We are all heros?

Today in ap Literature class, we discussed and watched a video about what makes a hero. Generally it is some who leaves their ordinary life to do something extraordinary to save the lives of people, ideas, and beliefs. Commonly we tend to think of them as the good guys, but in order for one to gain the status of a hero one must engage in a transition from normality into an amazing individual. The video also discussed about how culture changes the qualifications of a hero, and I was wondering does each society have their own distinct hero type or are they all generalized to the standard saving humanity type of people?

According to Joseph Campbell in order for a hero to become a hero, they must first embark on adventure, either willingly to accept fate, thrown into it by chance, or embarking on it in order to find something. Journey this journey the hero usually experiences a rebirth where he/she realizes comes out of a depression with a realization of what their purpose for the journey is.  This is the point where the person actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known limits of his or her world and venturing into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are not known. When analyzing Harry Potter Harry doesn’t officially become heroic until he sacrifices himself for the good of others, he must first be killed by Voldimort in order to gain the realization needed to defeat him. Another important step for becoming a hero is experiencing the belly of the whale which represents the final separation from the hero's known world and self. It is sometimes described as the person's lowest point, but it is actually the point when the person is between or transitioning between worlds and selves. The separation has been made, or is being made, or being fully recognized between the old world and old self and the potential for a new world/self. This is where we stopped the video!

One comment brought up by Joseph Campbell is that as culture changes so do the expectations for the hero, I was wondering is that really true or do we assimilate the previous morals into the ones we have today when we define the hero. I believe the true definition of a hero never changes, but the way we classify a hero differs from each type of hero. Let’s look the generic super hero such as Captin America: he has superior strength, cunning bravery, and immense knowledge about how to defeat villains. This differs from how we view real life heroes such as Steve Jobs: he created Apple to help the public and make life easier, he has immense knowledge that can help society, and he did it out of his love for technology. When looking back on real life heroes they all have similar qualities but as time progresses we make up the standard super hero, and I want to know can the super hero count as a true hero from the Campbell definition of a hero?