Gods and Heroes: Events Celebrating Supernatural or Larger-Than-Life Figures

By Troy Segal

We all need to look up from time to time, and idolize beings greater than ourselves. Here are some talks, readings and activities that hail the heroes — and the antiheroes — be they real, fictional or mythological.

Have dinner with the devil (hey, he’s sometimes more fun than the saints) at this entertainment-filled evening, which also features live music and an exhibit of, and readings from, The Satanic Verses of Bones Banez by surrealist painter/author Bienvenido Banez, at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Sept. 19.

Delve into the depiction of gods and goddesses, and how these mighty images cast in stone and bronze formed the backbone of Jainism, Tantra and other ancient South Asian religions, at this lecture by an expert Asian Art curator, Sept. 30 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

For four years, his image adorned office walls and dollar bills, and an entire population followed him into battle. He was Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy during the Civil War, and historian James McPherson analyzes his administration, at the New-York Historical Society Oct. 7.

Look! Up in the sky! Then come down to earth to celebrate the Heroes of the Comics, at this panel discussion of a new book about our favorite superguys and gals, Oct. 8. Fairy tales aren’t just for kids — at least, not the way they’re told by fantasy illustrator Brian Froud (he designed the movies The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, and wrote the books Faeries and Goblins!), in town to launch his newest tome, Brian Froud’s Faeries’ Tales, Oct. 14. Both events are at the Society of Illustrators.

During the American Revolution, the young, dashing Marquis de Lafayette was worshipped by the colonists for coming to their aid; during the French Revolution, his own countrymen adored him too — at first. Find out about a hero’s fall from grace, at this 92nd Street Y lecture, Oct. 24.

Whoever you root for among the Game of Thrones gang of dragon queens, kings, and skin-changers, you’ll love meeting their ancestors in The World of Ice and Fire — a sort of history that gives the backstory of the Lannisters, Baratheons, and Targaryens. It was compiled by the founders of the fan site Westeros.org with author George R.R. Martin — who appears Oct 26 at the 92nd Street Y.