On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History is a book by the Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle, published by James Fraser, London, in 1841. It is a collection of six lec
Title page of the first English edition
'Thomas Carliles Lectures' by Jemima Blackburn, with John Gibson Lockhart and William Macready in the audience
Monument to Thomas Carlyle by William Kellock Brown, Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow
Great man theory
Videos
The great man theory is an approach to the study of history popularised in the 19th century. According to it, history can be largely explained by the impact of great men, or heroes: highly influential
On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History
…such as Parallel Lives, opining that Carlyle "even leaves Plutarch behind." These lectures are regarded as an early and powerful formulation of the Great Man theory of historical development. Friedrich Nietzsche agreed with much of Carlyle's hero worship, transferring many qualities of the hero to his concept of…
Napoleon, a typical great man, said to have created the "Napoleonic" era through his military and political genius
Bust of Thomas Carlyle by Thomas Woolner
Herbert Spencer was a contemporary critic of Carlyle's great man theory.
William James was a 19th-century philosopher and psychologist.