Hero and Leander (a brief myth)
Leander was a youth of Abydus, a town on the Hellespont, and Hero was priestess of Aphrodite in Sestus on the opposite shore. Every night, Leander swam across to her, guided by the light, some say of the lighthouse in Sestus, some of a torch Hero always set blazing on the top of a tower. One very stormy night, the light was blown out by the wind and Leander perished. His body was washed up on the shore and Hero, finding it, killed herself.

Hero (a Merriam-Webster definition)
1: a mythological or legendary figure of great strength or ability 2: a man admired for his achievements or qualities 3: the chief male character in a literary or dramatic work

Wow. Somewhere along the way, the word hero went form being a beautiful woman who kills herself to a man worth knowing. I never knew. Okay, English students, there's a research paper in there somewhere for you.

What I wanted to talk about was heroes. We all seem to want them, need them, thrive upon them. Whether it's for our sports team, our country, or someone out there to save the world from ultimate terror and destruction.

This week, we had another hero (maybe). A USAir pilot successfully landed a stalled plane into the Hudson River with no casualties. Apparently, birds got into the engine and knocked them out. Instantly, we hailed the pilot a hero. Um, the positive one, not the suicidal one. The pilot is mum with the press, which is probably a bright thing. Nobody can glorify and vilify a proclaimed hero quicker than the modern day press machine. Until the National Transportation Safety Board gives their okay (who knew that existed!), pilot Charles Sullenberger is staying quiet. Talk of a statue has already begun. Everybody loves a hero.

All of the passengers get their time on talk shows and cell phone interviews and what have you, while the hero is silent. I guess cheating death is cause to get fifteen minutes of fame.

There is just something about being a hero. We go to the movies to watch the super hero save the day and get the girl. We watch it in different variations time and time again. We read books about them, and if they turn out to be lousy people, we simply call them the anti-hero. For some reason, Henry Miller books come to mind.

We want our war heroes. Our Eisenhowers, our Pattons, our Schwarzkopfs. They all seem to be generals for some reason. The everyday war hero is the guy who jumps on the grenade and never does another thing in his life. Remember that girl who was in the Gulf War who supposedly saved the rest of her platoon, but it didn't turn out to be that way? Nope, I can't remember her name either. No one remembers the almost hero.

The Super Bowl is coming, and someone will be the hero. Adam Vinatieri saved the Patriots a couple times. An unknown running back named Timmy Smith became the hero for the Redskins. Joe Montana, Joe Namath, Mean Joe Green. Not your average Joes, for sure. Heroes are all over the sports world, and many are named Joe.

What about the everyday hero? Who are they? What do they do? Do they want to be found? Do they really exist? Some people are born great, some become great, some have greatness thrust upon them. I heard that somewhere once...

We have a new president coming. Many have already declared him a hero. Just getting to the presidency is more than anyone could fathom. He brings hope in the face of depression. He calls for non-partisan support in the face of gridlock. He's able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Okay, not really, but you see what I mean.

Is it good to label someone a hero? It seems to turn around and bite them and us eventually. Pat Tillman went from hero to army friendly-fire embarrassment. Even W. admitted the 'Mission Accomplished' speech was a bad move. We keep getting more people in this world, but real heroes are hard to come by.

Maybe that's why we like our super heroes more than our every day heroes. They always win in the end. It seems like most of us have heroic moments along the way in life but end up more like the female Hero when it's all said and done. Walk and talk lightly upon that hero path, people. It has always had a double meaning.

Chris Jungle rarely does research.