The Epic Hero

Rachela Lawrence
August 23, 2013
2nd Block
The Epic Hero

An epic hero is a man of extraordinary strength, distinguished courage, and talent admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. I believe heroes should hold many qualities upon themselves such as sacrifice, focus, bravery, courage, determination, and loyalty. A hero, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act, and is regarded as a model or ideal. Beowulf is a character of a legendary epic hero. He becomes a leader of his people, which is destined to face the source of danger.he is willing to risk his life for the greater good, his people. He is also willing to face his fears, and meet them head on. Beowulf makes difficult/ hard decisions, even when the outcome is bad. And Beowulf demonstrates in many ways all the characteristics and qualities of being a true hero. Beowulf arrived in Herot to help his people purge all the evil from this hall, and t help the people against Grendel. By Beowulf having a strong believe in fate, he volunteers himself to fight against Grendel, and when Grendel’s mom seeks revenge he goes to the lake and takes on the challenge. Beowulf believes if he dies in battle it’s because it is his destiny to do so. “Fate will unwind as it must!” Beowulf displays the qualities of strength and power , and battles all his enemies with pride. Beowulf tears Grendel’s arm from its socket, and the mortally wounded monster crawls to his liar. Beowulf tried to hit Grendel’s mother with a sword, but it fails to pierce her skin. He threw the sword away and decided to attack her with his bare hands. Grendel’s mother tries to kill Beowulf with a dagger, but Beowulf’s armor defends him. Beowulf accomplished to throw her off of him, and sees a sword of a massive size, that he instantaneously grabs. He uses the massive sword to kill Grendel’s mother by hitting her from above, therefore breaking her collar cones and slicing her into two halves.

Beowulf preforms strength, courage, and fearlessness by taking on the dragon that has become a threat to the Geats. When it becomes time to fight the dragon Wiglaf sticks around with Beowulf, and fights off the dragon, never fearing the threat of death. Beowulf approaches the creature’s cave and challenges it to combat. The dragon charges and fixes its tusks in Beowulf’s throat for the third time. Then Wiglaf thrusts at the dragon from below. Beowulf plunges his dagger into the creature’s coils, cutting it in two. Together, the warriors put an end to the monster. After the wound in Beowulf’s neck begins to throb and swell, Beowulf realizes he is dying. The battle was over, Beowulf ended the grief, the sorrow, and the suffering forced on Hrothgar’s helpless people.

In conclusion, Beowulf, a true hero does not fear death, but prefer to risk all that he has become for what he believes is moral, right, and just. Beowulf held many qualities upon himself such as sacrifice, focus, bravery, courage, determination, and loyalty. Although, his fellows may be great warriors (like Achilles and Beowulf, he may have a commitatus, or group of noble followers with whom he grew up), he undertakes a task that no one else dare to attempt. Beowulf presented the characteristic of his willingness to die for his people, and qualities of being a true, legendary hero.