I'm trying to trace the literary origins of the "hated hero" trope. A hero who suffers great ostracization while tirelessly trying to help others (including the very people who ostracize them).
This is a common trope in contemporary superhero media, where the misunderstood hero might get a beer bottle tossed at their head while they're on their way to save the city from being blown up or sucked into an alternate dimension or some other such nonsense.
It's surprisingly difficult to find good examples of this type of hero from before the 1960's. The sufferers tend to either be not heroic enough (e.g. they just want to be left alone and allowed to live) or not hated enough (e.g. only hated by the antagonists, or only hated by a few characters).
A potential historic context for this kind of hero could be a society with a caste system in which the hero is from a low caste that makes it difficult if not impossible for them to attain true equality, so they're doomed to keep suffering and being disrespected while they do selfless deeds.
Any leads?
by purewasted
5 Comments
Oedipus at Colonus. Both his sons hate him and left him to wander in exile, but both want his blessing in their civil war to claim the throne.
Any story of a Christian martyr is going to be this.
The first example I thought of was Bellerophon.
Cassandra sounds pretty much what you’re asking for! Except she doesn’t manage to help anyone, really, she just tries to.
Also it’s been a while since I read Antigone but I think she might count. If you can get your hands on a copy of that easily it’s worth having a look at. Or maybe someone here can help?
Pretty much any Victor Hugo protagonist. Jean Valjean in *Les Miserables*, Quasimodo in *The Hunchback of Notre Dame*, Gilliat in *The Toilers of the Sea*.