Beowulf's Model Of An Epic Hero

The main characteristics of an epic hero are strength, courage and loyalty. Beowulf demonstrates his strength in his battle with Grendel. With his extraordinary strength, Beowulf is able to bend back the claws Grendel “as Beowulf leaned up on one arm” (Beowulf line 190), and he keeps hold of Grendel’s hands long enough for Grendel to eventually fight back so hard his arm rips off. Not only is he strong enough to defeat Grendel with his bare hands, but Beowulf also lifts the sword of a giant to defeat Grendel’s mother. He courageously volunteers himself into battle with “A powerful monster, living down / In the darkness” (34-35). This monster also has a mother who is stronger than him, but Beowulf does not fear. Beowulf courageously goes down to the darkness where their den lies and comes up with Grendel’s head and the handle of the sword he uses to kill Grendel’s mother. Later in life, “Beowulf [utters] his final boast: / “ I’ve never known fear; as a youth I fought / in endless battles. I am old, now, / But I will fight again” (483-486). Beowulf utters his final boast before he courageously goes into his final battle which he loses to the dragon. In loyalty to the men that serve him, Beowulf makes sure that if he does not return from his battle with Grendel’s mother they will be able to return to their homeland. He

In the epic hero poem, Beowulf, the main character Beowulf, is a prideful, boastful and extremely strong individual. He is faced with a few tasks during the course of the poem; the first of which is fighting and killing an evil, dangerous and disgusting creature, named Grendel, which terrorized the town of Herot. Soon after that, Grendel’s devious mother “the she-wolf,” attacks Beowulf and the town forcing Beowulf to fight her off as well. After the mother-son duo, Beowulf is then faced with the biggest task of his existence, both literally and figuratively. During each of these battles Beowulf fights and kills these creatures in different ways with different weapons and different tactics. He also changes during each fight, and at the end of the poem is quit a different man. How does he manage to fight each creature off and what kind of tactics did he use? Well that’s a great question, let me elaborate.

There have been many grand stories about great warriors, and champions; those about epic heroes however, are the truly exceptional tales. One such tale, over a thousand years old, stands out from all the rest: Beowulf, the tale of a great warrior, on his quest to achieve eternal glory, defeating great opponents. Throughout the whole story, Beowulf demonstrates most –if not all- of the qualities that an archetypal hero possesses. He embodies the highest ideals of his culture, travels to find adventure, and is not emotionally connected to his followers. Beowulf undertakes his journey to achieve something of great value to himself and society, defeats monsters, yet maintains humanity. Although Beowulf experiences

Throughout history there have been many examples of the epic hero. From the earliest Greek mythology to the modern superhero, this motif has been recycled countless times. There are many interchangeable qualities that define an epic hero, such as bravery, honor, and strength as well as more literary aspects such as accomplishing impossible feats, escaping from an abysmal situations and needing atonement. One of the first written accounts of such a character is Beowulf. Beowulf, the main character of a story by the same name, fits the mold of an epic hero perfectly; he was the prince of Geats, had super human strength, and was a incomprehensibly powerful warrior.

A hero is the central figure who has superior qualities and risks personal danger to pursue a quest. Beowulf is a great epic hero because he performs many brave deeds such as risking his life for the greater good of society, and is significant and glorified by all people. Beowulf boasts and boasts about all of his great doings, but in the end he proves to everyone that he is as great as he claims to be.

“He would sleep in the fire, soon. His soul, left his flesh, flew to glory.” This very quote from the epic Beowulf, sets the tone and very intense qualities of older epics. This specific epic, focuses on the hero and Beowulf, who is the only warrior capable of defeating the vicious villainous creature Grendel, and his mother. Beowulf shares the qualities of many other epic heroes such as showing the nature of being almost superhuman, being the deciding factor in the wellbeing of his people, and showing uncontested bravery no matter the obstacle they must face. In more modern times, the United States Delta Force can be considered an epic heroes based on the sheer values and courage held by its members.

“The whole earth is the tomb of heroic men and their story is not given only on stone over their clay but abides everywhere without visible symbol woven into the stuff of other men’s lives,” said Perculus (PR). You’re born, you live a little, and then you die. There is no simpler way to sum up life. Often times this is done through oral tales, paintings, and various other ways. For those whose lives were truly something great, something memorable, their stories are transcripted into writings. Whether these are simple biographies or symbolic fictional works, stories are often based on someone greater than the writer. These “epic heros” are protagonists that fulfill their potential of greatness through using their bravery, strength and

In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf holds many traits of being an epic hero. A epic hero is a brave and noble character, admired for great achievements. Beowulf takes charge and kills Grendel and his Mother, rules Geatland for the best, and finally gets defeated by the dragons. Beowulf holds a strong standing as an epic hero in this poem. In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf shows the real meaning of being strong, on a quest, and ethical.

Beowulf is the story of good vs, evil and shows unbelievable courage, and strength battling 3 different monsters. Beowulf battled Grendel, Grendel’s mother and a Dragon. I believe that Beowulf has every characteristic of an Epic hero because he does everything in his power to protect others. Beowulf is heroic in many ways he slew Grendel, to rid Hrothgar of this creature. After the battle with Grendel, Beowulf made peace with Grendel’s mother creating the third monster, the dragon.

The traits of an epic hero are superhuman abilities, embarking on a journey that changes him forever, and displays/embodies values of society. The epic, Beowulf, begins centuries ago where a young Geat comes to the land of the Danes to kill the monster who terrorizes the Danish, Grendel. In the process of completing his task, Beowulf reveals that he is an epic hero with the traits to show for it.

Readers could compare Beowulf to other great hero’s such as Odysseus. All these things add up to him becoming an epic hero. The deeds that make Beowulf a hero have mostly to do with him slaying terrifying monsters. Through this he helped the people whom the monsters terrorized.

In the epic poem Beowulf there were many heroic characteristics shown. The protagonist Beowulf is shown as a hero with extraordinary strength. Beowulf was a hero because of his generosity, power, strength, and courage. A hero is someone who puts their self at high risk with extraordinary strength to perform a task. His volition purpose in his lifetime is to help others, in which doing so he eventually sacrifices his own life.

Celebrated and celebritized by the people, heros are typically perceived in epic poems as larger than life characters with extraordinary characteristics who defeat evil and represent good. On the other hand, villains, seen as ravenous, heartless, beasts terrorize the helpless people for no reason are not sympathized. Displaying this common outlook on the “hero” and “villain” is the epic poem, Beowulf, where the readers view the main character, Beowulf, as a brave warrior who sets out to defeat the harmful and destructive Grendel. On the other hand, John Gardner’s Grendel takes a different outlook on the epic poem where the reader sympathizes Grendel after comprehending his life, lack of self esteem, and watches him fall the victim of

When talking about an ideal hero, one must consider what characteristics qualify someone to become a hero. Of all of the characteristics a few stand out: strength, and courage. Beowulf possesses both of these characteristics. When Beowulf was first being introduced, the narrator explained who he was: “Beowulf, Higlac’s Follower, and the strongest of the Geats-greater and stronger than anyone anywhere in this world” (Raffel 26). Strength is one key aspect of being a hero and Beowulf is known as being the strongest man around. The other character trait, being courage, can be seen when Beowulf went willingly into Grendel’s home. His house was described as a terrible and horrifying

The 3D animated film Beowulf was released in 2007 and captured a completely new look at the story of the epic hero Beowulf. The film compared to the epic poem, written nearly a thousand years before, is different story wise. Critics had opposing opinions on the movie, some immensely enjoyed it, while others were not fond of the approach the writers took. Although the animated feature Beowulf made several changes to the original poem, Beowulf is a great movie that embodies the epic while having its own story, because the film shows that Beowulf is flawed, the transformation of Grendel’s mother’s character provides a compelling narrative, and the modern spin on the poem made the film more fascinating. While Beowulf is seen as a flawless hero in the poem, the movie presents him as not just a hero, but a flawed one.