Oddly, not an inspiring book. There are six lectures filled with what I might call "Puffery" rather than information. Carlyle does have a theme, stating the "Great Man" theory, but it deals little with what makes his subject interesting to the modern reader. As a chid of the Kirk in Scotland he cannot discuss the Reformation without puffing Knox, as a Christian both Odin and Mohammed are due for a bad time, but without discussing the nature of religion in such a way as to invite criticism of the process in general. As a British subject, of a conservative stamp do not expect either Cromwell or Napoleon to get full due as examples of the type. So the essays, written in the 1840's are short on detail and long on exhortations to "Be good, be industrious, and not critical of the present lot of "Powers that be". There are some good zingers, though. I read an Oxford University Press edition first printed with 1904, without critical apparatus. ( )

JG-6

Cromwell values truth & sincerity in these men. He likes to recite their humble beginnings. With some exceptions, Rousseau & Napoleon come to mind, he finds them admirable.

LECTURE I. THE HERO AS DIVINITY. ODIN. PAGANISM: SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY. [May 5, 1840.]A great man, may over time, come to be regarded as a God.

LECTURE II. THE HERO AS PROPHET. MAHOMET: ISLAM. [May 8, 1840.]

LECTURE III. THE HERO AS POET. DANTE: SHAKSPEARE. [May 12, 1840.]

LECTURE IV. THE HERO AS PRIEST. LUTHER; REFORMATION: KNOX; PURITANISM. [May 15, 1840.]
Knox, John (c. 1505–72), Scottish Protestant reformer. He played an important part in the establishment of the Church of Scotland within a Scottish Protestant state.

LECTURE V. THE HERO AS MAN OF LETTERS. JOHNSON, ROUSSEAU, BURNS. [May 19, 1840.]

LECTURE VI. THE HERO AS KING. CROMWELL, NAPOLEON: MODERN REVOLUTIONISM. [May 22, 1840.]

Since I read this as an ebook, highlighted portions are attached to the goodreads review.
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Thomas Carlyle's lectures On Heroes, Hero-worship, and the Heroic in History were delivered in 1840, and published as a book in 1841 by James Fraser, London. My version is a public domain reprint of the 1912 version published by D.C. Heath, Boston, edited and with an introduction by Herbert S. Murch PhD of Princeton University. I first learnt of Carlyle in teaching leadership, where this book is regarded as the first leadership theory, the "Great Man" theory. Carlyle considers the hero as divinity (Odin), prophet (Mohammed), poet (Dante, Shakespeare), priest (Luther, Knox), man of letters (Johnson, Rousseau, Burns), and king (Cromwell, Napoleon). Of note is his Orientalism toward the Prophet Mohammed. In his treatise of prophet as hero, the Muslim Prophet is sincere, yet Carlyle repeatedly turns on the Prophet in his other chapters. Notable, too, is his treatment of any hero who is not related directly to the history of England (i.e. Odin and Luther), in that Mohammed, Rousseau, and Napoleon are heroes to the non-English, and therefore cannot escape this title, but are otherwise overly-emotional hypocrites and shams in their beliefs, if not in their honour in pursuing their (otherwise incorrect) convictions. Yet Carlyle seems to use this as a vehicle for rhetoric, rather than admonishment, and his respect for these non-Anglo heroes is obvious, where he is not attempting to convince his audience that he is using these only by way of example, rather than having any respect for the "other" that is anymore than skin-deep. Nevertheless, his espousal of the "Great Man" theory is more detailed than the leadership textbooks would suggest, as it is easily dismissed due to contemporary sensibilities, yet in its historical context, it is an important starting point for any student of leadership. This edition is well-supported by notes, but it must be taken as a transcript of a lecture. If one reads this as a coherent "book", the speech is enthusiastic, to say the least, and makes for difficult reading. But after a couple of false starts, I was able to envisage Carlyle giving his lectures, and by imagining the reading to be the man actually speaking, the "book" reads quite well. I find it difficult to rate this work higher than three stars, as it is a bit like reading a medical text of the times on the benefit of leeches - in hindsight, there is much to debate. However, when one considers Carlyle's influence on the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, this is no light-weight intellectual, but someone like James Mill to Ricardo and Bentham, and therefore not to be too readily dismissed. ( )

LOS HEROES

La obra que aquí presentamos, del controvertidísimo filósofo historiador Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), está formada por una compilación de las seis conferencias que impartió durante el mes de mayo de 1840. Estructuradas bajo el tema común de El culto a los héroes, en éstas, Carlyle le da, como se dice comunmente, vuelo a la hilacha en su manifestación de angustia ante el derrumbe de los valores bajo los cuales Europa había vivido. En efecto, el cataclismo provocado por el nuevo concepto del mundo que consigo trajo la Revolución Francesa, iba rápidamente pulverizando todas las estructuras autoritarias basadas en criterios absolutistas. Ante esa realidad Carlyle pone el grito en el cielo, desarrollando su concepción de buscar la interpretación de la historia a través de destacados individuos, y el término héroes será el nombre que escoja para definirlos
Su curiosa, y en cierta medida trasnochada teoría que no pocos consideran como protofascista, al representar la angustia de algunos núcleos sociales europeos, por lógica alcanzó notoriedad e importancia. Y así, sus bobalicones desplantes como el de considerar el advenimiento democrático como un claro síntoma de la angustia de las sociedades ante la carencia del héroe que las dirija, demuestra el claro resentimiento de los sectores sociales proclives al absolutismo, y, sobretodo, la elaboración de una coraza ideológica justificante que les permitiera sobrevivir ante un panorama del todo adverso para ellos.
Así, el autor de la voluminosa obra Historia de Federico II en Prusia, Thomas Carlyle, consolida su presencia en cuanto teórico de esa reacción embozada, que anhelante esperaba el momento de volver a apropiarse de lo que consideraba suyo y que se creía despojada: el poder absoluto.
La lectura de El culto a los héroes, proporciona una oportunidad de reflexionar sobre nuestro entorno. Pues, a pesar de que las ideas manifiestas en esta obra hayan sido expresadas hace más de siglo y medio, su substancia ha trascendido el tiempo, por lo que no es extraño que de vez en vez nos topemos con familiares, amigos o conocidos, que de una u otra forma reivindican, en algunos casos hasta de manera inconsciente, las concepciones de Thomas Carlyle.
Ojalá que una atenta lectura de El culto a los héroes, sea capaz de generar una especie de vacuna contra las tentaciones del autoritarismo, ante las cuales, dígase lo que se diga, nadie es inmune en las sociedades actuales.