Idols and Heroes
A different form of ideal is an idol or hero, who is held up as a moral example. Since this is an actual person or fictional character, it is too complex and multi-faceted to be considered an ideal in the abstract sense. However, when they are encountered in the form of a story, with only a few traits on display, they are a simplified archetype from which one can very easily derive stereotypes or mimicry. In Islam, for instance, the life of Muhammad is held up as "ideal", but must be interpreted for believers through the tale of his life, or sira, and his many sayings, the hadith.
Read more about this topic: Ideal (ethics)
Famous quotes containing the words idols and/or heroes:
““The idols have seen lots of poverty,
Snakes and gold and lice,
But not the truth....””
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“The apple tree has been celebrated by the Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, and Scandinavians. Some have thought that the first human pair were tempted by its fruit. Goddesses are fabled to have contended for it, dragons were set to watch it, and heroes were employed to pluck it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)