Heroism in Literature from the Early Modern World

In classical times, heroes were larger-than-life figures. Odysseus fought off his wife's suitors with an enormous bow that no one else could string, let alone use. Jason battled an army of Sparti born from dragons' teeth. Hercules wrestled Cerberus and slew the Hydra. Although these famous heroes undoubtedly influenced writers and thinkers of the Early Modern world, the heroes of the 17th and 18th centuries seem much more human than demigod. In an age where the human faculty of reason was highly valued, it is not surprising that many "heroes" of the Early Modern world (fictional or otherwise) are just humans, normal and fallible, who nevertheless use their faculty of reason to try to understand their world.

Voltaire's Candide shows such a character. The protagonist Candide has many far-flung misadventures, much like Odysseus - but unlike the Ithacan king, Candide lacks any sort of cunning or wisdom or superhuman strength that would make him an ideal hero. He is completely naïve, trusting Pangloss's doctrine that this is the best of all possible worlds. To be sure, Candide is not much of a hero through most of the book, but he turns into one at the end when he starts to rely on his own ideas instead of those of Pangloss. When Pangloss pontificates in the last chapter, Candide no longer takes his words as holy truth - he shrugs it off, saying, "That is well said, but we must cultivate our garden." Candide realizes that the world is not ideal - it is not Odysseus's world where he can carouse with nymphs across the world and then return home to his loyal queen, all under the care of the gods. Candide must content himself with an ugly wife and hard life. This is the Early Modern world hero: his life is nothing epic or glamorous, but he accepts it based on his own rational conception of the world, and takes on the task of cultivating his own garden.

The art of the era demonstrates this trend as well. Starting with the Renaissance and continuing into later periods, Western artists put a greater emphasis on the individual and the life of the common person. No longer are there the stiff and stylized saints of Byzantine art. People were thinking beings, individuals, and there was something heroic in that fact, even in humble folk. Jan Vermeer's painting "Woman Holding a Balance" is one example of the heroic common person: the woman in the image is weighing jewels in a somewhat austere middle-class Dutch house. However, her covered head and the light illuminating her face is clearly reminiscent of popular depictions the Virgin Mary, suggesting that there may yet be greatness in the commonplace. The rise of the self-portrait is another indicator of the advent of this new kind of hero. Albrecht Durer's almost Christ-like self-portrait and Rembrandt's detailed studies of himself suggest that each man can be a hero in his own personal story.

However, the greatest heroes of the Early Modern world are arguably the thinkers. Few other ages can rival the Early Modern world in sheer number of significant philosophers, and one factor is surely the Enlightenment belief in reason as a means to improve society. The mission of the Early Modern world was not to slay the Medusa or any other mythical beast; it was rather "Ecrasez l'infame!" as Voltaire had said. The necessary weapon was not a sword, but reason, and the philosophers were the ones who took up the charge. Philosophers like Rene Descartes and David Hume tried to understand the workings and limits of human cognition. In discussing his goals for "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding," Hume writes that he wishes to "undermine the foundations of an abstruse philosophy which seems to have hitherto served only as a shelter to superstition and a cover to absurdity and error." He sees his task as a sort of intellectual crusade to benefit society - and many others saw it this way too. Other thinkers, such as John Locke, Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau posited natural rights and other principles of society that have lasted to this day. As Immanuel Kant wrote in a 1784 essay on the Enlightenment, "Sapere aude! 'Have courage to use your own understanding!' - that is the motto of enlightenment."

In today's society, the classical ideals of heroism still remain in superheroes and other figures. However, the more subdued and commonplace hero of the Early Modern World has also become a fixture, perhaps even more so in the modern era. From Arthur Miller's Willy Loman to James Joyce's Leopold Bloom to Nick and Norah from the movie about their infinite playlist, modern people continue to identify with the hero that isn't exactly a hero. And the thinking, rational individual continues to be an ideal for modern humans.