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Similarities Between Paradise Lost And Beowulf

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Isn’t it amazing how two works of literature can be so different yet so similar. The way that two different authors with completely different writing styles can intertwine similar themes and symbols without even trying is simply astounding. In the two literary works of Paradise Lost and Beowulf, the authors explore the biblical analogies of the Creator, the Great Destroyer, and a Savior. The two works Paradise Lost and Beowulf are very different in that one is pagan and the other is Christian. “Although Beowulf most likely began as a pagan epic it eventually expanded to include Christian elements, whereas Paradise Lost is definitely a Christian tale that uses classical allusions to remain connected to epic tradition” (Smith). The author of Beowulf is said to have been “a poet who used stray images and bits of Christian tradition in his action-fantasy without any serious religious purpose” (Cavill 16). Even though he wasn’t trying to make it a Christian poem, his writing ended up resembling that of Milton’s Paradise Lost in its biblical elements. The main similarity is that the plot in both poems have the same king/hero/evil structure. God and Hrothgar create a paradise for their kingdom, and each of them calls on a Savior, which in this case would be Christ or Beowulf, to defeat the evil (Satan/Grendel) trying to destroy it all. The three main characters in Beowulf; Hrothgar, Beowulf, and Grendel; have no Christian traits about them. But within what they say and do, they

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