I was reading a little article on Big Think about how awesome Shakespeare is and thought that it might be interesting to explore this topic. The writer of the article refers to Shakespeare as "God", or "a god", citing the fact that The Bard created much of our language and has had such a tremendous influence that he can have no equal. In a word, Shakespeare is a demigod, which is defined as "a person who is highly honored or revered", but the connotation carries an air of awe and divinity. Such a person executes his or her craft with such talent, creativity and perfection that we feel a bit of the Divine when we experience their work, and we are tempted to worship them.
In the 1960's there appeared graffiti in London that declared Eric Clapton as God. No doubt written by adoring fans, but not too inaccurate, given the man's amazing talent and ability with the guitar. Like Shakespeare, Clapton has been placed on the pedestal of a demigod because of his talent, creativity and perfection. Of course, this designation ignores his (Clapton's AND Shakespeare's) personal weaknesses, faults and moral shortcomings, and focuses exclusively on his extreme ability in his chosen craft or occupation.
So, who else is a demigod? Some people seem to give Obama this status, but I don't think so, and won't get into why. But, I was wondering who else might deserve demigod status. Make your suggestions, but political and religious figures don't count.
