Essay Comparing Beowulf And Gilgamesh

The epic poem “Beowulf” exemplifies the claim made by Joseph Campbell regarding the hero's call to adventure. The hero Beowulf and the hero from call to adventure both go through tremendous trials. In both stories the hero's struggle with life or death decisions. If they make one wrong move they are dead. Furthermore the next paragraph will explain how they are alike.

When compared against modern heroes, Beowulf comes off as a more of a rugged dirty character. When looking at heroes such as Captain America or Luke Skywalker, both of these characters are never pictured as dirty. Captain America, also known as Steve Rogers, is always pictured as clean and his suit never dirty, same thing with Luke Skywalker. Luke Skywalker grew up a farm boy on the desert planet of Tatooine and later became a Jedi Knight, he was never explained as dirty or foul such as Beowulf was.

Beowulf shares the same traits with as many other heroes I know about. For example, Beowulf 's willpower can be compared with Henry Cavill 's Superman (Man of Steel). In Beowulf: "The Battle with the Dragon", Beowulf battled the dragon and he noticed that his weapons started to fail him and that he was weakened by his age. In spite of that, Beowulf 's willpower enabled him to continue fighting the dreadful beast. Eventually, after his ally Wiglaf provided Beowulf with some assistance, he was able to break through and deliver the killing blow to the dragon. In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Superman 's willpower also allowed him to defeat the monster known as Doomsday. The Man of Steel was weakened by the weapon he held in his own

Beowulf actions, and mindset shows that he is an epic hero. (11.749-756), this quote shows his supernatural strength and bravery. “When the going was heavy in the high waves, I was the strongest swimmer of them all.” This quote shows that swimming for hours isn’t something just any male or female could do, it takes a lot of body strength and fatigue. (11.529-534), in these lines, “ I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons; therefore.. I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand… a life and death fight with the fiend.”(11.433-440). This hand to hand combat gained glory for himself and the Geatish King,

From the battles and fame to their leadership and loyalty both epic heroes gilgamesh and beowulf display the common characteristics of an epic hero. All throughout their journeys both heros come across situations that make them show who they really are and what they believe in. Although certain aspects of their leadership, journeys and personal beliefs are similar the way they display themselves in their personal and public lives make many of their characteristics differ from one another.

After reading both epics, “Beowulf” and the Hunger Games, the similarities and differences between the two become known. Both stories are written for entertainment purposes and to show people about the time the epics are written and their respective cultures. Many people read epics, whether older or more modern day, and don’t even know that they are reading one. This is because most people do not know the definition of an epic or that most Contemporary American books and movies are epics. Although from different time periods, both Beowulf, from the epic poem “Beowulf”, and Katniss Everdeen, from the Hunger Games trilogy, share epic hero characteristics and represent their respective cultures.

Beowulf is an epic hero, who is a strong and powerful man who comes from Sweden to Denmark to help a village that is being attacked by a man-eating monster named Grendel. Arthur, is a romantic hero who is the courageous king of Camelot who is a devoted leader and will do anything to protect his kingdom and people. Even though Beowulf and Arthur are two different heroes, they both share similar traits such as devoted followers, the use of magical weapons, and courageous traits throughout the story.

Between the two different battles of two different heros, both stories and heroes have similar characteristics. One man by the name Beowulf saved the kingdom and land by successfully conquering three monsters. Sir Gawain another hero from another story stepped up to the Green Knights game and held his promise to return his end of the deal. Both Beowulf and Sir Gawain did heroic duties throughout both stories which exposed their similarities.

Everybody likes rooting for a hero. And throughout the evolution of storytelling, from stories written in stone to those in tablets, heroes have always played a huge role in the stories we tell. As literature evolved, and more legends and tales began to appear in different cultures, the idea of a traditional epic hero was established. Stories like "The Epic of Gilgamesh," and "The Odyssey," set the mold for this type of heroes, an influence that can clearly be seen when analyzing literature. In fact, most of these characters, regardless of the time and place they were created in, shared similar characteristics to the two kings. A huge number possessed skills that mere mortals didn 't have, which helped them defeat their "infamous" enemies. These

What qualifies a person to be called a hero? Officially a hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Most people think of a superhero, like Batman or Spiderman, or someone closer to them such as their mother or their life-saving doctor. Heroes tend to be the main character in a story. Beowulf and Odysseus are two famous epic heroes in the texts Beowulf and The Odyssey. They both go through the “Hero’s Journey,” and display many characteristics of a hero. Beowulf, however, better fits the qualities of an epic hero due to his unselfish personality, his fearlessness, and his nobility.

Beowulf is a more heroic main character than Buliwyf due to his independence and leadership. In the poem Beowulf is viewed as a superhuman. He likes to fight battles by himself to prove to everyone how truly powerful he is. "No man swims in the sea as I can, no strength is a match for mine." (Beowulf lines 533-534). Beowulf is seen fighting monsters and slaying beasts. Beowulf's character in The 13th Warrior, Buliwyf, differs majorly from Beowulf. Buliwyf never once goes into a fight alone or even mentions that he would like to do so. Buliwyf just appears to be a normal person with no superhuman skills. Although Beowulf and Buliwyf have different leadership styles, they are both still shown respect by their peers.

Beowulf and King Arthur are both portrayed as heroes and someone to look up to. Some similarities are both of them are very brave. They are also both very compelling leaders in their own respective ways. Even with their similarities they  have differences in their heroic qualities such as Beowulf not really being a human in the sense that he can do superhuman things and King Arthur being a normal human being. It's also interesting to note that King Arthur was more of a hero for his character whereas Beowulf was more of a hero in the sense that he slays monsters and dragons.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first epic poem to be written in ancient West Asia. It was written around the third millennium BCE in Mesopotamia by Sumerian people (Spodek, 127). The epic is based on actual an historical figure, a Sumerian king who reigned the city-state of Uruk around third millennium BCE. Ashurbanipal, the last Neo-Assyrian king who was literate, built a great library in his capital and preserved 20,000 tablets including the earliest complete version of The Epic of Gilgamesh (Spodek, 128). Sumerian attitudes towards gods, friendship, and the story of the great flood are revealed throughout the epic.

The story of Beowulf is a well known story and is used in many schools as a teaching model and in many schools around the world. The movie The Lord of The Rings is a very popular movie that many people have watched and know about it. The creator of The Lord of The Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien, was a huge fan of Beowulf and used many of the ideas from the story into The Lord of The Rings. There are many similarities and differences between the two stories. The similarities and differences between the characters and the settings in both of the stories. Also there are some themes that appear in both of these stories and how they are connected and different. Some of these themes are the themes of death, boasting/ego, courage, violence, and Good vs Evil.

Gilgamesh is an epic that has been passed down for thousands of years. The epic narrates the legendary deeds of the main character Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is two-thirds immortal and one-third mortal; however, he cannot accept his fate that one day he too will die. The entire epic tells the story of Gilgamesh’s life and searche for immortality. Through his many trials and tribulations, Gilgamesh proves that he has great physical strength. However, throughout the epic Gilgamesh also shows he is emotionally unstable and immature.