heros

If you were to look up “hero” in a dictionary you would get such a vague definition that it is difficult to get a sense of the meaning of the word. It is seems strange that something as universal as a hero can be so undefined. This is it because there is no set definition, no official group of characteristics, for a hero. Every group has it’s own idea as to what a hero is. A hero is the embodiment of ideals of the society that created it.

Look at Beowulf. He is strong, courageous, loyal, generous, and a good king, the perfect personification of Anglo-Saxon heroism, but also boastful and arrogant. The only reason that Beowulf is victorious over Grendel is his arrogance, he says that not only can he kill the monster that all the Danes can’t; he will do it with his bare hands. Would such unnecessary recklessness be found in a modern day hero? Someone casting aside his or her weapon out of ego would be seen as stupid rather than heroic. And after he slays Grendel he goes on to bask in the glory of his accomplishment, this is not something a modern day hero would do. Our heroes must be both strong and modest. But although we might not consider him one today, there is no uncertainty that Beowulf was a hero.

If a hero is the characterization of societies ideals then what would that make a heroine? She wouldn’t be strong and bold, for these are seen as masculine traits. So a heroine would have to depict feminine traits like beauty, sensitivity, and gentleness. It seems so far from Beowulf that that it does not even seem possible that the same word could be used to describe the two.

When Bertold Brecht said, "Unhappy the land that needs heroes." He is saying that happy people don’t need a fictional character to look up to. He thinks that happy people have no need for a hero to come in and defeat the evil. Maybe that’s true, but if it is then the world has never had any happy lands. Or, maybe, even happy people need something to aspire to, they need that vision of perfection to inspire them.