The three heroes discussed here, Beowulf, Sir Gawain and King Arthur, are heroes for different reasons. Beowulf, our earliest hero, is brave but his motivation is different than then other two. To Sir Gawain personal honor and valor is what is important. King Arthur, Sir Gawain's uncle, is naturally the quintessential king of the medieval period. Though all men to a certain extent share the same qualities, some are more pronounced than in the others.
What it means to be good in the world of Beowulf, the relationship between individual prowess or ability and ethical value, the meaning of being a member of the community, the role of the monster in defining virtue and community and the role of language are the importance of individual virtue and its relationship to community are all the many characteristics that can be read in the story of Beowulf. Beowulf was all about being a hero. Everyone saw him as a courageous, super-strong epic hero. What did it mean to be good in the world of Beowulf? Beowulf was strong, intelligent, humble, and kind and in the eyes of society this was their view of being good.
World Literature 26/10/2013 The Not So Obvious Hero Throughout History we see man that stand out and are called heros who are admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, and noble qualities. Odysseus the great greek Warrior is one of the most famous heroes of history. His intelligence and charisma made him well known even into the 21st century. But what about other ancient characters? Abraham the father of the nation of Israel has lived such a different live than Odysseus the emblem of heroism but even though throughout Abrahams live he proves over and over again that he is also worthy of being called an Epic Hero.
If somebody is going to play overly-aggressive and borderline dirty, they will most-likely have to deal with fighting somebody on the opposing team, who is simply protecting his star players. Technically gifted players such as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were able to accomplish so many things in the National Hockey League because they were protected by their teammates that were ready to fight anybody that touched Wayne or Mario. Eliminating fighting is not a solution to useless violence either because, without fighting, if there were a conflict, players would try and get revenge on their opponents with head shots and checking from behind rather than simply resolving all conflicts with a 30-second fight. Furthermore, if you think that the banishment of fighting will minimize violence, then you should probably consider watching a real hockey game before making such a ridiculous statement. A man by the name of Jim McKenny said it best: “Half the game is mental; the other half is being mental.” Hockey is violent so if you don’t like violence, then don’t watch hockey; and definitely don’t try to change the
A hero in an epic poem is typically an important figure in a legend or history that holds some type of royalty and embarks on a cyclical adventure or quest. On this adventure the hero faces many adversities and obstacles but eventually returns home significantly changed from the journey. These heroes embody bravery, intelligence and loyalty as well as fear that they must overcome in order to protect their family, friends and countries. Two of the most famous epic heroes are Gilgamesh and Odysseus who both have to overcome great difficulty in order to protect their people of their countries as well as their family and friends. Gilgamesh was a famous epic hero for various different reasons.
He ended up living with Priapus, who trained him in the art of dancing and martial arts. Brown 2 “Though Ares was well-trained and was the god of war, he was not a great fighter and Ares lost many of his battles, especially with his half-sister Athena” (Sharon2). “While Athena favored ‘war at a distance’, strategic planning, playing to the ‘rules of the game’, and preferred peace and justice, Ares loved the thrill of battle, and represented war conducted ‘up close and personal’, hand combat, and the frenzy of battle and bloodlust” (Sharon2) (Rymer1).
“One of the reasons for professional sports popularity is that it creates losers and winners, heroes and villains. Even when looked as an individual exercise such as running or swimming, sports construct emotions and performances that are frequently hard to generate in most other pursuits” (Sayre and King, 2000). This emotion can explain why men, during the Ancient Roman times, would be criminals
The glory was simply being able to compete, to play. For these athletes, winning was everything while the losers faced terrible ridicule and abuse back home. Political and militaristic issues were also interpreted into athletic rivalries. Victories in athletics were almost as good as those on the battlefield. Participating in these athletics created a good way to practice and train those skills needed in combat.
Every society/culture since the creation of man has created this type of hero to embody the values and mores of that time period. To be thought of as an epic hero the character must be endowed with specific traits. A few of these traits are: having great stature, always larger than life, have traits most valued by that society (i.e. tremendous courage, humility, super human strength.) a quick wit accompanied by extraordinary intelligence and a perspicacity for the journeys he must endure and the adversaries that he will have to thwart.
As a hero, the Anglo-Saxons made Beowulf have certain hero characteristics. Today we still have heroes that have the same characteristics because authors took the image of Beowulf and created other super-natural heroes. Beowulf was a warrior and a king that showed great courage and he was admired by his own people and King Hrothgar. Epic heroes are social icons and they are imposing in stature, physically and socially. Their style is grand, yet simple, and they have super-human strength and they also face super-natural forces.