more heroes

     A hero or heroine, by definition, is the son or daughter of a god or goddess and a mortal being. Hercules was a hero. Helen was a heroine. People had different expectations of heroes than they had of mere mortals, and believed they had rights to them--after all, the people were only human, and the heroes were, well, heroes. I am inclined to believe that there have never been any heroes, in the sense of people who are born with different capacities, and from whom we can expect different things. There were just people who got up and did what needed to be done--all mere mortals. Heroes live in comic books.