hero worship
Quick Summary
Hero worship is the excessive admiration or devotion to a person. It can manifest as veneration of a hero or as foolish or excessive adulation for an individual. This can involve idolizing, deifying, or glorifying someone to an extreme degree.1234
Historically, personality cults, a form of hero worship, were explicitly religious and used to legitimize rulers, such as the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt and Roman emperors. In the 20th century, mass media amplified personality cults, often associated with autocratic regimes to legitimize their power. While the term often carries negative connotations due to its association with oppressive regimes, hero worship can also be directed towards figures for benign purposes, like the Dalai Lama, or for cultural figures and celebrities.5
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- miracleHoly persons
…to distinguish between saints and hero gods, because great people of renowned virtue can be deified and venerated and even receive officially approved state cults. Miracles occur as a matter of course at their tombs and relics. In certain Islamic traditions as well as in Christian belief, the occurrence of…
Read More…to distinguish between saints and hero gods, because great people of renowned virtue can be deified and venerated and even receive officially approved state cults. Miracles occur as a matter of course at their tombs and relics. In certain Islamic traditions as well as in Christian belief, the occurrence of…
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saintAncient Greek religionThe ancient heroes of Greek religion may be regarded as saints. One basis for belief in heroes and the hero cult was the idea that the mighty dead continued to live and to be active as spiritual powers from the sites of their graves. Another source of…
Read MoreThe ancient heroes of Greek religion may be regarded as saints. One basis for belief in heroes and the hero cult was the idea that the mighty dead continued to live and to be active as spiritual powers from the sites of their graves. Another source of…
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mythMyths of culture heroes and soteriological myths…have myths about a culture hero (most notably, one who brings new techniques or technology to humankind—e.g., Prometheus, who supplies fire to humans in Greek mythology). A culture hero is generally not the person responsible for the creation but the one who completes the world and makes it fit for…
Read More…have myths about a culture hero (most notably, one who brings new techniques or technology to humankind—e.g., Prometheus, who supplies fire to humans in Greek mythology). A culture hero is generally not the person responsible for the creation but the one who completes the world and makes it fit for…
Read More- Finno-Ugric religionDivine heroes
Hero worship in Finno-Ugric religion does not point to culture heroes who are described in myth and whose actions are located in cosmogonic contexts. In general, culture heroes are not worshipped. The matter is otherwise when dealing with divinized historical figures, the cults of which…
Read MoreHero worship in Finno-Ugric religion does not point to culture heroes who are described in myth and whose actions are located in cosmogonic contexts. In general, culture heroes are not worshipped. The matter is otherwise when dealing with divinized historical figures, the cults of which…
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Greek religionThe godsHeroes were worshipped as the most powerful of the dead, who were able, if they wished, to help the inhabitants of the polis in which their bones were buried. Thus, the Spartans brought back the bones of Orestes from Tegea. Historical characters might be elevated to the…
Read MoreHeroes were worshipped as the most powerful of the dead, who were able, if they wished, to help the inhabitants of the polis in which their bones were buried. Thus, the Spartans brought back the bones of Orestes from Tegea. Historical characters might be elevated to the…
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Chinese literatureLiterary use of myths…the biography of a beloved hero with legendary and eventually mythological traits. Qu Yuan, the ill-fated minister of the state of Chu (771–221 bce), is the most notable example. Mythmaking consequently became a constant, living process in China. It was also true that historical heroes and would-be heroes arranged their…
Read More…the biography of a beloved hero with legendary and eventually mythological traits. Qu Yuan, the ill-fated minister of the state of Chu (771–221 bce), is the most notable example. Mythmaking consequently became a constant, living process in China. It was also true that historical heroes and would-be heroes arranged their…
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Oceanic art and architectureThe Torres StraitTwo, used for the hero cults, were to be worn horizontally on the top of the head and represent fish or combinations of creatures, such as the head of a crocodile or hawk with a fish’s tail. Sometimes a subsidiary human face was added on top of the head.…
Read MoreTwo, used for the hero cults, were to be worn horizontally on the top of the head and represent fish or combinations of creatures, such as the head of a crocodile or hawk with a fish’s tail. Sometimes a subsidiary human face was added on top of the head.…
Read More- sacredDimensions of the sacred
…the sacred is divine or heroic activity: the decisive action done by creative or protective agents. One’s spiritual ancestors need not be biologically defined ancestors; they may not even be human. They are the essential forces on which survival depends and can be embodied in animal skills (longevity, rebirth, magical…
Read More…the sacred is divine or heroic activity: the decisive action done by creative or protective agents. One’s spiritual ancestors need not be biologically defined ancestors; they may not even be human. They are the essential forces on which survival depends and can be embodied in animal skills (longevity, rebirth, magical…
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