A typical culture hero might be credited as the discoverer of fire, agriculture, songs, tradition, law, or religion, and is usually the most important legendary figure of a people, sometimes as the founder of its ruling dynasty.
Older interpretations by Breysig, Paul Ehrenreich, and Wilhelm Schmidt thought that the journeys of culture heroes were ways in which humans could attempt to understand things in nature, such as the rising and setting of the sun, or the movement of the stars and constellations.
The typical culture hero possesses both admirable and deplorable personal qualities, a combination that is often responsible for sending him on his great journey.
The end of a culture hero's life will generally lead to the creation of something else, such as a river, constellation, food, animals, and the moon and sun.
[2] In many Native American mythologies and beliefs, the coyote spirit stole fire from the gods (or stars or sun) and is more of a trickster than a culture hero.