In the epic verse form " The Odyssey , " which was written in the 8th C B.C. , Greek warriorOdysseusbecomes turn a loss on his way home from the 10 - year - long Trojan War and spends an additional 10 years fighting monsters and sorcerers and reject temptations – all so he can give home to protect his wife and family from manpower who are attempting to steal their fortune . During the story , Odysseus unflinchingly accepts divine punishment for his human ’s misdeed , and relies on his guile and determination to hold out . Most importantly , even though Odysseus knows the gods manipulate his fate , he fearlessly struggles to return home to save the ones he loves .
To the Greeks , Odysseus was a hero , a discussion that is derive from the Ancient Greek terminus for " protector . " But he was more than just that . The fearless headwaiter be the virtue and attributes that Greek smart set hold dear and he provide a model for Greek people to emulate .
It ’s likely safe to say that most people in the forward-looking universe no longer fear that monsters lurk in unknown island . But their motivation for fearless hoagy has never languish . These days , some of our fighter are soldiers who ’ve bear witness valor in war , andastronautswho’ve risked their lives to explore space . We also see valour in hoi polloi who make life - saving medical discoveries , dedicate their careers to helping the poor and underprivileged , or labor to right societal injustice . Therefore , in a slap-up sensation , polio vanquisher Dr. Jonas Salk , Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King , Jr. , have a luck in coarse with ancient Odysseus .
We postulate submarine sandwich because they define the limit point of our inspiration , writes Santa Clara University ethics scholar Scott LaBarge . To rephrase his intelligence , we delineate our ideals by the heroes we choose , and in turn , our ideal ( courage and honor , for example ) delimitate us . Heroes symbolize the qualities we ’d wish to own and the ambitions we ’d like to satisfy [ origin : LaBarge ] . For instance , a person who chooses women ’s rights crusader Susan B. Anthony as a hero will have a very unlike sense of what human excellency affect than someone who chooses , say , a model / actress dissident on a realism TV show [ source : LaBarge ] .
Still , certain character tend to support out as particularly epic . For exemplar , a Cornell University business school subject field of 526 World War II combat warhorse recover that the 83 individuals who were decorate for battlefield valour described themselves as loyal , ego - disciplined , altruistic and adventurous [ rootage : Wansick , et al ] . Other investigator have identified those same characteristics in leaders who translate arrangement and societies .
Heroes are often unfearing and adequate to of leading others , and they resolve problems that confront society . And , significantly , they also tend to be risk - takers . accord Temple University educational psychology prof Frank Farley , many heroic historic human body ( think Franklin D. Roosevelt and Martin Luther King ) are T - type personalities – that is , wonted charge - seeker who do n’t waver to order themselves in personal peril to fulfill a goal . Since many citizenry do n’t take huge danger , they look up to this lineament in another person , and are even depict to follow him or her [ generator : Psychology Today ] .
" Society is founded on paladin worship , " the 19th - century historiographer Thomas Carlyle once observed . Many people still consider that today and strive to make certain that people who substantiate the good value of our culture are held up as objects of admiration . Since 1904 , for example , the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission has issued more than 9,000 medals to mass who ’ve adventure their spirit – and in some cases snuff it – in gild to keep open another person from life - threatening risk .
