To be considered a hero, you have to have the qualities of a hero. Many people think to be a hero you need to be strong and a good leader. While that is important, there are also many other qualities a person should have to be said hero. To become an epic hero, you need to be a savior of a large group and live a heroic lifestyle. Those are the first two qualities you must own. You also need to have a justifiable reason to fight. Heroes don’t go around fighting just anyone and everyone. Their battles are well thought out and have sound reasoning behind them. Heroes need to learn how to choose their actions. Although, not every hero is as smart about their battles and decisions. A hero is also honorable, facing a tragic ending, and doesn’t change. …show more content…
They both have the qualities of being a hero. Their most common trait is being honorable. They both show their honorability in their own ways. Sir Gaiwan shows this by showing up to the battle even when he was afraid of losing his life. Although his showing up, worked out for him in the end. “Since you confessed so cleanly, acknowledging sins And bearing the plain penance of my point: I consider you polished as white and perfectly clean.” Beowulf proved to be honorable because when the kingdom needed him most, he took a boat and got to action with his men. He proved with numerous battles that no foe could ever make him back down. “Now when help was needed. None of the wise ones regretted his going, much as he was loved by the geats: the omens were …show more content…
It is stated that to be an epic hero, you must face a tragic end. Beowulf himself proves this to be true. At the end of his final battle, he is severely wounded and can not make it anymore. Thus facing the tragic end of his story. “Together Beowulf and the young Wiglaf kill the dragon, but the old king is fatally wounded. Beowulf, thinking of his people, asks to see the monster's treasures.” This sentence alone proves that Beowulf is indeed a true hero. Even in his last moments, when he is fatally wounded and on his deathbed, he is still thinking of his people and not himself. He has proven himself once again to be a true hero. To contrast Beowulf’s tragic end in his story, we have Sir Gaiwan. In Sir Gaiwan’s story, he is not met with a tragic end, but yet he is met with a new beginning of his own. The Green Knight, seeing him as honorable for showing up, takes pity on Sir Gaiwan and tells him that he is considered polished as white. “ I consider you polished as white and perfectly clean.” That is the Green Knight’s way of telling him that he has atoned for his sins and is wiped clean of them, and now he can continue living on to make his wrongs