| | "Firstly, true heroes and great men are those who are loyal to themself and their own life, happiness, values, and convictions. Those who face steep challenges in their personal life and then triumph against long odds are the real heroes -- not so much those who self-sacrifice themselves for others."
Well, you're preaching to the choir here. But it's a good opportunity to review why. Rand's own usage of the term, though never specifically defined in her works, goes counter to the etymology of hero. Landon Erp and I are looking at this issue as it pertains to superheroes in a yet-to-be-titled graphic novel. Updates on its progress can be seen here. It's our form of "activism" on this matter. :)
Rand had heroes like Roark, who fit Kyrel's profile, but they didn't consider themselves heroes. Somewhere, Rand wrote that it was alien for Roark to even think of serving himself. You have characters like Dagny looking at Galt with "hero-worship." But Rand inverted this, because Galt was not Dagny's protector, not directly; he was working to "destroy her!". It's probably best summarize by the character who says "thank you" because he doesn't have to.
For those who want to explore the etymology further:
hero
1387, "man of superhuman strength or courage," from L. heros "hero," from Gk. heros "demi-god" (a variant singular of which was heroe), originally "defender, protector," from PIE base *ser- "to watch over, protect" (cf. L. servare "to save, deliver, preserve, protect"). Sense of "chief male character in a play, story, etc." first recorded 1697. Fem. form heroine first attested 1659, from L. heroina, from Gk. heroine. First record of hero-worship is from 1774.
From wiki: "A hero (from Greek ἥρως hērōs), in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, the offspring of a mortal and a deity,[1] their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion.
Later, hero (male) and heroine (female) came to refer to characters that, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice, that is, heroism, for some greater good, originally of martial courage or excellence but extended to more general moral excellence."
The literal meaning of the word is "protector", "defender" or "guardian"[citation needed] and etymologically it is thought to be cognate with the name of the goddess Hera, the guardian of marriage; the postulated original forms of these words being *ἥρFως, hērwōs, and *ἭρFα, Hērwā, respectively. It is also thought to be a cognate of the Latin verb servo (original meaning: to preserve whole) and of the Avestan verb haurvaiti (to keep vigil over), although the original Proto-Indoeuropean root is unclear."
(Edited by Joe Maurone on 4/10, 9:17pm)
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