Hrothgar's Selflessness In Beowulf

By definition, a hero a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities (Merriam Webster). Different qualities like courage, honor and selflessness is what makes a hero and creates their reputation. However, a hero cannot be admired by the people it protects without exhibiting these three qualities. These three men show what a hero should really be. Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney and Sir Gawain from “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” translated by Brian Stone and Burton Raffel demonstrate heroic qualities like courage, honor, and selflessness, but Christy Mahon form Playboy of the Western World; and the Riders to the Sea written by J.M. Synge explains what a hero should not do by his actions.

Similar to honor, courage was also very important. Beowulf being a very courageous man, is motivated by the desire to prove his valor, through accomplishing brave feats. By accomplishing these feats of bravery, Beowulf would boast about them in detail at Hrothgar’s hall. Even Beowulf’s mission to kill Grendel was motivated by a desire to prove himself and improve his reputation. When boasting about his about his feats, Beowulf would often give credit to god for his bravery and

Furthermore, Stevens trivializes one of Darlington’s worst actions, stating that it is “salacious nonsense . . . to claim that Lord Darlington was anti-Semitic” (Ishiguro 137), despite Darlington having ordered Stevens to fire two Jewish housemaids on the basis of their ethnicity alone. Furthermore, Stevens says that he “cannot see what there is to object to” (Ishiguro 225) after hearing that that

(Machiavelli, XVII, Paragraph 5). Lear employs this philosophy and tries to make his subjects fear incurring his wrath. Lear banishes Cordelia for not professing her love for him. “Here I disclaim al my paternal care,

In his essay, Emerson describes the quality of materialism and suggests that a self-reliant man must not be materialistic, and this is a fault of Gatsby that is expressed in the novel. Emerson believes that materialism leads people to belittle their own value due to the misguided importance of extravagance, and writes, “Let a man then know his worth, and keep things under his feet,” (p. 6). He condemns materialism and explains that the true value of a person is found in his morals and not the amount of expensive items he possesses. This flaw of excessive materialism that prevents self-reliance is displayed by Gatsby as he constantly boasts about his wealth.

Wiglaf chooses to be a hero while the others did not. I begin my argument by first defining what it means to be a hero today as well as in Anglo-Saxon literature. From there, I show the importance of Beowulf being mortal and having human qualities, like families. I then go on to describe Beowulf’s heroic actions, such as his grand speeches and his epic, justly fights. Within these arguments, I explore Wiglaf displaying similar characteristics of a hero, even though he is not the traditional hero of Beowulf.

Some may claim that Bilbo’s greed for the ring made him not a hero but this point is invalid because all heroes make mistakes. One mistake does not make someone evil or not a hero. In conclusion, Bilbo was a hero; Bilbo exemplified honor, Bilbo exhibited bravery, and Bilbo embodied

"He gave Herdred all his support, offering an open heart where Higlac's young son could see wisdom he still lacked himself: warmth and goodwill were what Beowulf brought his new king. " This shows Beowulf's loyalty to Higlac his late King, and to his family. Beowulf would not be dishonorable by taking what wasn't rightfully his; he would rather stand by Higlac's son and teach him all he knows. Beowulf is the hero to his King's son and country, by staying loyal and having honor.

He has killed his best friend for the better of his country, and that’s a better trait than being loyal to one

In The Comedy, Dante the Pilgrim develops a relationship with his damned idol, Virgil, in order to journey through both Inferno and Purgatory. Even though Virgil was a good man while living, he lacked understanding of certain virtues, like pride, which prevented him from being able to reach higher levels in the afterlife. Dante the Poet’s choice to damn Virgil conveys that obeying a higher order is the way to one’s salvation. The developing relationship between Virgil and Dante the Pilgrim throughout the first two canticles brings light to the opposing separation between the two characters because of the devotion Dante has to Christian virtues in comparison to Virgil’s pagan misunderstanding of virtue. While Dante the Pilgrim experiences many

He proves his intelligence and strength. He remains positive and calm no matter the circumstance. His flaw is that he is too good-hearted, which in the end, gets him killed. Both Maximus Meridius and Captain John H. Miller have the qualities of a tragic hero, which are: a high position, a fatal flaw, and a downfall caused by their flaw. It is clear that Miller is a superior example of a tragic hero because he displays a larger amount of humanly traits such as fear and his situation is tragic because if he was still alive, his life could have been better, he could have been around the love of his life, unlike

Again this quote refers to Beowulf and how heroism influences him to be who he is, to Beowulf the whole world is meaningless but his inner heroism, his ego, his reputation mattered the most to him. Even though everything is pointless he creates his own reputation and destiny by his

In the epic Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, Beowulf is depicted as a heroic figure who fights monsters and defends the weak. During its time, Beowulf would be considered a great hero, however in today 's standards Beowulf would only be considered a great warrior. That’s because a hero should value the lives of the people and not seek to be rewarded. Instead, Beowulf committed heroic acts for his own selfish reasons and never shows to values the lives of the people. From fighting Grendel to slaying the dragon, Beowulf only fought because he value the fame and fortune that comes along with those accomplishments.

B. A hero is someone or something who helps others with an honorable purpose, or a person who possesses traits that others could see as the traits of a role model. In my mind, Frodo Baggins holds these heroic characteristics and, in the end, made choices to assist the well-being of his companions. Frodo’s efforts display that he is concerned for the future of all living things and does not act simply based on his own wants. For instance, when Gandalf questions Frodo of what he will do with the Ring, Frodo chooses to eliminate it.

Beowulf is the epitome of the ideal Anglo-Saxon epic hero. The numerous amount of characteristics that he possesses benefit him in many ways, but eventually lead to his downfall. As depicted in Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, the qualities found in Beowulf that were most admired by his society include inhuman strength, unreserved loyalty, and unending bravery. Beowulf was said to have inhuman strength amounting to “the strength of thirty in the grip of each hand” (380-381). Beowulf exposes this truth even further by dismembering the arm of Grendel, a devilish ogre brute, from his body.