In Praise of Heroes

Hero: a demi-god, a watcher or protector of others. In Ancient Greek a hero was any of the major combatants in the Iliad (either the Greek or the Trojan side).

I think today, we need heroes, role models, and people we want to emulate more than ever.

Why heroes?

John Wick fortune favors the brave
John Wick: his tattoo reads ‘fortune favors the brave’

To me, a hero can be a real person in history (living or dead), or fictional. The basic idea is this:

A hero as a Demi-god like human being, with extra-ordinary valor, strength, courage, and bravery. Generally fighting for a certain cause or side. No shame in death while fighting (only shame in death when fighting was cowardice). The fallen heroes of both the Greek and Trojan sides were seen as equally valorous.

What I like the notion of hero is this:

Anyone can become a hero, if they have enough courage or valor.

However, you cannot dictate whether you will be ‘successful’ or not. Why? An ingredient of your success is fortune, and whether the gods favor your or not. There were many heroes who got killed in the Iliad NOT because they weren’t good fighters. Many heroes died simply because they lost the favor of the gods.

What about free will?

Then comes the question:

What is the point of being brave and courageous, if I might still lose (granted the gods aren’t on my side?)

My thought is this:

In order to succeed, you need BOTH courage AND fortune (luck).

Also, the MORE COURAGE and bravery you put forth, the MORE likely you are to succeed.

The equation of success

My equation:

The Quantum of your Courage * Luck = Your Likelihood of Success

I don’t really think you can control much of the ‘luck’ factor (whether you were born privileged, what county or city you were raised in, or the opportunities which come your way).

However as an adult, we can expose ourselves to certain lifestyle choices which expose ourselves to more opportunities, more chances, and to build our network.

So in other words, we can control our success far more than we think we can! But– there will always be a luck factor (lady fortune). But alas, this is life!

leonidas-wallpaper king 300 spartan
King Leonidas and the 300

Conclusion

Elon Musk: one of my heroes
Elon Musk: one of my heroes

Long story short, good to have a list of heroes you desire to emulate. Look at Plutarch’s heroes (anyone he mentions in his book, ‘Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans‘)

Looking up to heroes should motivate us, inspire us, and help encourage us to attempt epic things. However there are a lot of heroes who ‘failed’ (Nikola Tesla, Vincent Van Gogh) and whom never got acclaim or success in their lifetimes. But this should not discourage us. We fight for valor, for humanity, and for the values we believe in.

Never stop fighting!

ERIC

Motivation

Eric abstract

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