The Role Of Heroes In Literature

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a hero as “a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities”. Both the history of mankind and literature are saturated with stories of heroes, many of which, are connected to royalty. Whether the hero is rewarded with royalty or begins the hero journey in a position of supremacy, heroism and royalty always coincide. Heroes and eminence also have a plethora of traits in common with each other. Heroes are rewarded with power, whether it is formally announced or not. They eventually gain a following to their cause, which grants them power. Although heroes do not achieve as much power as a King is born into, both result in power over a group of a people. Also, heroism and …show more content…
For a king to remain in control and not be overthrown, he needs to be generous to his people and his army. Heroes also are generous to the people, ultimately gaining their trust, and then authority. In literature, devices like foreshadowing can help to illustrate the periodicity of benevolence and points to the final result. Heroism and royalty both follow a cycle of generosity and result in power. Foreshadowing is used to accentuate the cycle between the heroes and royalty and emphasizes its continuation. Heroes are generally people who are judged based on their actions. They share the common traits of courage, sacrifice, loyalty, and compassion. Over time, the desirable traits for a hero change. For example, the Anglo-Saxon culture of Beowulf’s time had considerably different ways life than we do now. The Anglo-Saxons were heavily reliant on their