Heroism in Literature

[cacian]

is a hero what literature is made of?

[Clopin]

Hey Cacian we have the same sig!

[cacian]

Clopin indeed we have,
where is your signature taken from?

[Pompey Bum]

Achilles is the great progenitor of the western literary hero. His mother was the sea nymph Thetis, sister of the Nereids. Do you know what that makes the Nereids?

[cacian]

Achilles is the great progenitor of the western literary hero. His mother was the sea nymph Thetis, sister of the Nereids. Do you know what that makes the Nereids?

Pompey no I don't. what makes the Nereids?

[753c]

an Aunty-Hero?

[Pompey Bum]

Pompey no I don't. what makes the Nereids?

Auntie heroes. *crosses 753c off of Christmas card list* (:))

[753c]

Lol. I couldn't help it. I will give you a nice rimshot anyway.

[bounty]

can we define "hero" for sake of the conversation?

[cacian]

can we define "hero" for sake of the conversation?

hero.
a glorified character with ideals to win win win any situation required.

[Lokasenna]

hero.
a glorified character with ideals to win win win any situation required.

What about a tragic hero who doesn't succeed?

It's a tricky thing to define.

[kev67]

I attended a seminar once, which was not about literature. We were told there were four types of story:


quest
melodrama
downfall
ironic


Quest stories have heroes, I suppose. Bilbo Baggins is a hero. So is Hazel the rabbit in Watership Down. I don't know about the others.

[Pompey Bum]

What about a tragic hero who doesn't succeed?

It's a tricky thing to define.

True. And how about a Byronic hero who reads Wordsworth? This just gets harder and harder.

[bounty]

and so to kev's point consistent with cacian's original question---since all those are themes in literature and it would be nonsense to say that "melodrama" isn't literature for instance---do heroes only appear in quests? or are they in other forms of literature and if so, what do they look like?

and im wondering too---is maybe the meaning behind the original question that "the literature that has heroes in it is the best literature?"

[bounty]

helloooooooooooo cacian....