The Heroes

Heroes are as essential as food, water, and air.
Societies without heroes—meaning societies without positive role models of courage, competence, selflessness, and a sense of higher purpose—are societies destined for ruin.
Ancient Greek mythology was full of heroes, figures who stood somewhere between gods and humans, elevated by their worth.
Christianity, too, had—and still has—heroes, despite its emphasis on humility.
Saints are the heroes of Christianity.
They possess immense courage, determination, and wage a selfless struggle for all of humanity.
Yes, they are humble and shun the spotlight and shiny armor, but deep down, they know and feel they are champions in their spiritual battle.

The quality of a society’s heroes reflects the quality of the society that produces them.
For example, rappers, who are the heroes of our era, are often criminals—thus, they have boldness—but lack any other positive traits:
they are self-centered, ostentatious, sexist, violent, destructive, and self-destructive.
Drugs and antisocial behavior marginalize them:
they exist on the fringes yet are idolized.
When societies decline, their heroes decline too, and eventually fade away.
In ancient Rome, during its peak, Romulus and Remus were vibrant, just as Theseus was in Athens.
In their decadent phase, they were forgotten.
Everyone had become self-absorbed, cowardly creatures, concerned only with their bellies, their desires, and power—the most wretched drug of all.

We had heroes until fifty years ago.
Pasteur, Koch, Fleming, and astronauts were the heroes of our childhood.
Politicized leftist teens had Che Guevara, while those on the right had James Dean.
(If you die young, it’s easier to be lionized by the hero-making centers.)
But their followers fell into decline, corrupted by European subsidies.
We were left with only the shiny chrome of Kavvathas, the glamour of Kostopoulos, and the shameless careers of influencers and OnlyFans.

Various groups and minorities tried to create heroes to serve their agendas:
the gay community tried to heroize Alan Turing and portray Alexander the Great as homosexual, while the green energy lobby invented Greta…
but these efforts didn’t take hold.

If we had serious intellectual and political leadership, we would create new heroes—local, authentic ones.
Like the old days had Katsantonis.

For me, an authentic hero of modern Hellenism is Solomos Solomou.
Heroism, beyond desperate courage, has something irrational and theatrical.
It’s a condensed performance—a proclamation.
Clearly, heroes and heroic acts don’t die, as they hold an intangible, metaphysical value.
Heroes are likely sleeping, waiting for something to awaken them.
Something worth the effort.