Who or What Is Cúchulainn?: Heroism in The Tain Sara Manlowe College

In Thomas Kinsella’s translation of The Táin, the relationships between the heroic and the monstrous, the warrior and the divine, are closely intertwined in the character of Cúchulainn, standing in stark contrast against his human traits. What makes Cúchulainn the hero of this text is his extraordinary abilities and strength, which appear to stem from his demigod nature. Yet just because Cúchulainn is the hero of The Táin, it does not mean he is the only hero in The Táin.

Conchobor and Fergus both are recognized as doing great, noble deeds in the text, so it could be argued that they are heroes as well. Ferdia holds his own against Cúchulainn over a span of many days, so by brute strength alone, he too must be a hero. However, none of these lesser heroes have divine blood in them, as Cúchulainn does. So does that mean divine blood is the difference between being a hero, and being the hero? Being a demigod makes Cúchulainn inhumanly strong, so we can infer that the average god - or Lug, at any rate - is at least twice as strong as Cúchulainn is, so if brute strength is what makes a hero, wouldn’t all the Tuatha de Danaan be considered heroes? And yet, they aren’t. There are no heroes amoung the gods. Which implies that...