Modern Day Heroes: Achilles And Beowulf

What do Achilles, King Arthur, Harry Potter, and Beowulf all have in common? They all demonstrate the qualities of epic heroes. Beowulf represents several characteristics of an epic hero and demonstrates the values of the Anglo-Saxons. He is the main character of his story, he has a main goal, he travels and fights with a group of people, and he accomplishes many valorous deeds; the values of the Anglo-Saxons are also shown through the actions of Beowulf, such as courage, loyalty, and fame. For example, when Beowulf heard a cry for help in a far off land, he answered. He fought larger than life monsters, and won. His exceptional strength proves his epic courage and heroism.

How does beowulf's heroic acts compare to today's heroes.Becoming a hero you do not necessarily need brute strength, but can have mental strength as well. Having pride and honor is

Most of us have heard of modern day heroes such as Spiderman, Superman, and the Hulk. Each is a hero to many children. Heroes are introduced to people early on in life usually as fictional characters, but as children grow older their perceptions of heroes alter. The characteristics of a hero are usually based around the ideas of a society or culture. In the epic Beowulf, the main character is thought of as a hero. Beowulf, a pagan warrior and the main character of the epic, shows certain characteristics such as bravery, loyalty, and generosity, which portray him as a hero. It is interesting how modern day heroes show the much of the same qualities as Beowulf.

Beowulf and Achilles were both good warriors and won many battles. They were also both leaders of their kingdoms or tribes. They were both half man and half god so they were very strong. Achilles liked to show off and get more praise for what he did but Beowulf was more humble than Achilles. Achilles was driven by his emotions and did what his mind told him to do before thinking about it first. Both of them would take their enemy's body or a body part and hang it up or display it as a trophy for winning the battle.

The most heroic of traits within Beowulf is that he is not afraid to die. He always explains his death wishes before going into battle and requests to have any assets delivered to his people. “…and if death takes me…send to Hyglac the best of war clothes that protects my breasts, finest of male shirts. It is a legacy of Hrethel, the works of Weland. Fate always goes as it must.” He is aware of the heroic paradox; he will be glorified in life or death for his actions. He knows that when he fights an enemy like Grendel or Grendel’s mother he will achieve immortality as the victor or the loser. “I resolved when I sat down in the sea-boat with my men, that I should fulfill the will of your people or else fall in slaughter. I shall achieve a dead of manly

Beowulf is a hero, and we all know a hero when we see one. There are many traits and characteristics that make someone a hero. These traits and characteristics are more expressed in ancient epics and poems. Beowulf is one of the most famous ancient Anglo-Saxon poems still taught to this day in schools and colleges all over the world. The story starts off of how a man by the name of Beowulf receives news that a neighboring land is being terrorized by a monster named Grendel. Beowulf shows several characteristics of here such as, bravery, loyalty, generosity, friendship, and showing a high level of intellect. Beowulf first shows his heroic character through his bravery while journeying on his epic quest. There are several cases where he is not afraid, and instead of being frightened, he shows great bravery. An example of from the poem is, “Instead, they inspected omens and spurred his ambitions to go, whilst he moved about like the leader he was, enlisting men, the best he could find; with fourteen others the warrior boarded the boast as captain” (Beowulf 205-210). This quote gives proof of his bravery because he was the head of the group leading his men. Beowulf proves that even he himself must be brave in order to lead the bravest of men into battle.

Achilles and Beowulf both had an abundance amount of acts of bravery. That is the strongest trait that they share. They never cared how dangerous a situation might have been, they always went in for the kill. “Achilles glazed in wonder at the splendid king, and his

Beowulf exhibits many obvious heroic qualities, such as his strength and confidence in battle. These along with more subtle diplomatic actions serve to define him as both a great warrior and leader.

Achilles and Beowulf were two characters that had an amazing power that made his name lives for hundreds of years. Great warriors need some to have some specific characteristics to reach their fame because we have seem in some heroes that they have gods strong, a unique way to be and goals to achieve. Comparing the character of Achilles and Beowulf who were two of the best warrior of the history we could know if there are an outline to be a great warrior.

Heroes, from Beowulf to Superman our cultures have always created heroes. We may always have political, social, economic and religious differences, but at the end of the day we all have one thing in common, heroes. They help define who we are and what we want to be. They give us hope and inspire us to head in the right direction. They show us that good will always triumph over evil and that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. Heroes give us the inspiration we need to overcome problems in our own lives and that is why we create them. Beowulf perfectly embodies the idea of a hero. He defeats the evil Grendel and his mother, slays the dragon and saves his people. He is

Both Beowulf and Achilles are poetic characters, who hail from different eras of history and different cultural backgrounds. While each is unique in his own way, the two heroes also share similar characteristics. This paper will compare and contrast the medieval Germanic hero Beowulf with the classical Greek hero Achilles (of Homer's Iliad), and show how the two are similar and how the two are different.

While these Epic Heroes mainly fought for glory, how they achieved it is what sets them apart. Beowulf vanquished evil such as Grendel and Grendel’s Mother for the Danes to achieve his glory; “he’d [Beowulf] go to that famous king, would sail across the sea to Hrothgar, now when help was needed” (Beowulf 114-116). This was a noble way to achieve glory because this helped everyone, not only the Geats. Beowulf also defended his people, slaying a dragon in his old age even if it would cause his death. Achilles achieved his glory by slaying men such as Hector and many other trojans out of revenge for Patroclus, and it is clear that Achilles fights for revenge: “You'll pay the reckoning in full for all the pain my men have borne”, (Homer 99-100). The war he fought in was over a woman, not fighting against evil like in the

Throughout literature, the idea of the hero has changed to represent a number of differing. Heroes were originally personified as being an individual who were not bound by limitations, as well as demonstrating an archetypical sense of moral judgment. Later on, contrasting adaptations of heroes started to form in which the hero of a story would typically exhibit traits that would closely resemble the limitations and troubles that ordinary people faced. For the most part, a contemporary “hero” is simply looked at as the protagonist in the story. Acclaimed heroes in literature, such as Beowulf and Hamlet, when compared to one another can give a person a better sense of the changes in the hero. Although they both are the main characters

The protagonists in The Illiad and Beowulf are represented as resilient and daring individuals, which is mostly correct. However, the characters Achilles and Beowulf go through tragic experiences that leave them transformed. The godlike Achilles is distraught from the loss of a dear friend who was murdered. This encourages him to participate in the Trojan War to get his revenge. The fostered Beowulf is a loyal man who encounters many mythical creatures to save the kingdoms. The two heroes have different situations, but are normal humans who are placed on an elevated pedestal by the communities. The impression of a hero is that an ordinary individual finds a type of toughness that is endured to overcome difficult obstacles that are faced throughout

In the end, every tragic hero has a downfall whether a physical aspect, emotional aspect, or both. For both Beowulf and Achilles, physical and emotional flaws resulted in the death of each hero. Though physical attributes causes both men to die, the specific physical aspect that leads them to death differs. Beowulf physical flaw was his old age. The poem explicitly states fifty years has past since Beowulf’s battle with Grendel’s mother (Heaney 151). Therefore, Beowulf is not physically the same as he was in his younger days. However Beowulf insists on battling the dragon alone which inevitably leads to his death. Once again, the emotion of pride drives his actions, “the prince of the rings was too proud to line up with a large army against