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Culture Heroes

A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group (cultural, ethnic, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. Although many culture heroes help with the creation of the world, the majority of culture heroes are important because of their effect on the world after creation. A typical culture hero might be credited as the discoverer of fire, agriculture, songs, tradition, law or religion, and is usually the most important legendary figure of a people, sometimes as the founder of its ruling dynasty.[1]

History of Culture Hero
The term culture hero was first brought about by historian Kurt Breysig; however, he used the German word heilbringer, which translates to savior. Over the years, culture hero has been interpreted in many ways. Older interpretations by Breysig, Paul Ehrenreich, and Wilhelm Schmidt thought that the journey of culture heroes was a way in which the humans could attempt to understand things in nature, such as the rising and setting of the sun, or the movement of the stars and constellations. Their interpretations eventually got rejected and replaced with newer interpretations by scholars such as Hermann Baumann, Adolf E. Jensen, Mircea Eliade, Otto Zerries, Raffaele Pettazzoni, and Harry Tegnaeus which evolved as a result of having more access to ethnological data, creating the present day and famously known version of the culture hero.[1]

Creation of a Culture Hero
A culture hero is able to perform unbelievable tasks in life because he is different from the normal human. It is often believed that the culture hero is not from this world. All of a culture hero's power originates from their birth. Culture heroes are rarely born regularly. When their mothers get pregnant, it is not because of a man but instead is the result of the wind, or a drop of water. Once a culture hero is born, they are either very powerful babies or even come out of the womb as already full grown. The main point this makes is that the culture hero is not from this world.[1]

Characteristics of a Culture Hero
A culture hero generally goes on an adventure (often times called the hero's journey) that in turn does one of the following:

-       Saves humankind from a dangerous monster

-       Shapes the world (rivers, mountains, etc...)

-       Creates distinction between humans and animals

-       Makes economic life possible for humans (teaching the humans)

-       Sets the origin of death

Culture Heroes often time have more than one form, such as having the ability to transform from human to some form of animal, such as a fish or bird. A culture hero has many good qualities about him/her but also has bad ones as well which is why they must go on their journeys. In some journeys the hero is known as a trickster. They act in their own selfish way and the benefits from what they have done ends up being shared with the humans as a side effect.[2]

Disappearance of a Culture Hero[edit]
Once the Culture hero has finished their task, they usually end up disappearing. In many stories, the hero is transformed back to their origin. Other times the place they die will be marked with a stone, tree, or body of water. The end of a Culture Hero's life will lead to the creation of something else, such as a river, constellations, food, animals, and the moon and sun. Culture heroes are the etiological explanation for many humans about the things occurring in their daily lives.[2]

Culture Heroes in Modern Times
Modern culture heroes look very different from mythological culture heroes because they have different standards they need to complete before they becoming a culture hero.

Culture Heroes in Society
Some culture heroes are real live people. They are the ones you compare yourself to when looking at your own success because they are the very best at what they do. A good example of this would be Michael Jordan. Adults, teens and even children know who he is and when you look at other basketball players, or even yourself, he is the one that is looked at as the greatest. New players are constantly being compared to Jordan, but he has a special status as a culture hero that separates him from the rest. [3]

Culture Heroes in Movies
Movies and books are the other source of modern culture heroes. These let you imagine a person who is seemingly a better version of humans. However, each of these characters also have an evil counterpart. Eventually the hero must defeat this evil to prevail. Overall people look towards these figures for hope. People see that they have defeated their inner evil and that it is possible for them to do so as well, thus creating a modern culture hero.[4]