Achilles and the Astronaut: What Heroism Humanities Can Teach Heroism Science

In its ambition to become a transdisciplinary field of study, heroism science should leverage the expertise of the heroism humanities. This article uses humanistic knowledge to address one of the thorniest issues in the field: Who counts as a hero? After summarizing the subjective versus objective approach to defining heroism, I suggest the problem exists because we conflate two distinct conceptual categories: Heroes, or the ascription of heroic status to persons and heroism, or the ascription of heroic status to behavior. Hero, with deep roots in classical antiquity, generates a far more diverse web of associations than heroism, a modern construction. Using four examples from a recent news cycle of persons deemed heroes (a dictator, an astronaut, a victim of abuse, and an athlete), I demonstrate that a deeper appreciation of the Greek heroic tradition reveals that contemporary ascription of hero status is often a continuation, rather than a diminution of the word's historic meanings. Finally, I suggest that heroism science shift its focus from the study of heroic actors as natural objects to the study of how heroes function, discursively and symbolically, within their communities.