Heroes and Legendary Monarchs
- Hayk - The legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation. In Moses of Chorene's account, Hayk, son of Torgoma (Armaneak). After the arrogant Titanid Bel asserts himself as king, Hayk left Babylon to emigrate with his extended household of at least 300 to settle in the Ararat region, founding a village he names Haykashen.
- Ara the Beautiful - (also Ara the Handsome or Ara the Fair; Armenian: Արա Գեղեցիկ Ara Geghetsik) is a legendary Armenian hero. He is notable in Armenian literature for the popular legend in which he was so handsome that the Assyrian queen Semiramis, who coveted him, waged war against Armenia to capture and possess him. He is sometimes associated with the historical king of Ararat known as Arame who ruled in the 9th century BC.
- Yervant and Ervaz - or Eruand and Eruaz Armenian: Երվանդ եւ Երվազ - Mythical twins born from a woman of the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia, distinguished by enormous features and over-sensitivity.
- Karapet - a pre-Christian Armenian mythological character identified with John the Baptist after the adoption of Christianity by the Armenians. Karapet is usually represented as a glittering long-haired thunder-god with a purple crown and a cross.
- Nimrod - Great-grandson of Noah and the king of Shinar, Nimrod is depicted in the Bible as both a man of power in the earth and a mighty hunter.
- Pahapan Hreshtak - Guardian Angels.
- Sanasar and Baghdasar - Two brothers founded the town of Sassoon, ushering in the eponymous state. Sanasar was considered the ancestor of several generations of heroes of Sassoon.
- Sarkis - A hero, associated with pre-Christian myths, later identified with Christian saints who bore the same name. He is represented as a tall, slender, handsome knight mounted upon a white horse. Sarkis is able to raise the wind, storms and blizzards, and turn them against enemies.
- Shamiram - The legendary Assyrian queen that led a war against the Kingdom of Armenia just to get Ara the Beautiful.
Read more about this topic: Armenian Mythology
Famous quotes containing the words heroes and, heroes, legendary and/or monarchs:
“Myths and legends die hard in America. We love them for the extra dimension they provide, the illusion of near-infinite possibility to erase the narrow confines of most men’s reality. Weird heroes and mould-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of “the rat race” is not yet final.”
—Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939)
“We become male automatically because of the Y chromosome and the little magic peanut, but if we are to become men we need the help of other men—we need our fathers to model for us and then to anoint us, we need our buddies to share the coming-of-age rituals with us and to let us join the team of men, and we need myths of heroes to inspire us and to show us the way.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“By many a legendary tale of violence and wrong, as well as by events which have passed before their eyes, these people have been taught to look upon white men with abhorrence.... I can sympathize with the spirit which prompts the Typee warrior to guard all the passes to his valley with the point of his levelled spear, and, standing upon the beach, with his back turned upon his green home, to hold at bay the intruding European.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention!
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)