Myths and Heroes: Are heroes always exceptional people?

Myths and Heroes

        The notion I have drawn is Myths and heroes. First, we are going to define what a hero and a myth are. The common definition of a hero, in mythology is a Demigod, a person who helps people, can have superpowers, strong, smart, brave; just perfect. And a  myth is generally traditional, an old story which deals with supernatural things. It's a popular belief and can be a fictitious story. So beyond those common definitions we are going to ask if heroes always exceptionnal people?  In my first part, i'll talk about person who are a classic illustration of a hero. Then, i'll discuss the other unusual heroes.

Let's start with the exceptionnal people who are heroes. The King Arthur appeared in the 5th century. He become one of the most famous rulers of Britain. He was a warrior, a knight and a king who killed his enemies. He is known for his Knights of the Round Table and for uniting the peoples of his land. Moreover, he has the sword Excalibur which makes the king arthur invincible.

Then, i'll talk about Superman, a stereotyped representation of a hero. He is a superhero create in 1933 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. He has superpower like fly, a super-strenght, invulnerability or vision powers. He could be considered as a hero because he saved several times the world and people. The interesting point is that they have two identities, the normal one, without superpowers and the secret one with superpowers, to differentiate the two identities and keep the secret, they wear a costume.

That supposed that the common persons without superpowers can't be superheroes. However, we are going to talk about normal people of the past, who became superheroes, unforgettable and source of hope and inspiration.

First, there is Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928), a british feminist. In 1903, she creates the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) an all-women suffrage advocacy organisation. She used violent and non-violent forms for defends the vote of women. In 1916, she persuated the women to work as nurse or help during the first world war against the German. At he end of the war in 1918, Britain finally granted votes to women over 30 years thanks to women like Emmeline Pankhurst or the WSPU. She became one of the most important and famous woman of the world.

Then we have the Hollywood Ten, ten producers, scriptwriters or directeurs. They have been called in 1947 by the House Un-American Activist Committee (HUAC). They are accused to be communist, and all of them refused  cooperate and give other names. For this reason two of them go to jail, and all lost their jobs and have been banned from working in Hollywood. Some have succeeded to work even when they were banned like Dalton Trumbo.

I choose them because they were considered like subhumans but now they are regarded as heroes just as thesuper-humans. They has important and sacred values like courage, determination, strong mental will and they inspires both men and women.