Many works of literature have one thing in common—a hero as the protagonist. A hero is someone who puts aside his or her personal wants and desires and works towards the greater good of the people or humanity. A hero’s actions reflect the will of the people and he will assume responsibility for the wellbeing of his community. As they develop this sense of duty, almost all heroes embark on a spiritual as well as physical journey before they discover what their true purpose in life is. For example, in the Roman epic the Aeneid, Aeneas must ignore his personal interests and desires throughout his journey because he has a duty to sail to Italy and found the Roman race. Aeneas did not volunteer to become the leader of his people and to self-exile himself from his past, but he realizes he must take on such a responsibility. Often, a hero goes against societal standards because his morals are on a level above that of the people. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn helps Jim, a runaway slave, escape. After embarking on a tumultuous spiritual and emotional journey within himself, Huck realizes that his friendship with Jim is more important than the obligation he has to society to turn Jim in.
A woman can be a hero if she exhibits the “expected” qualities, but heroines are less common in literature, history, and legends than male heroes are. The stereotyping of a hero as being male stems from the beginning of civilization. Men were typically hunters as women held the roles of gatherers and child-bearers. A sense of adventure accompanies the hunt and the stories of heroes focus on the journey the hero goes on, which often includes an adventure. The first epic, The Epic of Gilgamesh, set the scene for a male hero—a tradition that has carried on throughout history and even today. Men are associated with heroism because of how deep-seated gender roles are in society. However, even if women heroes are not common in literature, they still exist. I would consider Joan of Arc, Clara Barton, Dorothea Dix, and Susan B. Anthony to all be heroes because of their courageous acts, morality, and actions to aid the common good.
A hero must exhibit certain qualities or a specific conduct. Several of the Roman virtues emphasized during the Augustan Age—which Vergil frequently uses to describe Aeneas in the Aeneid—describe this conduct. For example, pietas and gravitas stress the idea of responsibility and devotion to the people while virtus represents the courage of the hero and iustitia, morality and justice. These specific virtues, although stemming from Roman culture, are vital to the conduct of any hero. In the book series Harry Potter, Harry exhibits all of these qualities. He takes on duties and challenges that are not normal for a teenager to undertake, even if he is a wizard. Harry feels obligated to defeat Voldemort and shows amazing courage, strength, and a sense of justice in his quest.
The purpose of a hero is to set a model for the rest of society to follow—to be selfless, work for the greater good, and uphold morality. We need heroes to counteract the corrupt and negative aspects of society and to instill inspiration in the people, thus leading the rest of humanity in the right direction. In a perfect world, everyone would act like a hero naturally with no set example to follow and there would be no need of an actual hero. No one would be considered a hero if everyone upheld their duty to benefit society, morality, and humanity. Considering this, Bertolt Brecht’s statement, "Unhappy the land that needs heroes," rings true. In society, a hero stands out from the rest of the people because of his elevated morality, sense of responsibility, and courage. A land that needs heroes is not made up of people who are courageous, moral, and selfless but of citizens who are below that level of virtue. Thus, a happy land would not need a hero because all of its inhabitants would already exhibit the ideal conduct of a hero.
