Essay Comparing Gilgamesh And Beowulf

“The villain is the person who knows the most but cares the least,” This quote comes from Chuck Klosterman. A villain means that you don’t care about other people and they are just selfish and mean. Alexander the Great is a villain because he killed a lot of people and destroyed many towns and cities. Alexander the Great is a villain because killed a lot of people.

Bernard Evslin’s Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths and Burton Raffel’s Beowulf provide the reader with heroes who are morally questionable. In a typical myth, the hero of the story often makes many ambiguous choices that seem admirable on the surface, but develop in an unsettling manner. The hero is generally guided to an adventure and along the way commits many sins of goodness. Oftentimes, these heroes will never be able to overcome their obstacles; and therefore become fundamentally flawed. They are often looked up to as role models, but in essence these “heros” are representations of evil.

He gives Beowulf a Sword and it allows him to use everything he has left in defeating the dragon. “The king/ gathered his strength and drew a stabbing knife/he carried on his belt, sharpened for battle” (Heaney 2701-2703). Even though the dragon dies so does Beowulf. This keeps the good vs evil at a balance until the next evil takes over.

he lied about killing Grendel’s mother. Both Achilles and Beowulf are different from each other and the better hero is Achilles because he’s not a liar as Beowulf that lied about killing monster and he takes his words granted. Achilles is the better hero than Beowulf. He is the better hero in the 21st century. He is a hero to the one he saved from being killed and having great

For all the great strengths of these heroes it’s important to remember they’re still human. Humans are naturally flawed beings, in fact their exaggerated strengths seem to make their weaknesses more dramatic. These fatal flaws constantly get between the hero and reaching his goal contributing to setbacks, loss, and sometimes death. Odysseus’s fatal flaw is pride, usually in himself he lets his positive regard for his own abilities and wants get in the way of his decision making process. One example is his military leadership, he makes both very good and very bad military decisions in his time commanding men, Odysseus is, as Homer says,” polytropos, many-sided, mixed, multi-colored, piebald.

Many violent battles break out that leave the victor appearing valiant. No man is completely invincible, however, and just when it seems that nothing could possibly defeat him, our hero’s strength finally gives out. Beowulf dies a death as violent as his life. What once brought him glory and fame, in the end destroys him. This paper explores the historical and cultural context from which Beowulf emerges as well as the role of violence in the epic.

Whiles Epic heroes are strong skillful people, they still get themselves in situations that could end them. This is where God or the gods intervene to help the hero accomplish his quest. While Beowulf was fighting Grendel’s mother, and close to defeat, “he saw, hanging on the wall, a heavy/ sword”(lines 530-531).

For instance, "Beowulf" is strong and brave but he is also vain and greedy. "Beowulf 's" heroic qualities most definitely affect his story. Usually the epic heroes would go through a change. They would have a change of heart or would learn from their pilgrimage. They would see the enormous picture and would learn from all of their mistakes that they had made.

In the first example, both King Laius and Oedipus thought that they could change destiny by providing obstacles on earth. Neither staking Oedipus’ ankles in the woods nor moving changed the fate of King Laius getting killed by his son. In the second example, Creon thought he could kill Antigone without being punished by the gods, but the gods, in turn, killed his family and left him

It is important to note that this supernatural being is one of Cain’s clan who was banished by the Creator for killing Abel. “Cain got no good from committing that murder/Because the Almighty made him anathema/And out of the curse of this exile there sprang /Ogres and elves and evil phantoms” (Heaney 109-12). In other words, monsters are created and ostracized on behalf of Cain’s action. Grendel is destined to be an atrocious demon, similar to the caste system where people are unable to move up a caste. Furthermore, the creature can be related to the character, Ralph, from the movie Wreck-It Ralph, where they both are rejected and mistreated only for being what they are.

Gilgamesh stood upon Humbaba “and then he raised his ax up higher and swung it in a perfect arc into Humbaba’s neck,” killing the monster (“Gilgamesh” l. 46-480). To glorify his unreasonable bravery, Gilgamesh hung Humbaba’s head on one of the cedar

The movie is really horrible especially the scenario when Beowulf and Grendel fought each other. They are both naked because Beowulf wants to have a fair battle. But for me, it is still not fair since Grendel is a giant monster and Beowulf is just only small but vigorous man. I really like the climax of the movie which is the battle of Beowulf and the Serpent.

Beowulf was stunningly brave, courageous and put his abilities in the service of others. However, he was too conceited and obsessed about his reputation. Macbeth was a brave warrior, but his Achilles heel, his ambition, turned him into a tyrant. Macduff loved his country and did his best to save it from a tyrant, but at the same time didn’t exercise good judgment in safeguarding his family. Rather than judging people and their actions purely in black and white terms, we should recognize that human beings are complex creatures and have lots of shades of gray.

Grendel Grendel was the monster that was killing all of Hrothgar’s men. Grendel was evil, smart, and stealthy making him dangerous. Beowulf stopped Grendel but not before he killed many of people. Grendel was a descendant of Cain who was punished for killing his brother Abel. Since Grendel was born from evil he could never be happy which angered him when he heard all the people in Herot having a good time.

Brave, strong, courageous. These three things are what Beowulf and Gilgamesh have in common. They are considered epic heroes. Epic heroes are people who are admired for great achievements made during their lives and accomplish more than most. Beowulf is very outgoing.