Beowulf: The True Characteristics Of An Epic Hero

This was a lost story of a courageous leader, Beowulf. Beowulf was very brave and courageous. Beowulf is a hero because he demonstrates bravery and courage. How Beowulf was a brave leader, well for starters he fought Grendel and his mother.

His first step of achievement began with tearing arm off of the body of the supernatural, evil monster, Grendel. All of the geats believed that they’d be able to sleep without fear now thinking Grendel was dead, but they were wrong. This early achievement then lead to one of his greatest milestones of all time. Grendel’s mother seeked revenge on the Geats for hurting her son. Enraged, she swiftly traversed through the night and snatched up Hrothgar’s best friend.

He carefully strategized his plan to defeat Grendel. He waited for Grendel to come to Heorot, then surprise attacked him. Grendel put up a fight, but Beowulf was stronger and more intelligent. Beowulf ripped the arm off of the beast, sending him away to die. Not only did Beowulf have to defeat Grendel, but Grendel’s mother came back for revenge, so Beowulf set out to the darkness where Grendel and his mother lived.

Beowulf went to Herot to face Grendel. He accepted the quest to save the lives of innocent people and to seek fame. Beowulf was very brave about his approach to the monster. When Beowulf killed Grendel and his mother, he had heroically purged Herot of its evil. He then became a ruler of the Geats.

Beowulf is the story of a hero who fights for good and uses his strengths and not his weaknesses. The story of Beowulf a new telling is about Beowulf a hero fights the battle between darkness and light. The story begins when Beowulf hears about how Grendel attacked hall Heorot and travels there to kill Grendel. He kills Grendel without a sword and using only his bare hands and with all of his goodness he kills Grendel.

He knew that “No one else could do what [he] mean to, here, no man but [him] could hope to defeat this monster” (Heaney 2531-2534). This shows his courage because as the king of Geatland, he puts himself in harm's way to give his people the best chance of surviving, even if that means he will not be able to celebrate the victory with them. As well as Beowulf, Sir Gawain demonstrates courage because he goes

I believed that Beowulf isn’t consistently admirable and heroic and that he becomes a flawed character. He follows the criteria of a tragic hero. The criteria of a tragic hero is that a tragic hero must have a tragic flaw, a hamartia, that causes the hero’s demise. A tragic hero must have a hubris, over excessive pride from themselves. A tragic hero must have a moment in time to discover an important element in the story.

Not only have we seen brute strength, honorable courage, and admirable loyalty shine through beowulf, Beowulf also possess a great trait not many others have; his will to fight to the death, or self sacrifice. Not once throughout the story did Beowulf ever turn down a battle. Not once did he fear or flee his enemy. Not once did he ever give up even if death had him by the throat causing his mind to flood nothing but fearful thoughts and feelings throughout his body. Every battle Beowulf fought, he fought as if it was his last and that is what truly makes him the great warrior he is.

His loyalty could be supernatural, relating to his unknown supernatural powers. Therefore, Beowulf tries to prove himself a hero through his three conflictual battles; the Battle with Grendel, the Battle with Grendel's mother, and the final battle with the Dragon. Beowulf proved himself a hero in the Battle with Grendel by showing immense strength. He was so confident in himself that he said, “Why would I let my sword go where my feet are afraid to,”(170); therefore, he was courageous enough to fight the powerful monster with his bare hands.

In the epic Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, Beowulf is depicted as a heroic figure who fights monsters and defends the weak. During its time, Beowulf would be considered a great hero, however in today 's standards Beowulf would only be considered a great warrior. That’s because a hero should value the lives of the people and not seek to be rewarded. Instead, Beowulf committed heroic acts for his own selfish reasons and never shows to values the lives of the people. From fighting Grendel to slaying the dragon, Beowulf only fought because he value the fame and fortune that comes along with those accomplishments.

Herot was unsafe and nobody was capable of slaying the monster Grendel. There is a difference between fear and outright cowardice. When Beowulf, the cousin of Higlac, arrives to speak with Hrothgar, King of the Danes, he shows nothing but bravery; it takes bravery to march straight to the king with a request, and it takes even more bravery to have that request be a permit to slaughter the monster terrorizing the land. Beowulf is presented again as the best man on Earth and the bravest one of all. He is so unafraid that he does not even fight with weapons of any kind.

The Dragon had soon burn down Beowulf’s throne-hall to the ground and Beowulf began to plot his revenge. Beowulf had ask his iron smith to make him a mighty shield one that he hopes will stand up against the breath of flame. Beowulf could of use and army to help him kill the dragon but "He is too proud to assemble a huge army for the fight, and, remembering how he defeated Grendel single-handedly in his youth, feels no fear of the dragon. " This was Beowulf pride taking control over him even though he is now and

This proves that he is strong and brave because no one else could kill Grendel let alone face him. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands and without armor on. Other warriors could not even kill him with a sword and armor. “Beowulf’s intention to fight Grendel with only his strength proves that he carries the characteristics of a true hero”(Hailey).

The story of Beowulf isn’t just any ordinary story, but a story that has been told for centuries. A story of a hero who’s legacy has been told for so long. Beowulf’s life shows the characteristics of a true epic hero. He showed bravery, he used his strength against his enemies and in the end gave the ultimate sacrifice for his people.

Grendel is one of the most important enemy he faces and the battle is significant because it