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Scheherazade

Origin: 1001 Nights

Heroic Values: Courage, Perseverance, Selflessness, Wisdom

Background

Scheherazade was the daughter of the vizier (advisor) to the king, Shahryār. One of the vizier's less pleasant job was beheading the wives of the king. He had this undesirable job because the king's first wife had been unfaithful and the king had declared all women to be untrustworthy. He thus started a routine of marrying a virgin and having her killed the next day so he could not be cheated on again.

After the death of three thousand women, Scheherazade volunteered to be Shahryār's next wife. Her father pleaded with her and even told her some stories to try to dissuade her. She would not be swayed and married the king. On the night of their wedding, Scheherazade asked the king if she could tell her sister one last story. The king agreed and Dunyazad was allowed to enter the room for a story. The story was so entertaining, the king agreed to allow Scheherazade to live so that he could hear another. Scheherazade had an incredible memory and had read many stories and books so she was able to continue telling the king stories for 1001 nights. At the end of these stories, the king decided not to kill his wife after seeing that he now had three children with her.

Scheherazade's stories saved the lives of thousands of women and helped change the character of the king. The stories were romances, political tales, adventures, and many other types. All were designed to keep the level of interest up, but also change the way the listener though of things. The collection of stories is sometimes called the Arabian Nights and contains Sinbad, Ali Baba, and Aladdin.

Sources

Wikipedia
The online encyclopedia

The Fictional 100
Scheherazade ranked 13

Steve Denning
Looking at storytelling