His tragic flaw is evident throughout the novel thinking he can win them all. Beowulf defeats the evil monster Grendel and his mother with ease. However, when it is time to battle the dragon, his pride causes him to be defeated. Beowulf is portrayed as a classic epic hero and, like many other heroes of the time, has a tragic flaw that ultimately leads to his demise. Beowulf possesses many of the traits of an archetypal epic hero; he is strong, humble, and willing to fight to death if necessary.
Epic heroes are different than your standard everyday hero. Scholars have defined and epic hero as a god-like human being. An epic hero, defined by, Dictionary. Com, “a brave noble character in an epic poem admired for great achievement or affected by grand events.” (www.Dictionary .com) These heroes have been created through poems and stories, in order for man to understand the separation between himself and the spiritual presence in his life. Every society/culture since the creation of man has created this type of hero to embody the values and mores of that time period.
An example of this is his lack of any legitimate reasons for killing King Duncan and obtaining the throne except for his own ambition and greed to become king. The prophecies that Macbeth receives from the witches seem so true that he relies on the words of these predictions alone, instead of taking action himself to secure the works of the prophecies. Macbeth let his ambition blind him; as did the ruler in “Ozymandias”. Another consequence of ambition is loneliness. Ozymandias and Macbeth had so much ambition that they put themselves above all of their peers and former supporters.
At first glance Grendel’s moms actions seem very monster-like, but looking back into Beowulf it is clear that this is not the case. On page 71 when a party is being held for Beowulf’s victory over Grendel, Beowulf must provide wergild for the man in which Beowulf let die in the fight. “And compensation, / a price in gold, was settled for the Geat / Grendel had cruelly killed earlier” (1052-1054). The art of wergild in Beowulf is heroic code for compensation reguarding the life of someone else. The bereaved party is awarded either a person or money and treasure in agreement that no vengeance will be taken.
The character Beowulf killed a murderous “grim demon” being called Grendel, saving the Danish kingdom Heorot from further devastation. Fifty years later, Beowulf rescued his own kingdom from the torment of a dragon. The Geat warrior is the savior of both of these kingdoms, but one must ask where what Beowulf’s motives lie for his heroic actions. Although Beowulf appears heroic for altruistic motives he is in fact acting out of desire for his own glory by winning battles. The battle against Grendel was seen as a game to Beowulf more than an actual serious matter.
There are many characteristics present in Homer's "The Odyssey" that clearly define the poem as an epic. The basic definition of an epic is that of a very lengthy poem that has an elevated style with a heroic figure present who faces many challenges during the course of the story. In "The Odyssey," these characteristics are clearly visible in the heroic figure of Odysseus, a man struggling to return to his home in Ithaca after attaining hero-status in the Trojan War. Along the way, Odysseus faces many trials and tribulations which hinder his journey home and bring him face to face with danger and temptation, and also spiritual growth. The fate of Ithaca also rests in the hands of Odysseus, yet another epic characteristic.
Beowulf Beowulf an epic, created during the Anglo-Saxon period, shows the qualities of an epic hero; noble birth, bravery, and choices that affect a nation. Beowulf, a complex character, showing all characteristics of an epic hero, demonstrates these traits in the slaying of horrible monsters. He supports being an epic hero because of his noble birth making him very courageous and helping him to secure the futures of nations. Beowulf’s noble birth allows him to be an epic hero and, known by everyone, can easily do the things he desires to do. "My lord, the great king of the Danes, commands me/To tell you that he knows of your noble birth..." (pg.43 ln.127).
Dangers of Absolute Power According to Aristotle, a tragic hero should experience a rising action due to his exceptional characteristics; and suffer a falling action due to his fatal flaw, which eventually results in his death. However, he should still be able to gain sympathy and pity from the audience. The story of Macbeth truly represents elements of a tragic hero, a brave loyal knight whose fatal flaw is his ambition for power which leads him to betray his friends and king and finally killed by his other fatal flaw, overconfidence. In William Shakespeare, the play The Tragedy of Macbeth, the author uses Macbeth’s ambitious characteristic, evoking pity for Macbeth and finally the danger of absolute power to show Macbeth’s tragic story.
The object of the trip is to look for a monster that has been attacking other ships. After a few months out into open water, they are attacked, by something that looks like a monster. After, the so called monster got hit by cannonballs and a harpoon the crew noticed that water came out of his wounds instead of water. The force of this water throws the scientist, along with Conseil, and a famous whale killer Ned Land into the sea. Eventually they get close to the monster, which eventually turned out to be a shark-shaped submarine, called the Nautilus.
Without recognition of your accomplishments and status there could be no epic hero. “ I would rather my body were robed in the same burning blaze as my gold givers body than go back home bearing arms.”(781-783) To be willing to sacrifice his life for his men and people must mean those whom he was willing to sacrifice his life for were truly worthy. What he saw was not death, rather the victory and ensured prolonging of his kingdom. ”so the great people his heart companions sorrowed for the lord who had been laid