The Hierarchy of Heroes

Chaucer conveys several depictions of heroism, ranging in diversity from the Knight to the Wife of Bath, (who can be considered a hero in more feminist circles, albeit in a relatively sick and twisted sort of way). During the tangent on heroism in Tuesday’s class, Dr. Abernathy spoke on the contrasting natures of tragic and comic heroes in literature. Apparently, the tragic hero typically achieves such a higher standard of greatness (or repute or accomplishment) that the hero cannot maintain his relative perfection and usually ends up in failure. This failure negates his previous status as a hero and leaves his perceived heroic nature as only a memory. (For example, Achilles). In contrast, the comic hero is one who achieves some form of greatness, repute or accomplishment through maintaining his relation to the average, non-heroic person. It can likely be this very grounded nature and ability to relate with those he is “rescuing” that makes him a hero. All that being said, I’ve yet to find a man or woman in literature who is, genuinely, a hero.

And I really, really want one.

So what, exactly, should define a hero? Can one be virtuous but not heroic? Is heroism an act or a matter of intention? I believe that a mortal hero is one who rescues another from a flaw by overcoming their own - whether by virtue or by act. A fine example of this is the gallant young knight slaying the dragon and coming to rescue the beautiful princess from the locked tower. Both the act and intention of the knight are heroic in nature. As for virtue, perhaps one can be virtuous but not heroic, but you cannot be heroic without being virtuous. Further, one can have heroic intentions and yet not be heroic. Though one can perform a heroic act unintentionally, I believe a true hero is one who is truly noble, self-sacrificing, and courageous in both intention and act. 

If all of these things are true and necessary qualifications to be a genuine hero, then this hero rises into our classification of tragic and comic. Yet, even this doesn’t satisfy my pursuit of true heroism because each type tends to have flaws which it cannot overcome. And don’t we all.

So perhaps it is not really heroism that I am pursing, but perfection. I want a perfect - immortal - hero, one who has no such flaws to overcome or of which he cannot conquer. I want a hero who is neither tragic nor comic, but higher than any literary or mortal hero discovered thus far. I want a hero who is greater than myself in every facet, and yet fully understands every facet of me. And though it doesn’t really matter what I want anyway, I suppose I just want Jesus. 

And the mortal hero must look only to the immortal Christ to derive his true heroism.