Courageous Acts by Heroes in Ancient Literature

Courage is an important quality to have, because everyone can’t always be afraid of everything and let their fears hold them back. Sometimes people have to do things that they don’t want to do, or they have to face their fears.

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.” - Mark Twain. To be courageous means being a risk-taker and standing up for what one believe in. One must not let fear stop them from overcoming an obstacle. Courage is the ability to act on one's beliefs despite the dangers or disapproval. Courage shows when one acts on their beliefs whether someone feels that it’s right or wrong. Being courageous means to have the ability to face a fear, pain, or a difficult challenge. It means to conquer fear. Three great examples of bravery and heroism was shown in the Civil Rights Movement by Rosa Parks, in World War 2 by the Monuments Men and Robert M. Edsel, and by former First Lady, Michelle Obama. Their involvement in the world set the bar for people on why having courage is important and what it means to me.

Heroes need courage. Not only do heroes need to be selfless and strong to be considered heroes, but they need courage to finish their journey. To overcome obstacles and sacrifice their other goals, heroes need strength in courage. Rushing into the unknown, standing up for the weak and making tough sacrifices are not easy tasks when faced with fear and temptation. Pushing through those obstacles is vital to any hero and his/her journey.

True bravery is when you’re aware that the odds are against you, however, you have the ability to persevere through it. Even though you don’t want to complete the task ahead of you, an inner force brings you the motivation to do it. Sincere courageousness doesn’t always entail violence; in fact, courage comes from the choices made within that affect yourself or those around you. The outcome may not always be to your advantage, but

When discussing epic heroes, some of the more prominent ones that come to mind are Beowulf (from Beowulf), Hektor (from The Iliad), and Achilleus (also from The Iliad). These are all characters from literature who have displayed a multitude of the characteristics embodied in epic heroes. Each one of these literary figures has exhibited necessary traits needed to be considered an epic hero. Whether those traits are some of the common ones such as strength, honor, loyalty, perseverance, and bravery, or some of their own such as pride, intelligence, and morality. Whatever the case, these three have undergone difficulties and shown ties to the values held by their cultures within how they deal with issues. In this essay, I will attempt to

One good example of courage is in Homer's epic poem, “The Odyssey,” when Odysseus enters the Cyclops’ cave. In the epic poem Odysseus and his men enter the Cyclops cave and the text states “We climbed, then, briskly to the cave. But Cyclops had gone afield..." (Homer 157-158). This example demonstrates that Odysseus enters a Cyclops cave and is not fearful. Odysseus enters the cave because he sees treasure and wants to get it for him and his crew. Odysseus chooses to enter the cave even though he knew the cave was the Cyclops home and this demonstrates courage, and this is why the trait should be encouraged. Another good example of courage that sticks out is Newton Knight, who chooses to help slaves even though he lives in the south during the Civil War. In the Biography.com Editors’s article, “Newton Knight,” Knight chooses to stop fighting for the Confederate Army and goes back to his hometown to help slaves, as the text states “They saw themselves as defending the residents of Jones County from the Confederacy” (Biography.com Editors 1). Therefore, this example demonstrates that Knight chooses to fight against the Confederate Army even though he lives in Mississippi. It takes a lot of courage to go up against the Confederate Army even though he lived in the south and almost everyone was against him. It should

Bravery is often defined as having courage or being intrepid, but it’s much more than that, it’s having strength to face danger.

Many people act courageously everyday and, have been since humanity came to be. Proof of this bravery can be found in Elie Wiesel's Night: During the torturous time of the holocaust, while Elie was being escorted to another camp by cattle car; he describes the death of

Courage is not facing a problem without any fear. Courage is facing an obstacle despite their fear. Standing up for what they believe in, even though there will be negative consequences. That is true courage. The book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee does a great job of showing this.

“Courage is not the absence of fear is the ability to act in the presence of fear.”This quote explains that it is an act of bravery when you do something that helpful or valuable to you even if you are afraid doing it. For instance risking your life to stand up for something that you care about or that you believe.

Nelson Mandela once said “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” This quote explains how we must overcome our fears to become courageous and brave. Joan Bauers realistic fiction short story “The Truth About Sharks” tells us this. One day a girl named Beth a 17 year old girl woke up to what she thought was just going to be an ordinary day. She had to go to the store and grab pants for a party. Sounds like an simple task, but not for Beth. As she was shopping she left all of her belongings in a changing room and was going to look for a shirt. She told a friendly salesperson named Hanne where she was headed. On the way she was

Courage is not about playing the hero for attention or making a big spectacle. Courage is about doing the right thing even if nobody else agrees with it. If someone can take a stand against their own people because they believe the people are biased and discriminant, that is courage. Courage is about doing what others deem impossible for someone to do. Harriet Tubman is a prime example.

Courage is like a fiery beast in your belly, or a soft whispering in your ear. Essentially though it comes from your heart and lets you know when to make a stand. From those serving in war to the kid standing up to a playground bully those are the courageous. Even when they know their choices or opinions might not make them they stand up for their beliefs

     Bravery is a great trait for a hero to posses. I think bravery is a key quality because you don’t always know what lies ahead of you and you have to be brave to continue. A good example of this is Charles Lindburgh. He was the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. I believe that took a great amount of bravery because no one had ever made it across, so he didn’t know what lie ahead of him. One of his many good quotes he said, “The most effective way to do it, is to just do it”, (Lindburgh 1).

Courage is a necessity to overcome fears and achieve a desired goal. Fear is something that exists in all of us. There is no hero or any particular courageous figure that is without fear. Being fearless is not required to be courageous, one simply has to look past or overcome their fears to possess this great quality. When overcoming fears and going against the norm, there are always risks involved. There are different types of risks that come about. Someone could risk life or limb, while others risk their reputation. Either risk is serious enough that a person must have courage to endure that particular risk. Courage can occur anytime, anywhere, and often in our everyday lives. Everyone will experience courage no matter how young,