culture hero
a mythical or mythicized historical figure who embodies the aspirations or ideals of a society.
a mythical figure considered by a people to have furnished it the means of existence or survival, as by inventing their alphabet, teaching them husbandry, or stealing fire from the gods for them.
Words Nearby culture hero
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use culture hero in a sentence
There is also a native account of the arrival of Manco Capac, in which he figures simply a culture-hero.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 5 | Hubert Howe BancroftWho are the ‘others’ who speak of a Greek ‘culture-hero’ by the impossibly fantastic name of ‘a fire totem’?
Modern Mythology | Andrew LangOften in the mythologies this ultimate rational element was ascribed to the teaching of a god or a culture hero.
Folkways | William Graham SumnerGiven such a culture-hero, the common herd was capable of carrying on more or less mechanically for an aeon or so.
Progress and History | VariousApollo in tradition is usually a solar deity, but also a civilizer or culture-hero, and his functions and attributes are manifold.
An Introduction to Mythology | Lewis Spence
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