Mortal 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.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingThe 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. 2 Peoples and Traditions CoveredA 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. 3 Learn More
The 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.
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Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th edition
Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth and Esther Eidinow (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2012s.v. hero-cultView the Source 3. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005Heroes; QuestsView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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