grammar help?

Question

I'm writing an essay comparing and contrasting the epic heroes Odysseus, Rama, and Gilgamesh. If I'm using all three of their names in a sentence would the personal noun be singular or plural??

Example: Odysseus, Rama, and Gilgamesh were very determined heroes in their/his culture.

And if I'm talking about how the stories impacted its society as a whole, would I use a plural noun in place of 'stories' or 'its'??

Example: Not only did these stories have various impacts on its culture—such as religion, spirituality, and moral values—but they also helped preserve the culture and it’s people over an extensive time.

Answer 1

For your first sentence, I'd say:

O, R, and G were very determined heroes in their cultures. (here you're stressing what they have in common)

and the second:

Not only did each of these stories have various impacts on its culture...but each also helped preserve the culture and its [no apostrophe!] people over an extensive time. [I'd prefer just "a long time"] (here the impact is more separate so I'd keep the cultures separate, using "each")

Answer 2

The only reason you would use "was" when referring to the three heroes is if you said "Each was a hero in his respective culture."
In the second example, I would reword it as follows:
"Not only did these stories have various impacts on their cultures—such as in religion, spirituality, and moral values—but they also helped preserve their cultures and peoples over an extensive period of time."
This particular part of grammar is known as pronoun antecedents.

Answer 3

"its" is correct....it's is a contraction for it is
When trying to determine "their/his" just imagine replacing their names with names you might be more familiar with such as:
Mary, Jane and Linda were equally liked by THEIR friends.

Answer 4

first example: use "their cultures"

second example: use "their cultures" and "their people"

p.s. - "it's" is the contraction of "it is". "its" is the singular possessive form of "it"