The hero and the heroic are the most important elements of culture, which reflects the socio-cultural reflection of society in the period in which they are relevant. This article analyzes the genesis of this phenomenon in historical retrospective and gives a description of the hero and the heroic in each period. If the Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages the hero carries a function of ethnic identity of the tribe or nation, the founder of which he is, then since the heyday of medieval heroic ideological shifts focus - the hero becomes a projection of social ideals of the society in which there is. In modern times, the hero embodies the values of humanism and anthropocentrism, becoming a scientist and researcher, but since Newest time heroic complicated in its manifestation, creating new types of characters. The author concludes that by examining and analyzing the type of character of each era, can identify the main ideological trends and values of a society, which in turn gives a great material for a rethinking of the historical and socio-cultural processes. The hero and the heroic not only give us a picture of society and individual reflection on the changes taking place, and they also play a crucial role as a culture-factor.
