What is "hero"?

[Magical Realist]

Thinking about how the same word comes to represent many different ontic entities. Take the word "hero" for instance. When we say "this man is A hero" we mean an objective physical thing--a person. When we say "the archetype of THE Hero" we mean a concept or idea. When we say "I feel heroic" then it is a quality or even a qualia--"what is it like to be heroic." And when we say "awarded for his bravery and heroism" we mean a moral trait or virtue. It is hard to conceive just how these disparate ontic beings are related in any other way than just sharing the same word to represent them. We seem to assume they are all united by a common essence or meaning. But abstracted from any one of its modes of existing, "hero" doesn't appear to exist on its own at all. Is it a mere chimera of language--an illusory artifact of using the same word to designate different things?

Maybe not. I can always use synonyms for hero as in bravery or courage or savior. IOW, different words can have similar or the same meanings. So maybe there is some static objective state of "hero" behind the words that represent it. Do we need to posit yet another ontic entity that these words are representing? An irreducible essence or "whatness" that exists apart from the word "hero"? I don't know. lol

Oh wow, I just discovered this:

"A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in language providing the foundation of language and can not be divided into smaller parts carrying meaning. It has relatively the same stable meaning in different verbal environments. The study of morphemes is called Morphology."

[C C]

Since one person or group's hero can comparatively be another individual or herd's villain, the label certainly isn't supported by something objective or universal. The word and its variations allow humans to both cognitively discriminate and project a moral value that is important to them, but to little or nothing else.