A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group (cultural, ethnic, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. Places like the French Panthéon and the German Walhalla (memorial) show the term is also used for regular people who had civil courage. Although many culture heroes help with the creation of the world, most culture heroes are important because of their effect on the world after creation. A typical culture hero might be credited as the discoverer of fire, agriculture, songs, tradition, law, or religion, and is usually the most important legendary figure of a people, sometimes as the founder of its ruling dynasty.
Culture heroes in mythology
History of a culture hero
The term "culture hero" was originated by historian Kurt Breysig, who used the German word heilbringer, which translates to savior. Over the years, "culture hero" has been interpreted in many ways. Older interpretations by Breysig, Paul Ehrenreich, and Wilhelm Schmidt thought that the journeys of culture heroes were ways in which humans could attempt to understand things in nature, such as the rising and setting of the sun, or the movement of the stars and constellations. Eventually, their interpretations were rejected and replaced with newer interpretations by scholars such as Hermann Baumann, Adolf E. Jensen, Mircea Eliade, Otto Zerries, Raffaele Pettazzoni, and Harry Tegnaeus, which evolved as a result of having more access to ethnological data, creating the present version of the culture hero.
Disappearance of a culture hero
Once culture heroes have finished their task, they usually disappear. In many stories, the hero is transformed back to his origin, and his death place is marked with a stone, tree, or body of water. The end of a culture hero's life will generally lead to the creation of something else, such as a river, constellation, food, animals, and the moon and sun. Culture heroes are the etiological explanation for many humans about the things occurring in their daily lives.
See also
- Folk hero
- Founding myth
- List of culture heroes