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hero, in literature, broadly, the main character in a literary work; the term is also used in a specialized sense for any figure celebrated in the ancient legends of a people or in such early heroic epics as Gilgamesh, the Iliad, Beowulf, or La Chanson de Roland. These legendary heroes belong to a princely class existing in an early stage of ...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Apr 2, 2023 · Classic Hero Traits: An unwavering dedication to their morals. A priority to uphold the greater good. Courage in the face of adversity. The hero is almost always the protagonist of a story. But a protagonist is not always a hero. Those two terms get confused a lot and while there is overlap, they are distinct categories.
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, ... The story focuses on the characters, Emmy Sedley and Becky Sharpe (the latter as ...
- The willing hero. Examples: Tarzan, Hercules, Nancy Drew. The willing heroes are committed to the adventure and aren’t afraid to take a risk or self-sacrifice if it’s for the greater good; they’re always bravely going ahead and usually finish their hero’s journey (also called monomyth) with an “all or nothing” heroic act.
- The unwilling hero. Examples: Frodo Baggins, Katniss Everdeen, Spiderman. The unwilling hero is often someone without any exemplary qualities. And if the unwilling hero does have supernatural powers, they’re either afraid to use them or don’t know how.
- The tragic hero. Examples: Oedipus, McBeth, Romeo Montague, Okonkwo. A tragic hero is the type of character with all the heroic virtues and a fatal flaw, which is usually some sort of character deficiency (excessive pride, for example).
- The classical hero. Examples: Atticus Finch, Harry Potter, Hercules, King Arthur. The classical hero is a longstanding literary concept that is very similar to the willing hero.
In the traditional sense, the hero in a literary work is the protagonist or the main character in the piece. Examples of Literary Heroes. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the hero of the story would be the young protagonist Huckleberry Finn. In the popular Disney movie The Lion King, the hero of the film is Simba.
The term hero has been applied, not only in the classical sense, but also in modern literature, as the principal character of a story, play or novel. This term is also employed in another sense, for the celebrated figures in certain ancient legends , and heroic epics like Gilgamesh , the Iliad , Beowulf , or La Chanson de Roland .
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A hero is a story’s main character or protagonist who goes on some type of journey, whether it be physical or mental. Heroes in classical literature tend to represent an unattainable level of good, whereas more modern heroes face typical challenges and are more easy to relate to. Define hero with examples in literature.
