Persuasive Essay Beowulf

It may prove difficult to only do things for the god of mankind rather than oneself. Nevertheless, Beowulf held tremendous bravery which contributes to his heroic persona. When Beowulf fights the antagonist Grendel he goes into battle with only “[his] hands alone to fight,” proving he is no coward (172-173). Throughout this epic, Beowulf continues

When most people think of a hero, they picture a typically strong man with courageous actions and noble qualities. As people read Beowulf, they will begin to realize that Beowulf is the exact figure of what a hero should be. From defeating Grendel to helping the kingdom, Beowulf continues to show his heroic acts. If it weren’t for him, Grendel would have destroyed the kingdom. Beowulf’s strength, courage, and nobility proves that he is a hero.

Beowulf: The Benevolent Hero “Let me live in greatness and courage, or here in this hall, welcome my death!” That is the battle cry of the archetype of all heroes, Beowulf. Beowulf was a young man, a Geat, who was given the gift of superhuman strength to battle ferocious, evil monsters both on land and in the ocean. He hears of the horrible monster known as Grendel, who terrified the Danes through his trips to Herot, the mead-hall of the Danish king, Hrothgar, to kill more and more of Hrothgar’s men. Beowulf travels to the land of the Danes to kill Grendel, but did he do it out of the motive to help Hrothgar and his people, or did he do it to gain more fame and popularity?

He abuses his powers to the extreme, and gets everything he desires. With Grendel, he kills two birds with one stone. He killed Grendel, which satisfied his lust for killing, and then became even more famous because he killed in an area he had never been before, Denmark. Because he saved them from a monster who was destroying their population, this community will be eternally grateful to him, which is exactly what he wants. If it is not clear to you by now, Beowulf is not who he appears to be.

Grendel has brought a lot of death to the world, because of that Beowulf promised to himself that he will kill

Lastly, he wanted to teach his people that to keep the tribe safe, there must be sacrifices. Within the epic poem, “Beowulf,” there are three major reasons why he decided to fight the monsters. First off, in the poem, “Beowulf,” he explicates his reasoning for fighting the monster, Grendel, as his duty. As an interpretation of the Viking code, when one has the ability to better the lives of others, it is their duty to do so, and Beowulf is a prime example of this. Beowulf stated, “My people have said,

In the case of Beowulf he was seen as someone who helped the town and was doing it for the people. That was not the case he was only doing it for the money and the power that it gave him. He was being praised by everyone and he knew that he was going to be rewarded. Beowulf did not take the time to get to know Grendel even when he was not harming anyone. Beowulf just started bothering him and later since Grendel was startled it made them believe he was bad.

This was the only battle that he was told to have. The townspeople had been fighting off Grendel for twelve years and they never once succeeded. Beowulf was called down to take care of the problem and he succeeded. That night when Grendel came to attack Beowulf was ready and he killed Grendel right there. But it was a special battle because there were no weapons they only fought with their bare hands.

Beowulf has comitatus and is a boastful man. He swore allegiance to King Hrothgar that he would kill the monster Grendle (lines 194-198). And so he did with the honor of the king. Beowulf never disrespected the king, always good to him. “Hail, Hrothgar!”

In his battles, Beowulf exemplifies the heroic characteristics of selflessness, hope, and bravery to protect people First of all Beowulf exemplifies his characteristics like being a modern day hero by his selflessness. Selflessness

He did travel across the sea to kill a demon and then the demon’s mother for what seemed to be good will. Beowulf even states he is helping Hrothgar since he had helped Beowulf’s father in the past and Beowulf is returning the favor. Yet, Beowulf is still acting on his pride. He wants to defeat Grendel being that no one has been able to in the past and killing the monster for the Danes would surely bring him more honor and treasures. Beowulf never says that is why he is helping Hrothgar, but the context in which Beowulf says why he is there would suggest he cares more about glory than loyalty like he originally said.

In today’s society, anybody can be considered a hero. A hero is a selfless person who is admired for their courageous achievements. A mother, celebrity, or even a mailman can be a hero to someone. In Beowulf, the epic poem translated by Burton Raffel, Beowulf is recognized as a hero who craves too much glory. In today’s world, Beowulf is viewed as an irrelevant hero since he displays poor qualities of arrogance and selfishness.

Beowulf is willing to risk his life to protect others. He demonstrates his strength and his braveness when he battles Grendel, Grendel is a monster who has been terrorizing all the Danish people. Beowulf will be able to defeat Grendel by his bare hands, which shows that he is not afraid to confront the monster face to face. The author uses Beowulf’s victory over Grendel to show the power that Good will always be more powerful than evil. When Grendel and Beowulf were battling, Grendel was thinking of running away from Beowulf and hide because Beowulf was known to beat anyone that would stand from him and protecting his community safe “Grendel's one thought was to run from Beowulf, flee back to his marsh and hide there.”

Beowulf risked his life multiple times by battling Grendel and Grendel’s mother to save the people of Denmark. He also embarks on a battle with a dragon as an old man ascending on the Geats Throne. Each battle Beowulf fought has all been for the safety of his people. Although the Knight did not battle as a deed for his people, he also is viewed as a humble person his battles were for a purpose greater than himself. The knight never talks about his brave and valorous deeds.

Beowulf slayed them because he believed it was his duty. No one could defeat these monsters like he could. There had to be a reason Beowulf fought these monsters because he never did it for himself. He put others ahead of himself because he believed it was his moral obligation to. When he fought Grendel he had to defeat him to balance good and evil.