The focal point of any story we would call the hero, yes? Ignoring the concept of the hero’s journey, that’s a topic in and of itself, what is a hero?
There are a plethora of myths and folktales that tell the tales of various heroes. The Greek Odyssey, the Iliad, the Norse Sagas, Beowulf, and many others. What makes these tales special and what separates them from other myths is their focus on mortals, rather than on the gods. However, one could very easily make the argument that these heroes are more than mortal. The literal worship of heroes is a time-honored and widely practiced position in cultures all across the world. This begs the question, what is the difference between a hero and a god then? Or is there a difference at all between the two? Using Norse and Greek mythologies as our mediums due to their differences as well as their familiarity, we’ll look into the treatment of heroes in the myths and their place in those cultures.
In all of the above tales looking at the heroes mentioned, they are people, sometimes ordinary, other times with extraordinary bloodlines who take the steps to do extraordinary things. Whether that’s the completion of seemingly impossible labors, the slaying of a powerful supernatural beast, or the founding of an empire; these goals are seemingly beyond the abilities of a normal person. Through their extraordinary deeds, these people gained their own cults, using the original definition of the word there, and followings. These following that turned into their own religions of sorts create that bridge between the gap of mortality and godhood for these heroes.
We’ll begin by looking at Achilles. The story of Achilles is mostly stated within the Iliad and in the Achillied. He was the son of the sea nymph Thetis, and Peleus, king of the Myrmidons. His greatness of prophecized before he was even born. He was dipped in the River Styx, granting him near invulnerability and he was trained by the famed centaur Chiron. He went on to be a great warrior, carving his name into the battlefield at Troy before being slain by Paris. If the tales are to be believed as well, he was praised so highly that when his armor was recovered from the Trojans Odysseus and Ajax the Greater fought over it. I bring up Achilles because of almost all of the Greek hero cults, his is perhaps the most well known and well documented. A number of important commercial port cities were dedicated to Achilles. Herodotus, as well as some other contemporary historians, reported on a town known as Achilleon; which was supposedly built close to the presumed grave of Achilles in Troad. The cult of Achilles went on to being venerated into the time of Alexander the Great, with some of the cult practices extending even further into that the Roman Empire by Emperor Caracalla, who emulated Alexander by holding games around Achilles’ tumulus. This goes to say, the hero cults were organizations of major importance for the ancient world. Beyond even the great and powerful heroes, perhaps more widespread were the local hero cults. These were the heroes that were important to specific cities or regions, such as Erechtheus in Athens.
The Greco-Roman idea of hero cults definitely gives us the obvious bridge between divinity and mortal. The line between hero and deity is decidedly very thin, perhaps even non-existent. However, this goes into the idea behind Greek and Roman tradition. There were a plethora of spirits, minor deities, and other figures that were worshipped by the Greeks and Romans; taking the leap to have hero cults with past heroes worshiped as minor deities is not much of a leap to take.
The treatment of hero-worship is a little less specific in Norse society. As ancestor worship was a common feature in general in Norse society, one needn’t be a hero in order to be worshiped. When it came to the worshipping of important figures in the Norse myths such as the major figures within Sagas, that was generally done by people who claimed to be descended from those major figures, rather than developing a cult around those figures that were worshipped by the Norse people as a whole.
There is a very unique distinction that happens in Norse myth, however. This unique distinction isn’t present in Greek myth, in fact, it’s more commonly shown in Eastern religion than in any other European religion. That distinction is, in Norse mythology, the gods themselves serve the “hero” roles within their myths. This is different from the Greeks whose gods were very separate from humanity, for the most part, fraternizing with mortals notwithstanding, they existed on Mount Olympus and were more concepts rather than individuals, not to mention they were truly immortal, for the most part. The Norse gods, on the other hand, were flawed and were the ones going on adventures and very commonly interacting with the mortal world. Not to mention, without the assistance of Idunn’s Apples, the Norse gods were technically speaking mortal. This isn’t to say that the Norse Sagas don’t present us with stories of heroes doing things that are fantastic and completing mythical stunts. Sigurd the hero of Volsunga Saga slays a dragon with the shards of a sword that had been shattered and goes on to wed a Valkyrie. What I am saying though, is that unlike in many other mythologies, the Norse gods serve that role of being relatable heroes just as well as the heroes of the Sagas themselves do. This is definitely fudging the line between the definition of hero and God when it comes to mythology, however, I believe that how the figures are portrayed is very important when it comes to interpreting myths.
So, what is it that makes a hero? I’d say that the divide between mortal and immortal when it comes to defining a hero isn’t important.. As long as the character takes that journey, whether they suffer hardships, win great victories, or both their myths would fit the definition of a hero myth. I would go so far as to say that as long as their is that journey and that someone can identify with them, any character could be a “hero”. However, that is just conjecture on my part.
That is my interpretation of the separation between heroes and gods in mythology and folklore. I hope that you all found this as interesting as I did. As always, if you have any questions or comments please send us a message or comment on our post on Facebook. I think I plan to dive more into hero cults next time. The growth of legends into the focuses of worship is something I’ve always found fascinating. However, if anyone has any requests for article topics, I am always happy to take requests. Until then, stay safe and may your journeys be interesting.