The poem ‘Beowulf’ is an epic, and is the oldest surviving piece of English literature. The main character is a mighty warrior by the name of Beowulf. He sails across the seas to demolish a monster who’d been terrorizing the people of Denmark. He kills the monster, Grendel, but also takes up the challenges of killing Grendel’s angry mother and then a mighty dragon. The succeeds, and becomes extremely famous.
With all this in mind, Beowulf boards his ship along with fourteen other men and sets sail for Denmark, hoping to purge Grendel from Herot. For the duration of Beowulf's journey he doesn't once steer his ship, rather believes that his faith in God will deliver him safely to his destination. Upon arrival, Beowulf nobly requests that Hrothgar allow him the honor of slaying the beast, Grendel. Hrothgar willingly accepts his proposal, but is soon challenged by one of Hrothgar's courtiers, Unferth, questioning his ability to defeat a monster, when he himself, wasn't able to beat Brecca, a childhood friend of Beowulf's, in a swimming match long ago. Beowulf responds reassuringly, telling of how he had killed nine sea monsters and had swum faster than Brecca did from the beginning.
The battle is a sign that even though good has the advantage, good can never have an ultimate victory over evil. Through its powerful use of symbolism in Beowulf’s battles with Grendel and the dragon, Beowulf draws a clear distinction between good and evil, going on to show that the world is fated to a never-ending battle between good and evil. Throughout the poem, Beowulf matures from a good warrior to a good king. He follows comitatus; the relationship between the king and his thanes where the thanes are loyal and fight battles for their king, and in return, the king gifts them with winnings from the battle. A good king or warrior also pays wergild, the price a warrior pays to the family of a slain warrior.
The Danes admired Beowulf, which infuriated their greatest warrior Unferth. Unferth challenged Beowulf’s boasts and told the story of Beowulf’s swimming contest with Breca, suggesting that Beowulf lost that competition. Beowulf corrected Unferth, making it clear that he didn’t lose the fight; he was simply defending himself against nine incredibly strong sea monsters instead of focusing on a silly race. He described a great battle in which he asked fate to “let [him] find [the monster’s] heart with [his sword].” He went on to say that he conquered the monsters, and at last could see “God’s bright beacon” and the land in front of him. This scene combined the Pagan concept of wyrd with the idea that God is able
43). This quote displays us that not only did Beowulf defeat Grendel, but he defeated Grendel with just his bare hands. This example confirms the characteristic of how Beowulf is an epic hero by completing a great deed with great strength and courage. Another characteristic someone may see in Beowulf, is him being a great warrior. Before a hero completes a journey in his epic, he must establishes his name another way.
The Princess Bride An epic hero is generally a male of noble birth who reflects important ideals of his society and performs courageous-sometimes even superhuman-deeds. This type of hero takes place in settings that often involves more than one nation, where he would determine the fate of that nation or group of people. This is contrary to what a romantic hero is, which is on who goes on adventures from which he seeks meaning, may be defeated, but will survive his shame, and one who has a sense of duty to be conquered. Rob Reiner’s, The Princess Bride, uses the characteristics of a romantic hero to prove that true love never fades. Westley was just a farm boy for Buttercup when they fell in love.
This lack of sudden change wouldn't also fit in with the play's stark and down-to-earth style; demoralisation of a man is far more commonly a slow-acting process, and an attempt to adhere to Aristotle's decree would have been ultimately detrimental to Miller's fundamental aim for DoaS: to create a play relevant to 'every man' of his time. Willy's 'Harmartia' (fatal flaw) is his unwavering belief in the American Dream and his innate stubbornness. He refuses to accept the unconditional love of his family (in particular, Linda) and instead tries to 'win them over' as he would a customer. He appears to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the world works. His perception of the world may have been
Poseidon and Odysseus are the most noticeable representatives of the theme of vengeance. In order to escape from the cave of the Cyclops (Polyphemus), Odysseus blinds the one-eyed giant (Book 9). Unfortunately, the Cyclops is the sea god Poseidon's son; Odysseus has engaged a formidable enemy. Poseidon can't kill Odysseus because the Fates have determined that he will make it home. However, the sea god can help to fulfill his son's wish that Odysseus should arrive in Ithaca late, broken, and alone, his shipmates lost, and his household in trash.
Why bait the beast again? Let him alone!...He’ll smash our timbers and our heads together” (lines 449-454)! Odysseus boasts to the Cyclops while he and his men are escaping the island. He is putting his shipmates’ lives in danger, but he does not care, and does it again. Likewise, Odysseus shows acts of selfishness, “as [he] sent them on toward Scylla [and] told them nothing...they would have dropped their oars
When Odysseus and his men are clearly safe away from the island Odysseus brags about his successful feat. Polythemus hears this and launches giant boulders in the direction of the ship. Some came very close to sinking the ship, yet that was not enough for Odysseus. Blinded by his pride he unwisely revealed his identity to Polythemus. With that Polythemus called upon his father, Poseidon, to seek revenge on the man who had harmed him.