Ever since the Anglo-Saxon days, there has been problems in the world that can only be solved and overcame by the brave actions of a hero. In the epic Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel, Beowulf is the hero that has to deal with the problems of the Danes and the Geats, which happens to be monsters that are invading their land and killing their men. While the problems that heroes have to face today are not monsters killing people, they do have to face problems that are just as evil and maniacal as the monsters in Beowulf. Batman can be seen as a modern day Beowulf because they both possess strength, bravery, and the commitment to fighting evil. Also, while Beowulf has fate on his side, Batman has wealth and resources on his. Beowulf is a strong warrior and leader, the bravest of all men, whose commitment to fighting evil not only saved the lives of many men, but also his own. Beowulf showed his strength in the battle with Grendel when he tore Grendel’s entire arm off with his bare hands, “twisted in pain, and the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder snapped, muscle and bone split and broke” (Raffel 525-528). …show more content…
After many acts of courage before, Beowulf had to be
A hero is a person, typically a man, who is loved for courage, outstanding qualities and great achievements. Beowulf displays many characteristics, but he mainly displays strength, bravery, and selflessness. Beowulf ‘s fanatic future's got him through horrifying battles and never got him to give up. Batman has never given up on Gotham city, even when he felt weak or even when other superheroes did not believe in him. Beowulf and Batman are heroes that are very flexible with things and they share the same characteristics.
Beowulf was not the only one who showed bravery. Wiglaf did as well and he ultimately saved and helped Beowulf slay the dragons while all the other danes left him and ran away like cowards. . All the outcast sought vengeance and ended up being destroyed by the infamous
Beowulf is the epitome of the ideal Anglo-Saxon epic hero. The numerous amount of characteristics that he possesses benefit him in many ways, but eventually lead to his downfall. As depicted in Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, the qualities found in Beowulf that were most admired by his society include inhuman strength, unreserved loyalty, and unending bravery. Beowulf was said to have inhuman strength amounting to “the strength of thirty in the grip of each hand” (380-381). Beowulf exposes this truth even further by dismembering the arm of Grendel, a devilish ogre brute, from his body.
Batman is the clear hero in his story because he is the one called upon to save Gotham City and shows many times that he would be willing to give his life for others. Like Beowulf, Batman fights enemies that have been terrorizing the city but the regular citizen can not do anything about it. This is where Batman comes into play, he is called upon by his city to save the people and beat the bad guy. Batman also has no god like powers like Beowulf, Batman fights his enemies with hand to hand combat exactly how Beowulf defeats Grendel. Even though Batman is called on by his city, he has an internal drive like Beowulf.
Beowulf had only one book and movie about him although, Superman had many of comic books and movies about him. They did have some differences. Beowulf did all of these for the money but Superman wasn’t about the money. Superman had supernatural ppwers but Beowulf did not.
Even when comparing him with another run-of-the-mill hero like Batman, his shortcomings are still fairly obvious. Beowulf and Batman are both archetypal characters that embody the quintessential aspects of the epic hero. They both execute a great deal of strength. Beowulf swims for seven days and nights while simultaneously fighting sea monsters. He also displays robustness fighting Grendel when he rips off Grendel
Beowulf first demonstrates his strength when Grendel “was overwhelmed, manacled tight by the man who of all men was foremost and strongest in the days of his life,” causing him to scream a scream described as “a God-cursed scream and strain of catastrophe, the howl of the loser, the lament of the hell-serf keening his wound”(785-789). The poet indicatively calls Beowulf the “strongest” and reiterates Beowulf’s strength with the juxtaposition of “hell-serf” to “catastrophe,” “loser,” and “keening.” This juxtaposition shows that Beowulf turns an inherently strong “hell-serf” into a “keening” “loser” suffering his own “catastrophe,” exemplifying the magnitude of strength Beowulf has. Later Beowulf’s demonstrates his strength again in the battle with the dragon when “the war-king threw his whole strength behind a sword-stroke and connected with the skull. And Naegling snapped… he wielded a sword, no matter how blooded and hard-edged the blade his hand was too strong, the stroke he dealt (I have heard) would ruin it” (2678-2680, 2685-2688).
Beowulf is the strongest men on Earth in the story, who had the ability to defeat the unbeatable monster, Grendel. Surprisingly, there
Chapter I- Introduction If one has to define a hero, it’ll be defined as someone who possesses strength, bravado, and ethics and most importantly he must fight evil. These characteristics apply to Beowulf and to a modern hero like Batman with slight modifications. Both of these came from different time period but both have a great impact on their society.
Many people believe that Batman is the world’s greatest made up hero and detective, he only does things that will help the world. People loved the comics of Batman so much, they turned it into many serious of movies. Batman is a modern day hero, however back in the 7th century the poem Beowulf was the world’s greatest made up hero. Beowulf was originally an epic poem, then turned into a novel Beowulf a New Telling by Robert Nye. Beowulf was the first English Literature to be written, written around the 7th century.
Yes, Beowulf is brave, but not because he wants to do the right thing, he wants gold and glory. Beowulf is known as a great hero and on the surface he is. He seems to be brave and just but underneath that, Beowulf is extremely arrogant and egotistical. Beowulf does not just do things for they are the right thing to do, he does them seeing that great deeds will bring him honor and boost his reputation. He fights Grendel for bragging rights like the swimming contest Unferth brought up and he refuses to use a sword when fighting Grendel because it will just add to his bravery.
Throughout the years, Beowulf has been compared to many modern day super heroes. However, the super hero that Beowulf is most easily compared to is Superman. Although there are multiple differences amongst these two characters, there are a few similarities as well. Such similarities exist in appearances, as well as supernatural qualities. Moreover, Beowulf and Superman are both portrayed as heroes for their time.
His combat prowess and warring behavior also contrasts with the euphonious and connotative diction that enshrouds Beowulf. Although Beowulf is an honorable warrior, even removing his armor to give Grendel the fairest chance of battle, he proved very sadistic during the gruesome brawl. Once grappling Grendel’s arm and locking it down, Beowulf proceeded to crush and dislocate Grendel’s whole arm, “Bound fast, Higlac’s brave follower tearing at his hands. The monster’s hatred rose higher but his power had gone. He twisted in pain.
These heroes aren’t evil villains, but there is a reason behind their actions and why they chose the life that they do. Batman’s rages stems from the death of his parents. As a young children Bruce aka Batman watched his parents be murdered before his very eyes when they were held at gunpoint by a mugger. When it comes to Beowulf it is impossible to know exactly where his anger stems from. The poem hops in to him being a hero right after without
Courage is the third main trait that Beowulf possesses, which all Anglo-Saxon’s respected. In lines 165-170 “That I, alone and with the help of my men, may purge all evil from this hall.” shows that Beowulf is not afraid of anything. A superhero will always take on a challenge no matter what the odds are, which is why Beowulf fits the part ideally. This also gains the respect of many people (aside from Unferth).