Beowulf is blessed with many superhuman abilities that help to define him as an epic hero. One of his superhuman abilities is having extraordinary strength. When Beowulf …show more content…
In the story of Beowulf, he is charged with three main quests. In Beowulf’s first quest, he travels on a ship from Sweden to help King Hrothgar defeat Grendel. Once Grendel is defeated, Beowulf must travel to the bottom of an eerie lake in a cave to defeat Grendel’s mother. In his final quest, Beowulf must travel to defeat a dragon terrorizing a village. These many quests also help to prove Beowulf as an epic hero. Beowulf is not only proven as an epic hero because of his many quests, he is also tested to prove the worthiness of himself. In the story of Beowulf, he is not only tested once, but three times. The first time Beowulf is tested is when he fights and defeats Grendel. Beowulf is tested a second time by fighting and defeating Grendel’s mother. Beowulf is tested a final time by fighting the dragon. However, Beowulf did defeat the dragon, but the dragon also defeated Beowulf. Beowulf is proven a hero by being tested three separate times. Beowulf is considered to be an epic hero because he possesses superhuman abilities, is charges with a quest, and is tested to prove the worthiness of himself and his quest. Beowulf proves over and over again in many different ways that he is an epic hero. However someone decides to characterize what a hero might be, Beowulf should fall into that description. Beowulf is indeed an epic