ADN

So, A&E will be airing a made for TV movie about Flight 93 on January 30. You can find a brief history of the flight on A&E's website: Flight 93.

In the ads that are being aired, they describe the passengers as heroes. This doesn't sit well with me. Sure, they sacrificed themselves in order to foil the plans of the terrorists, but does that really make them heroes?

I mean, what makes someone a hero? The passengers gave up their lives. Does that make them heroes? If a soldiers throws himself on top of a grenade to save the rest of the men in his platoon, does that make him a hero? Would someone be considered a hero if they gave to charity, or fought to stop the spread of AIDs in Africa?

What does hero even mean?

‚· In mythology and legend, a man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and favoured by the gods.
‚· A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.
‚· A person noted for special achievement in a particular field.

So, do you consider the people of Flight 93 heroes? If so, why? What makes a hero?

I know someone who recieved a call from someone on this plane. He was certainly a hero. He had given his life to spreading light throughout the hearts and lives of his fellow man, and he always knew something like this would happen. He said as much on a semi-daily basis. It was why he had moved to LA anyways. But it happened on the other coast. Life is funny like that.

As far as "hero", it comes from hyroe "to halt, or prevent", and is a variant singular of the Greek hyros which originally meant "defender, protector." The word is a word indicating those who prevent the death of another, as opposed to "soter" which is one who "delivers from peril".

Pindar used the word "hero" to refer to those who have a Olympian as at least one parent. That is the orign of its divine implications. Homer, before him, used it to refer to every free man who fought of their own will in The Trojan War. Pindar was from Thebes, and the non-blood ancestor "worship" he saw at the shrines of Heros confused him, and he presumed they must have been part mortal, for they walked among mortal, and part diety, for they were being worshipped as gods. It is his aristocratic ignorance that defines the most common use of the word as a synonym for demi-god.

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raum

Very interesting topic...I like topics that contest cultural truisms...

Hard to say, really, of what a hero is...My own personal belief is based upon what raum said about being half divine...I actually like that defintion, as usually the grounds for being a hero transcend what would be considered normal behavior...Any act of sacrifice constitues heroism if you ask me...Like Gladiator said, "It's what we do in life that echoes an eternity..." How loud your echo is, depends on the context of your act, and its long time effect...

I was just reading an article about Coretta King, and it got me thinking. People like MLK and Rosa Parks didn't technically give up their lives; MLK didn't know he was going to be shot, but in a sense, they did give up a piece of their lives for their causes. You could effectively argue that they're heroes.

Reading about these important figures is kind of depressing, but not because they've all died; that is sad, don't get me wrong, but because we have no heroes today. There is no MLK today.

When you think of heroes in our society, the only person I can think of is Bono, and his fight against AIDs in Africa. As much as I like Bono and U2, he is nowhere near MLK or Rosa Parks...

We have no heroes today... Is that not depressing?

Instead of protagonists we have antagonists. Our world is filled with hate and violence. There are no positive causes. Where's our million man march?

I would consider them heroes. They gave up their lives to save countless others. To me that's a hero

Interesting.

Everyone should have compassion and selflessness. All that happened was they were able to unveil this in a very tragic way. I understand that they sacrificed their lives to possibly saving others lives and to counteract someones violent actions. That is very honorable and courageous, but so is standing in front of the entire school giving a speech about the value of friendship. A hero is a leader that is dedicated, honorable, courageous, and very driven. They don't necessarily have to sacrifice their life to be a hero. It is tragic when someones life is lost during a unselfish attempt to save another life. It is not an act of heroism. They are role models for what people should attempt to be. But role models aren't necessarily heroes.