Examples Of Heroism In Beowulf

Is Beowulf a Hero? The poem Beowulf, tells of great the great undertakings of Beowulf, a man who has defeated many ruthless monsters and seeks fame and glory. If we take Beowulf and compare him to the Anglo-Saxon ideal hero, Beowulf fills all the necessary requirements but, when compared to modern day standards, Beowulf doesn’t quite make the cut. In the modern day, selflessness is the ideal. 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 swam In the blackness of night, hunting monsters Out of the ocean, and killing them one By one.” pg. 36, lines 417-423 Beowulf is talking about all he has achieved but is not humble and does not act as though he is helping the Danes

He often speaks of all the killing he’s done when by today’s standard that can be a very negative course of action and isn’t always viewed in the most positive of lights. “the Danes started In new terror, cowering in their beds as the terrible Screams of the Almighty's enemy sang In the darkness, the horrible shrieks of pain And defeat, the tears torn out of Grendel's Taut throat, hell's captive caught in the arms Of him who of all the men on earth Was the strongest." pg. 47-48, lines 783-790 This quote highlights both the strength that Beowulf possesses but also the violence that is a byproduct of said strength. When looking at modern heroes, generally speaking we think of charitable work and non violence because the world is so unnecessarily cruel and