Thinking About the Hero

In works such as Beowulf, The Odyssey, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there is a common theme of heroism. In a way, the protagonists of these works are heroes. However, I don't think the motives of these characters are completely heroic. Although they may rescue others from danger or some sort, they often do it so they can be seen as brave; they don't necessarily do it because they care about the other people involved. Even though their actions seem heroic, these protagonists are only interested how they can benefit.

In my opinion, a hero is someone who puts others before him or herself. However, everyone has a different idea of what a hero is. There are some obvious heroic actions, such as saving a child from a burning building. I feel that there are many smaller actions that go unnoticed. For example, I think that a single mother can be a hero. Although she isn't risking an immediate painful death, she's risking a lot. In order to be a hero, you must take some sort of a risk in order to help others. For this matter, I believe any woman can be a heroine. However, there are no heroines in the works mentioned. This might be because heroes are often seen as strong men, not women.

Heroes serve as an example of what humans should do and how humans should act. We do need heroes to set an example for us, so we have something to work towards. If no one has an example of what the ideal person is, then it's impossible to know what the right thing to do it (or to understand why it's right).