2. A man of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger, or
fortitude in suffering; a prominent or central personage
in any remarkable action or event; hence, a great or
illustrious person.
Each man is a hero and oracle to somebody.
--Emerson.
3. The principal personage in a poem, story, and the like, or
the person who has the principal share in the transactions
related; as Achilles in the Iliad, Ulysses in the Odyssey,
and [AE]neas in the [AE]neid.
The shining quality of an epic hero. --Dryden.
{Hero worship}, extravagant admiration for great men, likened
to the ancient worship of heroes.
Hero worship exists, has existed, and will forever
exist, universally among mankind. --Carlyle.