Achilles And Beowulf Comparison Essay

Achilles now has nothing to do but choose his own fate, and fight brutally until he either leaves the battle and achieves nostos, or kills Hector and achieves kleos, while also sealing his own fate to die in the war. However, the ominous threat of his own death does not prevent Achilles from fighting valiantly. He slaughters rapidly and brutally, carving a clear path through the Trojans to Troy and to his own kleos. His incredible aristeia is fueled by a total, overwhelming desire to “meet...that Hector who destroyed the dearest life [he knew]” and kill him in battle (18.135-136). Despite his full awareness that killing Hector will destroy any

It is evident from the beginning of the poem that Beowulf is meant to be the hero. He is strong, brave, and courageous but is also boastful and seeks only fame and glory. These characteristics are examples of things that could be related to hyper masculinity and are not necessarily desired in a hero today. In the quote “They have seen my strength for themselves, Have watched me rise from the darkness of war, Dripping with my enemies' blood. I drove Five great giants into chains, chased All of that race from the earth.

I think ultimately anger is what lead to Achilles downfall. When Achilles finds out that Hector has killed his dear friend Patroclus, Achilles becomes very anger and vengeful. The only thing on Achilles mind is killing Hector. Achilles is so angry at Hector that he only thinks about killing him and getting revenge. Achilles anger takes over his body and nothing can stop him from getting to Hector, not even the gods.

He remained headstrong, stubborn and selfish in his actions, even warranting rebuke from the men on certain occasions. This is seen in the very first conflict that is witnessed on the pages of The Iliad. Agamemnon is faced with the request to give up his war prize, and immediately and indignantly decides against all the council of the army in order to keep his prize of a woman (28). With this decision, he sought his own desires selfishly and disconnected himself from the men he was meant to lead. Granted, he possessed a strong will, a thing very necessary for good leadership.

The text describes Beowulf’s strength by stating, “But Beowulf longed only for fame leaped back into battle. He tossed his sword aside, angry; the steel-edged blade lay where he dropped it. If weapons were useless he’d use his hands, the strength in his fingers.” (457-462). Beowulf realizes that his sword is ineffective against the mighty mother of Grendel. He gives up on a useless weapon and attacks the terrifying monster with his bare hands.

Beowulf does this for "for the glory of winning" (2514). This shows that Beowulf was so powerful in battle that he doesn't have to struggle and enjoys his glory in winning. And he accomplishes this once again proving his strength in battle. In conclusion Beowulf is so powerful that he can enjoy his glory. This quote also show another trait of an epic hero which is the “fatal flaw.” In his confidence in combat he failed to recognize that he was wounded by the dragon, with a poisoness bite.

Everyone always feels the need to “get even” at someone for a wrongdoing. Getting revenge is what all creatures do at some point in their life. Throughout the Epic Poem Beowulf, everyone has a motive and some of the creatures are out for revenge. In the Epic Poem Beowulf, the unknown author uses the Universal Theme of Revenge, to represent the motivation for the monsters. When Grendel dies from the power of Beowulf, this does not leave Grendel’s Mother amused.

As has been noted, many of Beowulf 's characteristics are also shared by traditional epic heroes. He 's brave and never "cowers", defeats previously unbeatable monsters, comes from nobility, and has incredible superhuman strength. Beowulf can be compared to any other epic hero, and the similarities found between them will be never ending. However, there are other characteristics that the king of the Geats possesses which make him be very different from most epic heroes. First, there is the issue with Beowulf 's lack of a moral compass.

He has always pursued traditional goals familiar to Homer’s world and to many places in ours: help friends, harm enemies, earn honor for success in battle. Enraged by the tribunal’s failure to acknowledge his supreme martial skill, Ajax tries to murder all of the Greek leaders. After regaining his senses, Ajax makes this speech, which has the effect of misleading listeners into thinking that Ajax intends to soften and accept the tribunal’s decision, yet he claims that the Greek leaders are aiming to be more powerful than they should be. Ajax says “In future, then, we’ll know to yield to the gods / And learn how to revere the sons of Atreus” (666-667). For self-preservation, Ajax says that one should revere the gods and yield to the Greek leaders, but Ajax emphasizes the power-grabbing by reversing the verbs “yield”, and “revere.” Ajax realizes that the Greek kings, Agamemnon and Menelaus, are the ones who have power over the group consensus, and are therefore the ones responsible for handing the armor to

unlike Lancelot, The Knight of the Cart, Beowulf was not full of a want for the love of somebody else, but is instead an epic poem of a man with amazing strength, and power. With battles fought against monsters, and dragons for glory. Although the theme may have been different for these stories. The main characters shared a lot of the same heroic traits. For instance, Lancelot who was the most legendary of the round table for his strength in combat, and courageous determination.