They most likely did live in the remote past as individuals but much has been added to them during these identity forming processes. Their stories are as truthful as those individuals are functional in history, though not as factual as actual stories. But I think this is natural: For an ancient people, this is the way to record their history - use those great figures as their big notebooks. So all kinds of notes have entered those notebooks - right ones, wrong ones, wisdoms , nonsenses, and so on. But all these form the true image of a people.
