CULTURE HERO

A 'culture hero' is a mythological hero specific to some group (cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. A typical culture hero might be credited as the discoverer of fire, or agriculture, songs, tradition and religion, and is usually the most important legendary figure of a people, sometimes as the founder of its ruling dynasty. The hero is sometimes said to be still living, but is often instead a star, constellation or purely spiritual in nature.
In many cultures, particularly Native American, the mythical figure of the trickster and the culture hero are combined. To illustrate, Prometheus, in Greek mythology, stole fire from the gods to give it to humans. He is more of a culture hero than a trickster. In many North American Indian mythologies, the coyote spirit stole fire from the gods (or stars or sun) and is more of a trickster than a culture hero. Natives from the Southeastern United States typically saw a rabbit trickster/culture hero. The Western African trickster spider Ananse is also widely-disseminated.
The term is sometimes used to describe great authors or artists in a metaphorical sense (i.e. Mzwakhe Mbuli, a South African poet [1]).

Contents

Partial list

External links

Partial list

===Abenaki mythology===

★ Bedig-wajo (western)

★ Ktaden (eastern)

★ Glooscap
===Australian Aboriginal mythology===

★ Bunjil

★ I'wai

★ Wurrunna
===Abrahamic mythology (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)===

★ Noah

★ Abraham

★ Isaac

★ Jacob

★ Moses

★ Jesus

★ Mohammed
===Ashanti mythology===

★ Anansi
===Aztec mythology===

★ Quetzalcoatl
===Banks Islander mythology===

★ Qat
===Celtic mythology (Irish, Welsh)===

★ King Arthur

★ Cúchulainn

★ Lug

★ Fionn mac Cumhail (Finn McCool)
===Chinese mythology===

★ Huang Di

★ Yao

★ Shun

★ Fu Xi

★ Guan Yu

★ Laozi

★ Bodhidharma

★ Zhang Sanfeng
===Egyptian mythology===

★ Osiris

★ Thoth
===English mythology===

★ Sceaf
===Etruscan mythology===

★ Tarchon

★ Tyrrehenus
===Finnish mythology===

★ Ilmarinen
===Greek mythology===

★ Cadmus

★ Cecrops

★ Castor and Pollux

★ Herakles

★ Hermes

★ Palamedes

★ Perseus

★ Phoroneus

★ Prometheus

★ Triptolemos
===Indian mythology===

★ Rama

★ Lakshman

★ Krishna

★ Balarama

★ Hanuman

★ Arjuna

★ Bhima

★ Yudhishtira

★ Mamuni Mayan
===Inuit mythology===

★ Apanuugak
===Lakota mythology===

★ Iktomi
===Māori mythology===

★ Tangaroa

★ Māui
===Maya mythology===

★ Gukumatz

★ Maya Hero Twins
===Mesopotamian mythology===

★ Gilgamesh

★ Enkidu

★ Zuisudra
===Ohlone mythology===

★ Kaknu
===Navaho mythology===

★ Changing Woman

★ The Diyin dine
===Norse mythology===

★ Sigurd Fafnersbane

★ Beowulf

★ Starkad
===Ojibwe mythology===

★ Nanabush
===Persian mythology===

★ Rostam

★ Sohrab
===Polynesian mythology===

★ Atonga
===Roman mythology===

★ Hercules

★ Janus

★ Romulus/Quirinus
===Slavic mythology===

★ Saint Sava
===Solomon Islander mythology===

★ To-Kabinana
===Mythology of the United States===

★ Daniel Boone

★ Johnny Appleseed

★ Christopher Columbus

★ Pilgrims

★ George Washington
===Ute mythology===

★ Cin-an-ev
===Weenhayek mythology===

★ Ahutsetajwaj

★ Tapiatsa
===Zuni mythology===

★ Yanauluha

External links

★ http://www.antro.uu.se/acta/sample_trickster.html

★ http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/om/om12.htm