Favourite historical hero?

The odd thing about it all, is the fact that the question is about historical heroes, and with all these wonderful, noble people everyone else keeps mentioning, I can only seem to think of: Sherlock Holmes and Jeremy Brett. Who I've long suspected to be the same person. Okay, I admit it, I'm a slave to visual entertainment. Ohh, I thought of another one: Erik. You know, the Phantom of the Opera? I'm gonna lie down and think of some real people now. I'll get back to you.

 

I have one. Sun Tzu. He was a great man, a being of pure wisdom and skill. From the time of his death on, his teachings in the Art of War have been studied by the great generals and emporers of the East, and many in Europe a while later. His teachings are powerful, not on the surface (while a great book on war stradegy) but on life. Everything written can be applied to one's everyday life and used to better one's social environment.

I have one beef however. So many people think that Sun Tzu advocated war, and that his very essence was dedicated to it. Not true. He hated war, he despised the endless death that resulted from it, and sought to abolish it by hiding certain messages within his books (most specifically the Art of War) that before battles, terms of agreement should be discussed by opposing generals in an orderly, gentleman like way so as to stop needless destruction. This is a great feat. But on that list of the people reasponsible for the most deaths in history, he would be at the top. Because of his teachings, the chinese and japanese were far more efficient in battle, and found more efficient ways of killing even more people. While his influence in the west was less, he was still held in high regard by a select few. Indirectly, his misunderstood teachings have become the most violent and cruel war machine in human history.

[ January 03, 2003, 09:06: Message edited by: Lord Neon ]

 

I'll not post my top yet, as I've got to give it some thought. But I'm surprised at the number of people who mentioned Robert E. Lee and no one talks about Stonewall Jackson! Maybe later I'll link some resources so y'all can read about this amazing man.

 

A "few" *ahem* additions

1. Immanuel Kant, greatest mind of the last few centuries
2. The Buddha (Siddharta Gautama) bringer of wisdom
3. Koeng-foe-tse (Confusius), most influent person in the world of philosphy
4. Temuchin (Djengis Khan), lead an army to conquer most of asia, between China and Poland.
5. Friedrich Nietzsche, just because he´s so darn cynical and anti-christian
6. Erwin Rommel
7. Karl Marx
8. Einstein
9. Sun Tzu
10. Field Marshal Zhukov

[ January 04, 2003, 00:09: Message edited by: Morgoth ]

 

Definately William Wallace

 

Sokrates, because wisdom has no bane

after that.. Tolkien, for creating what is as real as many other mythologies, we just know when it was created.

 

1) Jebus ' look ma I'm on a cross' Christ
2) Alleh, with Muha'confront infidels with terrorism' moot as his Prophet
3) Ya ' circumcise yourselves clumsily and incur the hate of the world while still being holier than thou' wee, or more simply, God.
4) The 'rape little altar boys' Poop
5) Hitler
6) Stalin

All of them are dudes responsible for millions and millions of deaths and unthinkable suffering. Yep, they rank up as heroes all right. I'll put the top 3 right into the same category as the bottom two.
The spelling is intentional, by the way.



* Shura, enemy of all monotheistic fundamentalist religions.*

 

1.Karl Marx
2.Che Guevara(well, he's a hero in my eyes)
3.Ghandi
4.Lenin
5.Martin Luther King Jr.
6.Fidel Castro(Hasta La Victoria Siempre!)

 

Anyone who is related to Communism or anyone that's anti-American/European/White/Christian, because I try to be an iconoclast.

 

methinks Shura has a little aggression.

For me it is Charlemagne.

PS: Shcindler's list is mostly fabricated. Schindler was in it for himself.
And William Wallace was not as great as they make out either.

 

A propos: do you know that Charlemagne was declared a saint?

 

It is always interesting to see the wide variety of heroes that people have...

My is not a military, political, or religious figure, although many of the people that have been mentioned here are towards the top of my list.

My hero was a famous man who did not want to be famous, never took well to his celebrity status, and tried his damndest to live a "normal," everyday life.

That man: John Ernst Steinbeck, writer

 

yeah Stonewall Jackson! Were is a guy like that when you need one in politics???

Amazing how some topics go off like wildfire...

most of mine have already been mentioned. So a few new ones:

the mothers of all the men who have died in war,
the wives who have been left behind,
the children who had no choice...

 

Sepp Dietrich

 

A simple man called Allen Turing

 

I propose those who sacrificed themselves for Good and Justice perfectly nowing this would go unnoticed and they would never become heroes of future generations.

 

J.R.R Tolkein
Martin Luther
Martin Luther King Jr.
The guy who invented post-its
Jesus

 

Musashi

 

Maybe gilgamesh... or my past incarnations...

[ January 18, 2003, 13:07: Message edited by: X ]