Hero Cult." Brills New Pauly. Retrieved
from
http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/hero-cult-e511460?s.num=1&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.brill-s-new-pauly&s.q=hero.
^ Lord Raglan. The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama by Lord
Raglan, Dover Publications, 1936
^ a b
Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell in The
Hero

Hero With a Thousand Faces Princeton
University Press, 2004 [1949], 140, ISBN 0-691-11924-4
^ Joseph Campbell. 'T'he Masks of God: Occidental Mythology Penguin,
reprinted, ISBN 0-14-004306-3
^ a b Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folk Tale,
ISBN 0-292-78376-0
^ smh.com.au: "Everyday heroes", 26 Dec 2002
^ gg.ca: "Decorations for
Bravery

Bravery Ceremony", 2 Feb 2010
^ Spencer, Herbert. The Study of Sociology, Appleton, 1896, p. 34.
^ "The Library of Congress: Bill Summary & Status 112th Congress
(2011–2012) H.R. 3001".
^ "Holocaust
Hero

Hero Honored on Postage Stamp". United States Postal
Service. 1996.
^ Hook, S. 1955 [1943]. The
Hero

Hero in History. A Study in Limitation and
Possibility. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
^ Fetterley, Judith (1977). The Resisting Reader. Bloomington, IN:
Indiana University Press.
^ Miller, Nancy K. (1980). The Heroine's Text: Readings in the French
and English Novel, 1722–1782. New York: Columbia University
Press.
^ Grinin, Leonid 2010. The Role of an Individual in History: A
Reconsideration. Social Evolution & History, Vol. 9 No. 2 (pp.
95–136) [1]
^ Thompson. W. The Lead Economy Sequence in World Politics (From Sung
China to the United States): Selected Counterfactuals. Journal of
Globalization

Globalization Studies. Vol. 1, num. 1. 2010. pp. 6–28 [2]
^ Cassagnes Brouquet, Sophie; Dubesset, Mathilde (2009), "La fabrique
des héroïnes", Clio. Histoire‚ femmes et sociétés (in French),
30 (30): 718
^ M. Gergen, Mary; N. Davis, Sara (2013), Toward a New Psychology of
Gender: A Reader, Routledge, p. 640
^ Dermenjian, Geneviève; Guilhaumou, Jacques; Lapied, Martine (2004).
Le panthéon des femmes : figures et représentations des
héroines (in French). Paris : Éd. Publisud,. p. 236.
^ a b L. Sprague de Camp, Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: The Makers
of Heroic Fantasy, p. 5 ISBN 0-87054-076-9
^ Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism, p. 34, ISBN 0-691-01298-9
^ Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Vanity Fair Theme of
Morality and Ethics. Retrieved December 6, 2015, from
http://www.shmoop.com/vanity-fair-thackeray/morality-ethics-theme.html
^ Franco, Z.; Blau, K.; Zimbardo, P. (2011). "Heroism: A conceptual
analysis and differentiation between heroic action and altruism".
Review of General Psychology. 5 (2): 99–113.
doi:10.1037/a0022672.
^ Pat Barcaly. The evolution of charitable behaviour and the power of
reputation. In Roberts, S. C. (2011). Roberts, S. Craig, ed. "Applied
Evolutionary Psychology". Oxford University Press.
doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199586073.001.0001.
ISBN 9780199586073.
^ Chatterji, Roma (January 1986). "The Voyage of the Hero: The Self
and the Other in One Narrative Tradition of Purulia". Contributions to
Indian Sociology. 19 (19): 95–114.
doi:10.1177/006996685019001007.
Further reading[edit]
Allison, Scott (2010). Heroes: What They Do and Why We Need Them.
Richmond, Virginia: Oxford University Press.
Bell, Andrew (1859). British-Canadian Centennium, 1759–1859: General
James Wolfe, His Life and Death: A Lecture Delivered in the Mechanics'
Institute Hall, Montreal, on Tuesday, September 13, 1859, being the
Anniversary Day of the Battle of Quebec, fought a Century before in
which Britain lost a
Hero

Hero and Won a Province. Quebec: J. Lovell.
p. 52.
Blashfield, Jean (1981). Hellraisers, Heroines and Holy Women. New
York: Saint Martin's Press.
Burkert, Walter (1985). "The dead, heroes and chthonic gods". Greek
Religion. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Calder, Jenni (1977). Heroes. From Byron to Guevara. London: Hamish
Hamilton. ISBN 978-0-241-89536-8.
Campbell, Joseph (1949). The
Hero

Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.
Chatterji, Roma (1986). "The Voyage of the Hero: The Self and the
Other in One Narrative Tradition of Purulia". Contributions to Indian
Sociology. 19: 95–114. doi:10.1177/006996685019001007.
Carlyle, Thomas (1840) On Heroes,
Hero

Hero Worship and the Heroic in
History
Craig, David, Back Home, Life Magazine-
Special

Special Issue, Volume 8, Number
6, 85–94.
Dundes, Alan; Otto Rank; Lord Raglan (1990). In
Quest

Quest of the Hero.
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Hadas, Moses; Morton Smith (1965). Heroes and Gods. Harper &
Row.
Hein, David (1993). "The Death of Heroes, the Recovery of the Heroic".
Christian Century. 110: 1298–1303.
Kerenyi, Karl (1959). The Heroes of the Greeks. London: Thames &
Hudson.
Hook, Sydney (1943) The
Hero

Hero in History: A Study in Limitation and
Possibility
Khan, Sharif (2004). Psychology of the
Hero

Hero Soul.
Lee, Christopher (2005). Nelson and Napoleon, The Long Haul to
Trafalgar. headline books. p. 560. ISBN 0-7553-1041-1.
Lidell, Henry and Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. link
Rohde, Erwin (1924). Psyche.
Price, John (2014). Everyday Heroism: Victorian Constructions of the
Heroic Civilian. London: Bloomsbury.
ISBN 978-1-4411-0665-0.
Lord Raglan (1936). The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama.
Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. (Republished 2003)
Smidchens, Guntis (2007). "National Heroic Narratives in the Baltics
as a Source for Nonviolent Political Action". Slavic Review. 66,3:
484–508. doi:10.2307/20060298.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to hero.
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The British
Hero

Hero - online exhibition from screenonline, a website of
the British Film Institute, looking at British heroes of film and
television.
Listen to BBC Radio 4's In Our Time programme on Heroism
"The Role of Heroes in Children's Lives" by Marilyn Price-Mitchell,
PhD
10% - What Makes A
Hero

Hero directed by Yoav Shamir
Everyday Heroines Photography Exhibition
v
t
e
Stock characters
By morality
Heroes
Legacy hero
Action hero
Christ figure
Superhero
Antihero
Byronic hero
Man alone
Tragic hero
Other
Everyman
Folk hero
Mythological king
Paladin
Supersoldier
Youngest son
Rogues
Lovable rogue
Gentleman detective
Jack
Trickster
Tricky slave
Harlequin
Zanni
Outlaw
Bad boy
Gentleman thief
Pirate
Air pirate
Space pirate
Other
Good cop/bad cop
Rake
Villains
Antivillains
False hero
The mole
Double agent
Evil twin
Social Darwinist
Dark Lord
Mad scientist
Supervillain
Monsters
Bug-eyed monster
Evil clown
Killer toy
Swamp monster
Vampires
Zombies
Other
Alazon
Archenemy
Igor
Masked Mystery Villain
Miser
Nazis
Ugly American
By sex and gender
Feminine
Love interest
Bishōjo
Farmer's daughter
Girl next door
Hooker with a heart of gold
Ingenue
Magical girlfriend
Catgirl
Manic Pixie Dream Girl
Hag
Cat lady
Crone
Fairy godmother
La Ruffiana
Loathly lady
Hawksian woman
Dragon Lady
Femme fatale
Tsundere
Woman warrior
Jungle girl
Magical girl
Queen bee
Princesse lointaine
Southern belle
Valley girl
Yamato nadeshiko
LGBT
Class S
Laotong
Lady-in-waiting
Columbina
Mammy archetype
Geek girl
Girl gamer
Meganekko
Damsel in distress
Final girl
Princess and dragon
Masculine
Harlequin
Pierrot
Father figure
Wise old man
Elderly martial arts master
Magical Negro
Young
Boy next door
Ivan the Fool
Jack
Jock
Nice guy
Nice Jewish boy
Superfluous man
Himbo
Prince Charming
Bishōnen
Knight-errant
Megane
Primitive
Feral child
Noble savage
Caveman
Moleman
Mountain man
LGBT
Seme and uke
Bad boy
Pachuco
Black knight
Hotshot
Others
Clown
Donor
Fool
Imaginary friend
Little green men
Pop icon
Tokenism
Town drunk
White savior
Authority control