On Heroes, Hero Worship, and the Heroic in History

Thomas Carlyle, David R Sorensen, Brent E. Kinser

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9780300148626
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Philosophy History & Theory

Based on a series of lectures delivered in 1840, Thomas Carlyle's On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History considers the creation of heroes and the ways they exert heroic leadership. From the divine and prophetic (Odin and Muhammad) to the poetic (Dante and Shakespeare) to the religious (Luther and Knox) to the political (Cromwell and Napoleon), Carlyle investigates the mysterious qualities that elevate humans to cultural significance.

By situating the text in the context of six essays by distinguished scholars that reevaluate both Carlyle's work and his ideas, David Sorensen and Brent Kinser argue that Carlyle's concept of heroism stresses the hero's spiritual dimension. In Carlyle's engagement with various heroic personalities, he dislodges religiosity from religion, myth from history, and truth from "quackery" as he describes the wondrous ways in which these "flowing light-fountains" unlock the heroic potential of ordinary human beings.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Introduction
• A Note on the Text
• On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History
• Lecture 1. The Hero as Divinity
• Lecture 2. The Hero as Prophet
• Lecture 3. The Hero as Poet
• Lecture 4. The Hero as Priest
• Lecture 5. The Hero as Man of Letters
• Lecture 6. The Hero as King
• Essays
• ‘‘The Tone of the Preacher’’
• In Defense of ‘‘Religiosity’’
• ‘‘The First of the Moderns’’
• Carlyle, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and the Hero as Victorian Poet
• ‘‘Leading human souls to what is best’’
• ‘‘Wild Annandale Grapeshot’’
• Thomas Carlyle, Social Media, and the Digital Age of Revolution
• Glossary
• Works Cited
• Contributors
• Index