Jorlem - A lot of old Greek (or old any other culture) heroes aren't very heroic by modern standards because the standards have changed, as you pointed out regarding Webster definition C. Even in different cultures in the world today, one group's hero may be another group's villain.
ClassicDrogn - I would agree that a character with qualities B,C, and D from your list are necessary for what I would consider a satisfying hero in a work of fiction. Failing to meet A is excusable as a rocky start as long as the character grows and finishes strong in the areas of doing something that makes a difference in the end.
Herr Bad Moon - It's the "in the end" part that's driving this thread. In the early books, Harry is fairly heroic. As the series goes on he gets less proactive and effective until, at the end, the things that do get dealt with are dealt with because of:
a) Prophecy
b) Things his mother did
c) Things other people set up (without expecting him to survive)
d) Sheer luck
e) A dark lord who's just not right in the head, possibly due to all the soul-splitting and resurrection
To paraphrase a quote I posted earlier, he wins through a noble sacrifice and a lot of luck. The sacrifice is indeed noble, but that and luck are things you should fall back on only when you run out of other options and he doesn't seem to have explored his options very much. The character of Harry Potter works as a hero in the sub-arcs, but at least from a satisfying storytelling standpoint things go downhill in the last third of the overall story. This may be some sort of deliberate subversion on the part of Rowling, but I don't think I care for that sort of realism in my escapist fantasy.
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No, I don't believe the world has gone mad. In order for it to go mad it would need to have been sane at some point.
ClassicDrogn - I would agree that a character with qualities B,C, and D from your list are necessary for what I would consider a satisfying hero in a work of fiction. Failing to meet A is excusable as a rocky start as long as the character grows and finishes strong in the areas of doing something that makes a difference in the end.
Herr Bad Moon - It's the "in the end" part that's driving this thread. In the early books, Harry is fairly heroic. As the series goes on he gets less proactive and effective until, at the end, the things that do get dealt with are dealt with because of:
a) Prophecy
b) Things his mother did
c) Things other people set up (without expecting him to survive)
d) Sheer luck
e) A dark lord who's just not right in the head, possibly due to all the soul-splitting and resurrection
To paraphrase a quote I posted earlier, he wins through a noble sacrifice and a lot of luck. The sacrifice is indeed noble, but that and luck are things you should fall back on only when you run out of other options and he doesn't seem to have explored his options very much. The character of Harry Potter works as a hero in the sub-arcs, but at least from a satisfying storytelling standpoint things go downhill in the last third of the overall story. This may be some sort of deliberate subversion on the part of Rowling, but I don't think I care for that sort of realism in my escapist fantasy.
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No, I don't believe the world has gone mad. In order for it to go mad it would need to have been sane at some point.