Beowulf As An Epic Hero Essay

1. Part A- Beowulf like all epic hero’s is strong loyal and brave. These characteristic are what define Beowulf, and instill fear is his enemies. He boasts about “(driving) / five great giants into chains” (248-249) and “In the blackness of night, hunting monsters” (251). Beowulf protects his followers and king, and is proud of his accomplishments. He strives for greatness, his words are arrogant but his actions shine through his overbearing pride and give him the capability to be heroic. (Part B) Beowulf is an epic hero; he takes great pride in his actions, unlike Grendel who feels jealous of humans which causes him to be spiteful towards them: “ Grendel snatched at the first Geat / He came to (and) Ripped him apart” (313-314). Grendel’s pride lays in the fear he instills on humans, without pride Grendel would be a monster with no motive to kill. Furthermore, Beowulf’s pride stems
The Epic of Beowulf was written in the eighth century when Christianity was new to the many who believed in the ideology of paganism. This caused Beowulf to contain both pagan ideas and christen sayings like”(Giving) thanks to God” (143). It is impotent that Beowulf contained christen terms and beliefs because it shows the beginning of the switch between ideology and religion in the eighth centaury. It also shows that they have begun to also believe in the devil therefore religious references are needed in order to end up in heaven instead of hell. (Part B) The Anglo Saxons did not believe in an after life and through paganism they were lead to believe the only way to leave a legacy was to either have material possessions or become famous. They also believed in wyrd and comitias. These common beliefs in fate and loyalty are what the pagan warriors lived by. Beowulf was no different and made the “Geats (build a) tower” (843) of Beowulf in remembrance of his life on earth. Beowulf thought his statue would remind those who saw about him and through that his legacy would live