Epic Of Beowulf By Joseph Campbell-The Hero

Beowulf discovers this and goes after the witch and battle. Beowulf is at the bottom of the lake and is fighting to death with Grendel’s mother. On page 60, “But her guest discovered that no sword could slice her evil skin, that Hrunting could not hurt her, was useless.” The quote explains once Beowulf knew his sword Hrunting had no effect on Grendel’s mother, Beowulf had to come up with another strategy to win the battle. Beowulf’s sword is destroyed while fighting Grendel’s mother, and tries to find a new weapon to fight with. On page 61, the quote says “Then he saw, hanging on the wall, a heavy sword, hammered by the giants, strong and blessed with their magic.” The quote is saying Beowulf uses the Giants strong, heavy, sword to fight Grendel’s mother and savagely cut through the witch’s neck. Now have killed Grendel and his mother. After defeating Grendel’s mother Beowulf decides to claim an award one last time for revenge. Page 62 quotes “Had sent him from Herot, then struck off his head with a single swift blow. The body jerked for the last time, then lay still.” Beowulf has cut off Grendel’s head as an act of revenge and claims the head as his reward and leaves Grendel’s body bleeding. Beowulf has slaughtered two monsters, claimed another prize, and once again saved the

A hero is somebody who commits an act of remarkably bravery or who has shown an admirable quality such as great courage or strength of character. (Encarta, 2009) Joseph Campbell has come up with eight of his own characteristics of a hero. Joseph Campbell is known as a scholar of mythology. There are several people in our times that are considered a hero. Whether, these heroes are fictional or nonfiction, they all portray some kind of heroic abilities.

They praise sir Beowulf, thanking him greatly. Yet little did this town or Beowulf know the agony yet to come. Grendel was indeed a monster, but a monster who was the spawn of a cruel creature. The slain monster’s mother, a she-wolf would be the hero’s next challenge. He would travel to the home of the monster’s mother, to yet again engage in the act of battle. They shall meet in the deep depths of the marshy hell. Beowulf would try to defeat the she-wolf with his sword but would not be enough. As he begins to become beaten, and weak, he sees a sword that may be to his advantage. “A heavy sword, hammered by giants, strong and blessed by their magic, the best of all weapons but so massive that no ordinary man could lift its carved and decorated length” (page 54 line 530-535) He raised thy mighty sword and struck the devil in the neck, cutting the entire head off. Hrothgar’s men watch the monster’s lake filled with blood. Thinking all hope and gone and mighty Beowulf had been killed. Yet as the old men begin to whisper the mighty hero rises from the lake, only holding the she-wolfs head and the giant’s sword. The Beowulf would return with the head and place the monsters head in front of the

Anyone who influences anyone else by saving or helping save his or her lives can be a hero. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. changed the lives of millions of people by bringing justice to minorities. Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest heroes, led a nonviolent revolution to free his country. Even a parent can be a hero to his or her child by leading them in the right direction. All teachers are heroes when they make it their job to teach a child anything that will help them in life. You don’t have to go to great lengths by risking your life to make a difference in someone else’s life.

One of the major fights that make Beowulf an epic hero is the fight with Grendel. Grendel is a monster spawned out of slime. He terrorizes and kills the Danes every night for 12 years with their attempt of fighting back. Beowulf hears about Grendel and decides to take matters in his own hand. He chose fifteen warriors to go and battle with him. On the way he meets a king named Hrothgar. Beowulf introduces himself and they go to the hall to meet the other warriors. During the night, Beowulf stays up and waits for Grendel to come out. Grendel comes out and kills a male then Beowulf wrestles him and puts up a good fight. Grendel notices Beowulf strength and starts to panic. “Grendel knew at once that nowhere on earth Had he met a man whose hands were harder; His mind was flooded with fear- but nothing could take his talons and himself from that tight Hard grip.” ("Beowulf." : A

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”(Joseph Campbell). Joseph Campbell showed how important hero’s are by creating the Hero’s Journey and that you can be a hero just through writing and showing it through different characters. A hero shows that you can help other people to make the world better

The Heroism in Finding One’s Self Heroic characters that are developed in different media will almost always share very similar traits. However, just like everything else in the world, no two entities are ever exactly alike. Although these traits are what can categorize the characters into certain groups, how each trait is exhibited in their own heroic ways is what separates them.

Grendel’s mom was furious; she invited the one who they called Beowulf down to her lair as she wanted revenge for her son’s death. She carried him and his sword to her battle hall where no one could get to them and he could not escape without defeating her. Beowulf tried to use his sword but it had no affect due to her spell on human weapons. They fought and Beowulf was already tired from getting attacked by the sea creatures on the way. As they fought he became weary and there was nothing he could do, but he realized that he had spotted the mythical sword hand crafted by the magical giants themselves. He reached out to it and ripped it from the chains. It was so big it took all his might and all the energy he had left to raise is above his head and chop down on the vicious beast. Slicing her head clean off as it cuts through all the bones and muscles in the neck like butter. Beowulf spotted Grendel lying lifeless In the corner. He walked over to him and cut his head right off. He took the head of the monster who took many lives of his fellow soldiers and his friends. He brought it back to the

He then explores the dead land and finds others like him to stop the machine called “B.R.A.I.N”. Fictional characters are given superpowers from the story since they are not real. In real life, people don’t have superpowers but there own strengths and weaknesses. To become a hero, courage and other realistic qualities should be present instead of unrealistic ones. Courage is needed to bring others together to save a person.

Beowulf was the only person to step up to the challenge when Grendel plagued Herot and the Danes. When swords were not able to penetrate Grendel’s scaly skin, Beowulf used his bare hands. Grendel was fighting as hard as he could and giving every bit of strength he had, but the brave warrior did not give up. He fought with all his might before tearing the creature’s arm off, forcing it to retreat back to the dark lake in which he and his mother resided. Beowulf was a courageous knight who never trembled in the face of a monster.

During his landmark interview in 1988, Bill Moyers, mythologist Joseph Campbell explained the significance of hero myths and why they continue to be of interest to audiences today. During the interview, Joseph Campbell describes how there are many kinds of heroes and the journeys that go on that makes them all different. The journeys that heroes go on are very similar, but generally either viewed as physical or spiritual. If a hero goes on goes a physical journey, then they generally saved a life or in turn sacrificing their life to save someone else. On the other hand, heroes can go on spiritual journeys as well, in order to go on this journey they have learned or “found a mode of experiencing the supernormal range of human spiritual

The hero is shown in their home world. He or she is seen as ordinary

This connection to being a hero exists because one of the defining characteristics of a “hero” is that they accomplish one or more of their

Joseph Campbell defines a hero as an individual who is capable of leaving their ordinary everyday life in order to assist those who need aid and support in a separate world. According to Campbell, the hero must complete the majority of his twelve stages in order to classify as a hero. William Wallace, from Mel Gibson’s film Braveheart, displays all of Joseph Campbell’s stages of a hero through his conquest to gain freedom for his home country, Scotland.

What is a hero? In my view a hero is someone that you admire. You may