In the book Beowulf the character Beowulf has all the characteristics of an epic hero. Ted Ed says on What Makes a Hero? That “The stages of the hero are The call to adventure, Assistance, Departure, Trial, Approach, Crisis, treasure, result, return, new life, resolution, and status quo”(Ted Ed). To be a hero they go through the stages and if they don’t they are not counted as much of a hero to people’s eyes. A hero must go through all stages like Beowulf. To start becoming a hero you must start somewhere and that is the call to adventure. This all starts when Beowulf hears about a monster that is terrorizing the land of Heorot. King Hygelac finds Beowulf and fourteen other men to go and protect. “He moved about/ like a leader he was, enlisting …show more content…
When Beowulf is fighting the dragon: “The captain of evil discovered himself/ in a handgrip harder than anything/he had ever encountered in any man/on the face of the earth” (Heaney 749-751). With the fight with Grendel’s mother it is described like: “warming to this fight/with Grendel’s mother, gripped her shoulder/and laid about him in a battle frenzy” (Heaney 1537-1539). The fight with the dragon is described as: “the king of Geats/raised his hand and struck hard/at the enameled scales, but scarcely cut through” (Heaney 2575-2577). The approach is when the Geats throw a big feast for Beowulf for defeating Grendel in his honor. But they cannot get too comfortable because they learn there is a new enemy which is the mother. So due to that Beowulf is not done helping out, and same with the dragon appearing. The crisis Beowulf faces is when he faces death two times. When Beowulf was fighting Grendel and his mother he overcomes death especially when he fights with Grendel’s mom because she could have easily killed him but he was too powerful. Also the same thing with defeating the dragon. The treasure Beowulf receives is when King Hrothgar gives Beowulf his finest horses and a massive treasure for helping them. He also got the treasure from the dragon he was battling. The result from all of the fighting Beowulf has done he is now appreciated by the citizens and is a hero to the people’s
Years, later after fighting Grendel and his mother, Beowulf is brought to his lowest point. This is when he fights a dragon that had terrorised the Geats. During the battle “None of his comrades Came
In the last stage of Beowulf’s epic hero journey, fatalism determines his grand finale against the dragon. The warrior king’s long journey is now coming to a close and before going into battle against the dragon, Beowulf realizes that, “After many trials,/ he was destined to face the end of his days/ in this mortal world; as was the dragon,/ for all his long leasehold on the treasure” (Beowulf 2341-2344). After facing Grendel and his mother, fate has lead Beowulf to the crisis of his journey. The dragon is the final monster he must defeat in order to complete his monomyth cycle. He is a symbol of the deadly sin, greed.
Beowulf is considered a mythic hero because there are three types of passages in “ The Hero with a Thousand Faces”. The first type is the separation, which is where the hero decides to go on an adventure to do good things and save lives. An example of this is when Beowulf hears about grendel and decides himself to go and make a difference and defeat Grendel. The second type is initiation, which is the hero actually doing the things that
He was only trying to help out King Hrothgar and wanted to fight. Although defeating Grendel was not enough Grendel 's mother had to be defeated to for trying to kill people in the town. Beowulf took the challenge. When Beowulf goes to her he feels as if though he is going to die. She takes him to her lair Beowulf fears for his life until they get inside the lair.
An epic hero is an individual who must evoke a sense of heroism through legendary and inspiring deeds (Merriam-Webster). These heroes of tragedy have the ability to determine their own fortune due to the amount of admired characteristics they possess. However, the ideals of an epic hero are constantly fluctuating due to the ever changing ideals of society. Although the characteristics of an epic hero are under constant modification, Beowulf is still an effective modern-day hero due to his acts of courage, compassion, and dedication in relation to his people. Courage can be defined as any individual possessing moral or mental strength in the face of physical pain or indescribable hardship (Personalitytutor).
No one could try.” Beowulf is showing his strength and bravery that he can try to defeat the dragon. His motivation and goal in this battle is take the treasure back to his people. In lines 802-805, “ for this, this gold, these jewels, I thank our father in heaven, Ruler of the Earth for all of this, that his grace has given me, allowed me to bring to my people while breath still came to my lips.” In conclusion, Beowulf’s faith and confidence changes when he fights these three characters and these signify changes means Beowulf is getting old which means he didn’t have the same strength as he had during the fight with
In the epic poem Beowulf, the protagonist, Beowulf, faces three “monsters” at different times in his life. The poem begins with Grendel, a monster who attacks only in the dark of night, tormenting the kingdom of Hrothgar. The last two sections of the epic detail the conquering by Beowulf of Grendel’s mother and the dragon. The battle between the monsters and Beowulf represent the theme of good versus evil in the poem, as well as the fusion of pagan and Christian ideals in the changing Germanic society. Grendel’s mother’s actions directly juxtapose the role of a woman in this time period, and the greediness of the dragon with his treasure contrasts with the virtues of what would be considered a good king.
Beowulf cleanly fits the archetype of the epic hero. He has superhuman abilities in his extreme endurance, strength, and perseverance. He enters into a hero’s journey and eventually dies a symbolic death. Finally, he truly embodies the best of what society values. He exemplifies all of these traits throughout the epic as he leads his band of Geats to glory.
After defeating both Grendel and his mother, Beowulf lives as king for fifty years before facing a dragon that attacks his land. After the dragon destroys the Geats’ throne-room and kills many of his people, Beowulf becomes greatly distraught. Instead of immediately jumping into battle, he becomes distraught. He is described as being in “deep anguish... his mind was in turmoil, unaccustomed anxiety and gloom confused his brain,” (2327, 2331-2333).
As the story progress, Beowulf became king of the Geats for 50 years when suddenly a dragon emerged from slumber began to burn down villages. However, Beowulf didn’t pay the slightest attention, but instead ignored what was happening. Finally, when the dragon burns down Beowulf’s throne room Beowulf decided that he needs to deal with the dragon. In Beowulf 's eyes, the lives of his citizens couldn’t even compare to his throne room. When Beowulf prepared to fight the dragon he said, “Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning” (lines 2512-2514).
A true hero can be defined by his or her actions just as Beowulf
A hero does not fight for fame and glory but for the greater good. A hero is someone who goes through adversity to help others in desperate times. A hero fights evil, and defends people. Beowulf should be considered a hero because he is a strong, brave warrior who defended his people and slayed evil monsters. Beowulf proves himself to be a strong, brave warrior by killing Grendel the monster.
Beowulf went through so much to prove he was worthy enough to protect their kingdom and defeat Grendel. The story Beowulf was a great story to read and a great movie to watch; however, the battles were very eye catching and had a lot of extravagant and heroic doings of Beowulf. The first scenario that I’m going to discuss in the movie and story of Beowulf is The Battle with Grendel. In the movie Grendel attacked Beowulf in the Heriot while everyone was dancing and singing.
Even when he saves countless lives, the hero never intends his quests to benefit anyone else than himself. This is constant throughout the book, and not even at his deathbed does Beowulf acknowledge something that is not about him or gold. He is often preoccupied by money and fame, but the wellbeing of other people is not in his vocabulary. For example, when a dragon begins to terrorize his kingdom, Beowulf 's first thought is not to protect his people. Instead, he says, "I 've never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles.
Throughout the poem, characters are repeatedly fighting or defending themselves from monsters. Beowulf’s fights against Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon move the story forward and demonstrate conflict. This conflict indicates the struggle against death and the limitations of human strength. Against Grendel’s mother, Beowulf first realizes his limitations against a monster: “But he soon found / His battle-torch extinguished: the shining bladed / Refused to bite. It spared her and failed /