General Conceptions of the Hero
Along history of literature it's possible to find different concepts of
heroes, wich have been developing according to the corresponding
historical periods, or the evolution of literary styles.
The first paradigm
corresponds to the one imposed by Homer in his work "The Iliad", in
wich he raises a hero model, of divine origin, not human, wich denotes a
higher plenitude and correspondence in his acts.
This paradigm lies on the concept of virtue, wich gives strength and skill.
The second paradigm
corresponds to the story of the medieval knight as a hero. In this era,
the foolishness of the mythical scope of the hero is questioned and a
higher importance is given to the real scope of it.
The features of this hero-knight are moral, wisdom, risking his life for a superior cause that goes beyond himself and love.
This kind of hero is characterized as a man that dreams and fights to
the end to achieve what he desires, never surrenders and even if he knew
he could be defeated kept fighting even against that thing he could not
fight against.
The third paradigm is the romantic hero
that defines himself against society, therefore it�€™s an anti-social
hero, but wishes to be recognized by society itself, his call Is being
the leader but the others ignore his voice.
The romantic heroism
proceeds from his loneliness and subjectivity at the moment of observing
society, finding himself in a painful reality that fills him but it�€™s
incapable of others to understand. Namely, his heroic actions lie in
social denouncement.
The fourth paradigm corresponds to
the realist hero that moves in a scenario that can only be social. The
world that describes this kind of hero isn�€™t fame, social recognition.
He doesn�€™t need to lie in the truth but in influent friends, he
doesn�€™t need inspiring muses but boring wives of wealthy bourgeois to
seduce to enter the big world. He�€™s shown in a mediocre, corrupt
society where the hero has an active role and accepts those values.
The fifth and last paradigm relies
on the particular and individual aspects of beings. This kind of
adventuring character isn�€™t the noble, brave hero guided by gods to
fulfil a superior destiny, as it would in greek tragedy; but is an
�€œanti-hero�€�, namely, a common human being that finds himself alone
without other choice than defending his own life and make his own
decisions. The anti-hero fights but is scared and many times, not
always, fails in his attempt to achieve happiness, the anti-hero knows
that he can loose the game, but his will drives him to keep playing,
only faith in himself will let him win some day. His primordial goal is
to defeat himself fighting against his own fears, his own impositions
and his own image, facing a long period of darkness.
Three important things:
�€� The term "hero" has a list of implications that transcends from the term "main character" of a storyline.
�€� The hero is more than an example to follow.
�€� The hero represents the virtues mankind aspires in every moment of history.
