Famous quotes containing the words hero and/or myth:
“The hero is commonly the simplest and obscurest of men.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The primary function of myth is to validate an existing social order. Myth enshrines conservative social values, raising tradition on a pedestal. It expresses and confirms, rather than explains or questions, the sources of cultural attitudes and values.... Because myth anchors the present in the past it is a sociological charter for a future society which is an exact replica of the present one.”
—Ann Oakley (b. 1944)