Beowulf was seen as a great warrior, who fought until his death. In his first battle Beowulf triumphs over a monster, Grendal who has been terrorizing the people of King Hrothgar. In the second battle, Beowulf faces off with Grendal’s mother, coming out the victor once again. In the final battle, we see Beowulf meet his end, when he fights to the death with the dragon. Each battle is a representation of good vs. evil.
Beowulf eventually becomes king and dies defending his people from a fire dragon. Beowulf accomplishes his hero cycle through heroic deeds, encounter with numinous phenomenon, and his death, proving he is an ideal hero. To begin, Beowulf starts off the hero cycle strong by performing heroic deeds leading up to his challenge. He says, “A monster seized me, drew me swiftly toward the bottom, swimming with its claws tight in my flesh, but fate let me find its heart with my sword, hack myself free; I fought that beast’s last battle, left it floating lifeless in the sea” (Beowulf 273-278). Once in a swimming race Beowulf had been attacked by a sea monster and had to save himself.
In the movie, the dragon is Beowulf’s son and it draws up a tragic event of a father kill his son to stop a lustful action. The dragon is killed by a deep strike of sword in poem but it is killed by Beowulf’s bare hand in the movie. About characters, Hrothgar is supposed to be a respectful king with his
Textual Analysis: Beowulf Attacks the Dragon “I risked my life often when I was young. Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning, if the evil one will only abandon his earth-fort and face me in the open.” Beowulf was a great king and an even better man. He led when no other could, and he fought when no other would. He had displayed an unmatchable courage as he fought and defeated Grendel as well as Grendel’s mother. Along with these defeats as well as being king for now fifty years, there was not much more notoriety and respect that Beowulf could gain.
Thus, leaving him with no protection. Also, during the battle, Beowulf’s sword was broken, this left Beowulf with no weapon. Though, thanks to one of Beowulf’s warriors, Wiglaf. The two were then able to slay The Dragon. Another similarity in the 3 battles is that Beowulf retrieved a prize from each
People looked up to him and strived to be like him. Everyone knew his name and who he was because he boasted after every victory. Beowulf was cocky and arrogant, but when it was time to do business, he could get the job done. He was the brute force of the Geat army and never backed down from a fight. Image was very important to the Anglo-Saxons and they cared about being seen as courageous and tough.
This paper will tell examples and reasoning of why Beowulf is all of these things. An epic hero is one that stands out among all the rest. Even after hearing many stories of Grendel’s wrath, he still planned to fight the best without any hesitation. The reader would believe this is an example of a very brave fighter. Beowulf shows his abilities and proves brave enough as he resolves to kill the “lady monster”, (excerpt page 40).
At the heart of it, Achilles was a solider and a leader. His actions in battle and his decisions during The Iliad give example on why he is a hero. He made hard choices that lead to him sacrificing himself for the sake of others even though he had no personal stock in the Trojan War. Achilles doesn’t fit the common idea of a hero but in the story he shows that he himself defines the heroic nature and shows that it takes a special type of person to make the decisions he made and take action like he did. In any Greek story, honor has been held at high importance.
Throughout his entire life, he had a very charismatic personality. This helped him to succeed in inspiring and motivating his men. Having the respect of his soldiers helped him to become a favourable political leader that people were able to look up to and admire.In addition, Alexander was a very strategic individual. It was due to this that he managed to create many effective military positions. This played a big role in his many victories, as he was able to win battles against the other leaders who did not have equally adequate positions.
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.