What is Heroism?
The historical view of heroism is one that confers God-like powers on a very few people—the heroic elect. From archetypes such as Achilles and Hercules, our understanding of what a hero is suggests something that is out of reach of the ordinary person— possessing physical prowess or talents that far exceed the norm. Others, like Socrates or Jesus, used their unusually strong personality and powers of reasoning to create dramatic social change and paid the ultimate price for their attempts to reform society. In contemporary times, the concept of heroism has been muddled with related ideas—such as altruism, compassion, and empathy—and identified with popular celebrities, role models, and media-created “fantastic heroes” of the comic book genre. This modern interpretation of heroism runs the risk of diminishing the heroic ideal, while older definitions make heroism seem so remote as to prevent people from entertaining the possibility that they could act heroically if called upon to do so.
