Hero Myths

This Reader collects 25 stories of heroes of all kinds from around the world. Included are both non-Western and Western, female and male, modern and ancient, young and adult, lowly and noble, comic and tragic, national and universal, and historical and fictional heroes. Failed as well as successful heroes are represented, as are anti-heroes as well as conventional heroes. Hero Myths offers not only an array of kinds of hero myths but also a guide to understanding the myths selected. In a substantial introduction, Robert Segal, a leading authority on theories of myth, provides an overview of both the history of the study of heroes and the history of the study of hero myths from the fields of psychology, anthropology, folklore, literature, and religious studies.