culture hero

noun

1. a mythical or mythicized historical figure who embodies the aspirations or ideals of a society.
2. a mythical figure considered by a people to have furnished it the means of existence or survival, as by inventing their alphabet, teaching them husbandry, or stealing fire from the gods for them.

Example Sentences

There is also a native account of the arrival of Manco Capac, in which he figures simply a culture-hero.

From Project Gutenberg

Who are the ‘others’ who speak of a Greek ‘culture-hero’ by the impossibly fantastic name of ‘a fire totem’?

From Project Gutenberg

Often in the mythologies this ultimate rational element was ascribed to the teaching of a god or a culture hero.

From Project Gutenberg

Given such a culture-hero, the common herd was capable of carrying on more or less mechanically for an aeon or so.

From Project Gutenberg

Apollo in tradition is usually a solar deity, but also a civilizer or culture-hero, and his functions and attributes are manifold.

From Project Gutenberg