Who is your hero?

What is a hero? What makes someone a hero? I believe that almost anyone can be a hero. It all depends on people's perspectives. What one person believes to make a hero may not be what another person believes. Heroic deeds can be just conquering personal fears or sacrificing oneself for the better of others or both. Like I said, it all depends on a person's personal perspective. A literary hero is usually a person that a vast majority of people can easily admire. This admiration usually comes from actions performed by the main character for using courage to overcome his or her fears. Or a literary hero could be a person that demonstrates bravery to help others. In Beowulf, Beowulf is the proud "hero" of the epic poem. He challenges many monsters to save the lives of others. In the battles with Grendel and Grendel's mother, Beowulf offers to help the Shieldings rid themselves of the murderous monsters. And once again Beowulf saves the people, when defeating the fearsome dragon that was attacking his people though he sacrificed his own life in the process. However, in Grendel, we see that the "hero" is not always a hero. Beowulf becomes the monster and Grendel the character we most identify with or at least the victim. Today, in the mediea, heroes are perceived to be the people that heroically save a person from a burning building or land a plummeting plane safely to save the passengers. To some, a music artist could be thought of as a hero, or maybe evena comic book character, or a family member that works incredibly hard for the rest of the family's benefit. Self-sacrifice is what I believe to make a person a hero. To a child a character like Superman is a hero because he puts himself in danger to save others. But, a hero to a child is not a hero to an adult. A hero can be anyone as long as they overcome a difficulty to help others; it all depends on a person's own perspective of who their hero is.