Beowulf: The Most Heroic Man of the Anglo-Saxon Times “Warriors had to be willing to face any odds, and fight to the death for their glory and people” (1) Christopher Garcia emphasized on the importance of having a warrior like Beowulf who fought for what he believed in. The epic hero Beowulf describes the most heroic man of the Anglo-Saxons times; he possesses superhuman strength and is larger than life while clearly performing the values of an epic hero with his intelligence intertwining with his courage and fate to his people. Beowulf illustrates all the main characteristics of an epic hero while uniquely demonstrating super powers unlike many other heroes during this time. From the beginning to the end of the battle with Grendel's mother
Beowulf is definitely brave for fighting and living his life to protect others. For example he battles the treacherous monster Grendel in order to ensure that the rest of the village was safe from the tyranny of this beast. Despite the fact that he conquers this beast alone he was supposed to have help but was abandoned at the last second. This makes the task much more difficult for Beowulf. This quote gives certain evidence that Beowulf fights for others: “A prince of the
Heroism Paralleled A hero is someone who possesses traits such as courage, perseverance, and selflessness. However, an epic hero is also comprised of characteristics that allow him to achieve a great task, with the risk of losing his own life. He depends on faith and confidence that he is the one who can bring hope to the hopeless. In the narrative Beowulf and the movie Star Wars, many aspects of heroism are paralleled. Beowulf is defined as a hero by his bravery to set out and defeat a monster that has been invincible to Hrothgar’s men.
A hero has many qualities, powers, and achievements. In the stories of Beowulf and King Arthur, these heroes are similar in many ways, but they are different in other ways. A great hero is someone who is rare, has great values, and has good characteristic traits like; bravery, courage, and selflessness. So, who is the greater hero, Beowulf or Arthur? Beowulf is seen as a strong hero that conquers the evils with his sheer strength.
After fifty years pass Beowulf still feels the passion to help those in trouble from terrible monsters. He then vows to kill an angry dragon. “I mean to stand, not run from his shooting flames, stand till fate decides which of us wins” (lines 675-677), meaning Beowulf is unwilling to flee from harms way for the betterment of his people letting fate decide whether it is his time or not to die. With his last dying breaths he is only thinking of his people, “For this, this gold, these jewels, I thank Our Father in Heaven…I sold my life for this treasure, and I sold it well. Take what I leave, Wiglaf, lead my people, help them” (lines 802-809).
Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a true hero? To be the one to earn the respect of others by having valor, or maybe by even having tons of courage by having the ability to do something that frightens you the most? b. In Beowulf, Beowulf shows these qualities of a true hero through his actions 2. Body paragraph 1- courage c. Topic sentence- how does Beowulf show courage d. Explanation- (the ability to do something that frightens someone) he shows it when he fights monsters and isn’t afraid to die e. Example- fights Grendel, fights Grendel’s mom, fights the dragon at the end, that effectively ends his life f. Analysis- but it could also be argued that it is not courage, just him trying to achieve a higher status and fame and to further inflate his ego.
Drake Propson English 11 Mr. Hoffman 9/15/14 Beowulf: an Epic Hero Throughout the story you can see that Beowulf is an epic hero when he fights Grendel, his mother, and the dragon. These fights show how Beowulf is an epic hero. Beowulf is an epic hero because he has superhuman strength, intelligence, and courage, and performs brave deeds, and risks death for the greater good of society. In the fight against Grendel, Beowulf’s superhuman strength allows him to beat and mortally wound Grendel, and his courage shows when he beats Grendel by using only his bare hands. The characteristics of superhuman strength and courage are seen throughout the story of Beowulf and define why he is an epic hero.
Even though he was the king he still went to go fight the dragon. Even though he could have just sent his men to kill the dragon he went to do it himself and dies from a bite from the dragon and the regrets not having a son because he devoted his life to others. Beowulf is a hero who as saved countless lives fighting many monsters such as Grendel, Grendel’s mom, and the dragon. He saved many lives and died doing it. The amount of lives he saved made him a great hero.
I am old now but I will fight again. Seek fame still, if the dragon hiding dares face me” (624-628). Describes this leader’s heart and love for his people, because he is the king he no longer needs the fame and glory he already has this. But he proves to be responsible and goes to take on the dragon without any aid of his people. Beowulf is a hero in every way.
Luke Molnar Beowulf Is Beowulf really a hero, or is he an over confident boastful fool? In the epic poem Beowulf translated by Burton Raffel, the reader reads about an intelligent, confident, strong, and courageous man who is also quite boastful in some instances. Beowulf defines an epic hero by possessing supernatural strength, courage, and his will to fight for what’s right. A characteristic of a hero is the character must have an ability no one else in the story has. The reader sees how Beowulf possesses unbelievable and supernatural strength because Beowulf claims he can defeat Grendel with his bare hands.