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Greed In Beowulf

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In the epic poem “Beowulf,” the protagonist displays many characteristics that makes him a hero although some may believe otherwise. Because Beowulf holds traits of greed, many may say he is not a hero, In Beowulf’s last fight, his motive for battle was obtaining ”the dragon’s treasure,” to keep for himself(630-631). This shows that sometimes material objects can overpower a person’s moral beliefs. It may prove difficult to only do things for the god of mankind rather than oneself. Nevertheless, Beowulf held tremendous bravery which contributes to his heroic persona. When Beowulf fights the antagonist Grendel he goes into battle with only “[his] hands alone to fight,” proving he is no coward (172-173). Throughout this epic, Beowulf continues

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