Home›Heroes›All HeroesBrowse ByAll HeroesMortal or half-divine figures whose deeds the epics carry: Heracles, Perseus, Odysseus and Orpheus from Greek myth, Cu Chulainn from the Ulster Cycle, Sigurd from Norse legend and Arjuna from the Mahabharata. What counts as heroic is set by the tradition telling the story. In Greece a hero also received cult and offering at a tomb, which is nearer to religious practice than to admiration.FactsLearn MoreAll HeroesSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe great figures of myth and legend, often born of a god and a mortal, whose deeds carry a tradition's ideals. In Greece the hero was the object of a tomb cult distinct from the worship of the gods; that institution is Greek, and using the word of Irish, Norse or Indian figures is a comparative move rather than a translation. 2Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedA cover term. It gathers the Greek heroes and their tomb cult, the warriors of the Irish cycles, the legendary Volsungs of Norse tradition and the epic warriors of the Mahabharata. Each tradition has its own word and its own institutions for these figures. 3DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedFigures 1Learn MoreThe Heroes This group holds heroes, the great human or semi-divine figures of myth and legend whose deeds, quests and struggles carry a tradition's ideals. In many mythologies the hero stands between the human and divine worlds, often born of a god and a mortal. The browser will find the heroic figures the atlas gathers from the world's mythologies. The entries describe each hero's legend and significance, noting where they were also the object of cult.All HeroesFilter Results27 entriesPlace of OriginAllAnatolia and Asia Minor (1)British Isles (1)England (1)Greece (8)India (8)Scandinavia (2)HistoricityAllComposite figure: more than one person or tradition behind the name (1)Legendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record (25)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being (1)TraditionAllAncient Greek Religion (8)Celtic Paganism (2)Chinese Folk Religion (1)Hinduism (9)Judaism (1)Maya Religion (1)Norse Paganism (1)Roman Religion (1)Office HeldAllKing at Indraprastha, and after the war at Hastinapura (1)Member OfAllThe Pandavas (5)Veneration StatusAllActively venerated in a living tradition (9)No Cult Attested (4)Venerated in a modern revival tradition (1)Revered InAllHinduism (7)Judaism (1)Paganism (1)Child OfAllDasharatha (1)Odin (1)Zeus (2)Manner Of DeathAllDied by accident or misadventure (3)Died of natural causes (1)Extrajudicial killing: put to death outside any lawful process (2)Killed in battle (6)Taken up without dying, as the tradition holds (2)GenderAllCollective / plural, not a single figure (1)Male (24)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 27AchillesHeroesAeneasHeroesArjunaHeroesBellerophonHeroesBeowulfHeroesBhimaHeroesBhishmaHeroesCu ChulainnHeroesHeraclesHeroesHouyiHeroesJasonHeroesKarnaHeroesLakshmanaHeroesLancelotHeroesMordecaiHeroesNakulaHeroesOdysseusHeroesOrpheusHeroesPerseusHeroesSahadevaHeroesSigurdHeroesThe PandavasHeroesTheseusHeroesThorHeroesVucub HunahpuHeroesYudhishthiraHeroesSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th editiontier 1Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth and Esther Eidinow (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2012s.v. hero-cultView the Source3. Encyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005Heroes; QuestsView the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.