What has become of the hero?
The evolution of the Hero: Hercules, Shackleton, Gandhi…Rooney?
It is almost universally acknowledged that we need inspirational heroes as role models in our lives. But who exactly are these heroes? Originally the concept of heroes stemmed from Greek mythology, referring to demigods (half god / half mortal) such as Hercules and Aeneas. Later, however, the word became synonymous with characters who, in the face of danger and adversity, or from a position of weakness, displayed courage and the will for self sacrifice —that is, heroism—for some greater good. However throughout the course of history, these heroic ideals have reflected the nature of a given culture at the time. Throughout the middle ages, archetypes of the hero displayed the characteristics of honour and morality, whilst also demonstrating virtues such as prudence, justice, courage, fortitude, cunning, wit and wisdom and perhaps most importantly, the triumph of good over evil. These types of characters are instantly recognisable today - Robin Hood for example. Consequently whether mythical or real these heroes have served as symbols, personifications of good qualities and role models for the young. Furthermore, historically, in order to obtain the status of ‘hero’, one had to be a warrior. This was a construct which was evident up until 1842 when the work of Thomas Carlyle arguably led to a change in the definition of a hero. Subsequently heroes no longer had to be men of arms but were often simply people who through their sense of nobility, virtue, humanity, sacrifice or perseverance in the face of adversity achieved exceptional feats. As such, our original definition of a hero now encompassed not just martial courage but more general moral virtues, such as Martin Luther King or Gandhi. In the early Twentieth Century, however, it could be argued that there was a resurgence of the ‘traditional hero’. Explorers like Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott in the early 1900s were replaced once again by soldiers and the idea was coined of a ‘noble death’ for one’s country. The reluctant heroes of the First World War are portrayed by poems such as Siegfried Sassoon’s ‘The Hero’ and ‘Dulce et decorum est’ as well as by the ‘heroes of bomber command’ in the Second World War. Therefore during this period the hero reflected this ‘culture of death’ and people were much more eager to celebrate heroic death rather than survival.
Regardless of the period however, heroes have always been prominent people in the public consciousness - people who achieved great things, people who have done great deeds - proud,
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