Folk heroes are a special category of persons and characters who enjoy special love and popularity among ordinary people, whose memory, as you know, provides them with immortal glory. They can be fictional, semi-legendary, as well as real historical figures, whose actions and life become the object of folklore.
general characteristics
Popular heroes are outstanding personalities in every respect. On the one hand, they enjoy recognition and respect for specific merits, and on the other hand, there are some among them who have not done anything outstanding, but nevertheless entered the people's memory as carriers of certain national features, which makes them especially recognizable. Therefore, many subconsciously perceive them as the embodiment of the spirit of a country or nation. Historical figures for their exploits for a long time become the main characters of folklore, songs, tales, traditions. But it often happens and vice versa: characters of literary works turn out to be so colorful that they go beyond the framework of the art world and begin to live an independent life as folk heroes.
Robin Hood
The identity of this person has not been established. According to the literary tradition laid down by W. Scott, this man lived in the 12th century in England, during the reign of Richard the Lionheart. However, most historians agree that he was born in the 14th century. The reason for his popularity is probably known to everyone: he took wealth from wealthy people and gave it to the poor. According to legend, the place of his residence was the famous Sherwood Forest, where the hero hid with his "forest squad".
Reliably nothing is known about his origin: according to some versions, Robin Hood was a simple peasant, some speak of his noble roots, even the genus to which he belonged was called: Huntington. About a noble robber in his homeland there is a whole cycle of ballads, songs, traditions. He repeatedly became the protagonist of works of art ("Ivanhoe"), his adventures were repeatedly filmed in different ways.
William Tell
Often folk heroes are semi-legendary personalities. Such, for example, is W. Tell, who, according to legend, was a simple peasant. He became famous for his exploits during the time of Austrian rule in Swiss lands. Most likely, this person or his prototype came from the mountain canton of Uri, whose inhabitants expressed particularly strong discontent with foreign dominion. The feat of this hero lies in the fact that he refused to bow to the cap of the governor, which was hanged in the main square. As a test, he was ordered to shoot an apple on his son’s head. He successfully passed this test, but then admitted that if he hadn’t hit, he would have killed the governor with the other hand. Subsequently, an armed confrontation began between the canton and the Austrians, as a result of which he defeated the enemy. This plot formed the basis of the opera of the same name by D. Rossini and the drama of F. Schiller.
Joan of Arc
The image of a national hero is preserved for a long time in the memory of several generations. Often they became historical figures. Joan of Arc, of course, is one of the most famous and reputed heroines. She came from a simple peasant family, and during the Hundred Years War, French troops under her command won a number of major victories. It is with her name that the memory of these distant events is associated. Subsequently, she was canonized.
Siberian associate and commander
In our country, not only warriors, but also travelers often became protagonists of songs, legends, and traditions. Ermak Timofeevich, the conqueror of Siberia, is a vivid example of this. This man became famous for having mastered the distant lands beyond the Urals, thereby gaining real fame. In fact, in the 16th century, the accession of such a vast territory was an important stage in the formation and strengthening of a single Russian state. His victories, successful campaigns and tragic death literally shocked his contemporaries, who passed on to their generation a love for the brave chieftain. Ermak Timofeevich is famous not only for the development, but also for the annexation of the Trans-Ural lands. The conqueror of Siberia firmly entered the people's memory. And this is due to the fact that his travels became a real landmark event of his time.
Another historical person who has received universal recognition is Kutuzov, a national hero who, like no other, enjoyed the love and respect of ordinary soldiers. He very subtly felt the mood of the Russian people during the years of the war with Napoleon, and skillfully using it in battles, he ultimately led the army to victory.
Ivan Susanin
Some national heroes of Russia are also historical persons. These include a simple peasant, who, according to some assumptions, was the Shestovs serf nobleman, or a clerk in their patrimony, or an elder. In the estate of these landowners Mikhail Fedorovich hid for some time in the year of the Time of Troubles. When the Poles came to kill him, Susanin, with the help of his son-in-law, warned the future king about danger, and he led the enemies into impassable terrain, for which he accepted a terrible death from them. This man is still known to every inhabitant of our country, his image inspired the composer M. Glinka to create the opera Life for the Tsar, which still does not leave the stage.
Miguel Hidalgo
Folk heroes of different countries are also known outside their homelands. The Mexican Catholic priest, who called on the people to fight against Spanish rule, is still known in history. At the beginning of the 19th century, he raised the rebels to fight. Despite the successful actions of the revolutionaries, he was arrested and executed in 1811. Nevertheless, after ten years, Mexico gained independence.
Giuseppe Garibaldi and Ulysses Grant
The first prominent politician of the Italian struggle for independence and unification became a kind of personification of the national struggle of the people. He participated in battles against the Austrian authorities in the late 1840s, however, the first stage of the uprising ended unsuccessfully. After about a decade, the confrontation resumed, and this time it ended with the unification of disparate Italian lands into a single state.
W. Grant is known as a talented military leader and commander of the North during the Civil War in the states. He was a simple peasant, received a military education, but subsequently led volunteer rebel groups in Illinois. Volunteers from the Missouri area began to flock to him. He is known for achieving his goal at all costs, sacrificing literally everyone for victory and not taking into account the possible grave consequences of defeat. This tactic proved itself, which earned him great popularity among the Americans.
Epic Heroes
These include people who lived in the period of Ancient Russia. First of all, they include, of course, the famous heroes, the defenders of the Russian outposts, who defended the land from enemy invasions. The names of Ilya Muromets and his loyal comrades Dobrynya Nikitich and Alesha Popovich are known in our country to any student. In addition to them, such a character as Nikita Kozhemyaka is also very popular. The peculiarity of the legends about him is that they show how this hero possessed heroic strength even before his exploits. According to the plot of fairy tales, he saved the princess by defeating the snake, and plowed a huge furrow on it, which went down in history under the name "Zmiev's ramparts".
Faces of war
A prominent place in this series is occupied by child heroes who, at a very young age, became famous for their exploits against the invaders. One of them is Valya Kotik, a partisan boy, which probably every Soviet schoolchildren knew about. He was born in Ukraine and, as a schoolboy, took an active part in the partisan movement. At first he was connected, and then he participated in real battles. One of the most significant actions is the undermining of the telephone cable that connected the local enemy units with Hitler’s headquarters in the Polish capital. In addition, he participated in the undermining of enemy railway levels. He owes the merit of saving the partisan detachment when he set the alarm on time, so that the fighters managed to repulse the invaders. The boy was mortally wounded a year before the end of the war and was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Children-heroes entered the people's memory due to the fact that they performed feats that seemed to be completely inappropriate to their young age. Lenya Golikov was born in the Novgorod region. At the beginning of the war he immediately joined a partisan detachment. He became a scout brigade, participated in more than two dozen operations. The boy blew up enemy cars. Once thanks to his actions in the hands of the partisans were valuable minefield plans , reports. He tragically died in 1943, when the detachment was surrounded, only six managed to escape from it. For his services, the young pioneer also received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Often it happened that literary characters became popular. Of the characters in children's works should be called primarily Malchish-Kibalchish. He acted during the years of the civil war. His image was created by the writer A. Gaidar so well that he gained great popularity among the people.
But the greatest fame, perhaps, went to the character of the poem by V. Twardowski. Vasily Terkin, a national hero, turned out to be very convincing and believable, since the author wrote him off from a simple Russian soldier, which explains his popularity.