Sir Gawain And Beowulf: The Challenges Of Heroism

The main character Beowulf falls under a heroic character because he honors his country and using all his powers and strengths to protect others. His courageous has also shown him not to hesitate and to risk his life to fight those that are

During these time periods, a hero was usually a great a warrior who sacrificed oneself to protect their king and kingdom. In addition, culture, religion, chivalry, and traditions played a vital role in the work of these early heroes. This was seen numerous times in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where both characters frequently prayed and followed the Code of Chivalry. In contrast, a hero today would portray few— or none— cultural or religious elements. Usually, present-day heroes would acquire the label by depicting some sort of supernatural, phenomenal, or superhuman trait that a normal person would not obtain.

Alexander Hamilton once said, “There is a certain Enthusiasm in liberty that makes Human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.” Beowulf is an epic poem in which the main character Beowulf did acts of service, but he fought for those who couldn’t fight. The overall theme of good versus evil in Beowulf had Beowulf dealing with challenges that no ordinary man would be able to handle unless they were a true epic hero. Throughout the poem Beowulf proves to be an epic hero by his strength, bravery, and sacrifice.

The Webster's definition of a hero is “A person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities”, this also happens to be one of the qualifications of being an epic hero. There are many things that can be used to compare and contrast Beowulf as an epic hero and a modern day hero, but you’ll find that the human idea of a hero was primarily the same in 700 CE as it is now although the job descriptions of hero’s have changed. In today’s time a person is usually considered a hero if they help the public good, like a police officer, soldier, firefighter and so on. In Beowulf’s time a person was considered a hero if they were a great warrior. When looking at the characteristics of what makes Beowulf an epic hero and the characteristics

Debi Mazar is an actress who stated, “A hero is somebody who is selfless, who is generous in spirit, who just tried to give back as much as possible and help people. A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really, deeply cares.” Heroes are relevant to everyone, because at some point, everyone has had a hero. Sadly, today’s society degrades the meaning of the word “hero”. Heroes are an important aspect of life, but famous people are not always heroes.

An Anglo-Saxon hero is perfectly portrayed by Beowulf who contains values of Anglo-Saxons like bravery, loyalty, honor and the willingness to risk his life for the greater good of his people. The latter is primarily why he gains the trust of his people which is why he claims the title of King and therefore gets hold of power. While Beowulf is the symbol and representation of heroes in Anglo Saxons, we have multiple personalities who we consider as heroes. People who work, people who dream, people who act. Today, what we people believe in is that if you have money, you have everything.

Many other instances in Beowulf mirror the poet’s Anglo-Saxon world; after all, the story is immortal because of its fame, just like the character Beowulf. Beowulf was a hero because he believed that the wisdom of good would prevail over evil. Because Beowulf was a hero, he boasted

A hero’s purpose is to sacrifice his life while trying to aid others. Beowulf sees this as an opportunity to make himself be known; he believes those who have fought should be remembered through time. Throughout Beowulf’s heroic journey, he fought for a loyal cause, he followed the code of honor, and showed courageous bravery. From time to time, Beowulf always showed that he cared for everyone other than himself. When Beowulf hears that the king needed aid to help defeat grendel, he never second guessed his decision.

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.

Beowulf: The heroic traits development It is proven that people look up to others as heroes because it is in the human nature, but what makes a hero? The qualities of a hero consist of excellence and courage used for the greater good. In the story of Beowulf, that took place in the Anglo-Saxon Culture, Beowulf uses these heroic traits to save the Danes from a beast named Grendel, as it had been bothering the Danes for a long time.

They passed this story down and it encourages others. I 'm sure people told this story to show how brave one person can be. Although Beowulf was a classical hero he probably would have done these things without his strength. It was just what he destined to do with his life. Just like he was destined to go down in

Introduction In this paper, I will involve in exploring one trait of a hero in a nuanced and complex way. I will build this complexity by discussing two heroes who posses this trait, and one who does not. To illustrate, an epic hero is a character in the epic story or poem who is brave and noble. I will involve in exploring three heroes (Beowulf, Odysseus and Merry).

“In Anglo-Saxon culture and literature, to be a hero was to be a warrior. A hero had to be strong, intelligent, and courageous” (Dogra 79). Furthermore, he had to be an honorable warrior who did not cower at the thought of an impossible battle. Rather, he trudged forward, prepared to the rattle cages of the strongest, evilest, and most damnable villains known to men. He personifies strength, loyalty, and bravery.

Many believe Beowulf to be a fearless and heroic character, though in reality, many of his traits and motives prove just the opposite. From defending the King’s citizens to slaying countless evil creatures, Beowulf may appear to be an extraordinary man of unimaginable feats. Upon further investigation, however, it may become obvious that Beowulf’s heroism proved itself unable to stand the test of time. Beowulf was written to be the perfect protagonist, but displays various flaws throughout the narrative that contradicts his heroic intentions. The character of Beowulf is portrayed to be a fearless warrior- one who has slain an infinity of monsters and demons.

A hero is a person who overcomes their fears to fight for what is right. A person who fights for change. Heroes are everywhere. Heroes can be anyone. Every hero is a unique person with feelings and families.