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Beowulf: The 12 Characteristics Of An Epic Hero

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The character Beowulf has all of the characteristics that an epic hero should have. In the Epic Hero PowerPoint, Belinda Jones says: “He has 12 main characteristics: they must look like a hero, they must be noble, famous, strong, courageous, humble, prideful, thick-skinned, self-sacrificing, faithful, focused, be a leader, and have a tragic flaw” (Jones 3). An epic hero must have all 12 characteristics or they are not an epic hero. If someone has all 12 characteristics that an epic hero is supposed to have, they can start their hero’s journey. One example that suggests that Beowulf has courage and supernatural strength would be when he stabs the dragon, landing a fatal wound. In Beowulf, the narrator says: “Once again the king/ gathered his strength and drew a stabbing knife/ he carried on his belt, sharpened for battle./ He stuck it deep into the dragon’s flank./ Beowulf dealt it a deadly wound” (Heaney 2701- 2704). This shows that Beowulf has courage because …show more content…

It stops him from making and doing helpful things. His flaw is that he is too strong to create swords that can help him defeat his opponents. As long as they are not iron, he can create them. In the Epic Hero PowerPoint, Belinda Jones states that: “In Beowulf, he is so strong, he is unable to wield any swords made of iron because they break” (Jones 27). This is a flaw because when he is fighting the dragon, he does not have a sword that can help him so it is harder for Beowulf to slaw the dragon. Another one of Beowulf’s tragic flaws is his pride. He didn’t know when to stop fighting off monsters even when he was getting older. The narrator explains when Beowulf was getting ready to fight Grendel’s mother how he, “donned his war-gear, indifferent to death” (Heaney 11441). He is so prideful and boastful that he thought that he was basically immortal to death or anything that can potentially kill him. Sometimes Beowulf’s pride might be too much to

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