Iliad And Beowulf Analysis

Suggesting that humans are in the middle state, Alexander Pope said “Human is imperfect being, “created half to rise, and half to fall … The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!” in his philosophical poem, An Essay on Man. Both Iliad and Beowulf offer insights into the human society that could apply to today’s world where humans still have to choose between safety and glory sometimes and where individuals’ weakness or emotions can result in conflicts or war that can affect a large number of people. Homer’s Iliad places its focus on the story of its major character Achilles, a renowned warrior among Greeks, during the Trojan War. Beowulf highlights the adventure of Beowulf who shows the prototype of masculine qualities in the course of his

All the warriors appear in the Iliad join the battles as they value glory more than their life. Trojan War initially starts by the Trojan prince Paris as he kidnap Helen, the wife of Menelaus, the king of Mycenaean. Since the conflict is actually between Paris and Menelaus, other Greek warriors including Achilles and Odysseus did not need to join the war. Still, the warriors decide to join the allies to secure their pride and kleos. Achilles says “If I hold out here and lay siege to Troy, my journey home is gone, but my glory never dies. If I voyage back to the fatherland I love, my pride, my glory dies…true, but the life that’s left me will be long, the stroke of death will not come on me quickly.”(IX, 500-6) Also young Beowulf faces battle with formidable enemies and risks his life. Beowulf decides to kill great threat, Grendel, for the sake of subjects. "I resolved to fulfill the desire of your people, or suffer the pangs of death, caught fast in Grendel's clutches. Here, in Heorot, I shall either work a deed of great daring, or lay down my life," (ll. 634-8) says Beowulf. As illustrated, Achilles and Beowulf willingly dare their lifes to death instead of keeping their own