The Iliad And Beowulf Comparison Essay

The epic poems “The Iliad” and “Beowulf” meet certain requirements that make the features that they convey epic. In the impressive poems, the heroic actions that are described determine the fate of different groups of people, reflecting the values of the age. The two poems show similarities in the manner in which the hero interacts with the supernatural beings mentioned. The supernatural beings and events also determine the actions and fate of the heroes in the poems.
Both the epic poems “Beowulf” and “The Iliad” convey actions of the mentioned heroes that also determine the final fate of the people who depend on them. For instance, the poem “Beowulf” brings out the idea of the devilish acts of Grendel being stopped in order to save the people of Denmark. The idea of the existence of wicked actions is proof enough to conclude that there is the existence of the supernatural powers. Saving the people of Denmark by stopping the evil acts brings out the idea that there is a supernatural being that is not impressed by such devilish
For example, the hero would go down the lake so as to accomplish a mission based on the belief in supernatural powers. In actual existence, it is a rare occurrence for anybody to swim in the lake and get covered by the waves without fearing or backing down from anything. The hero in the poem “Beowulf” does so without fear and he gets discovered by a she-wolf as mentioned. The whole process does not seem realistic, proving the existence of supernatural involvement in the poem. It is factual that the heroes in the poems are more concerned with the communal duty than with personal happiness. It is for that reason that the hero in the poem “Iliad” wishes that the men and women may have his body back to accord him the decency of fire when he dies. The idea of a happy death and burial seems to be the happiness of the men and women of the