Beowulf And Achilles Research Paper

Every heroic warrior has a set of distinctive personality traits. In regards to Beowulf and Achilles, both men in a way were prideful, courageous, and leaders. Although both Achilles and Beowulf were prideful men, Beowulf’s pride could be seen as a positive while Achilles’s a negative. In other words, along with Beowulf’s pride comes a sense of comitatus because he fulfills his promises to the Danish king, Hrothgar, “We have gone through with a glorious [endeavor] and been much favored in this fight…” (Heaney 65). On the contrary, Achilles does not pledge allegiance to anyone in particular. Therefore, his pride becomes misconstrued into a negative attribute, rather than positive Achilles’s pride and stubbornness causes the Trojan War due to
Both Beowulf and Achilles encounter immense challenges in which they refuse to flee from. Once Grendel’s mother seeks revenge for her son’s death, Beowulf wholeheartedly accepts the challenge by saying, “let us immediately set forth on the trail of this troll-dam” (Heaney 97). Though Beowulf’s willingness to defeat Grendel’s mother is just a singular example, throughout the entire novel, Beowulf acts on courage whatever the challenge. Achilles is similar to Beowulf in this particular personality trait. Achilles acts on bravery and courage to challenge Agamemnon and his army to a battle which eventually was label a war that lasted for many years. The courageous manner of both men eventually leads them to be considered heroic leaders. Due to the battles with Grendel and Grendel’s mother, Beowulf is revered and eventually acquires kingship in which, “He ruled it well for fifty winters, grew old and wise” (Heaney 151). Beowulf’s courageous and victorious battles granted him the position of leadership over the Geat nation. Achilles wholly relates to Beowulf in this aspect. The courage and bravery Achilles exudes during the Trojan War leads other warriors to desire to follow him, placing him in a position of