Beowulf's Grendel As An Epic Hero

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Even though Grendel is depicted as a monster in the story Grendel, his story still makes him an epic hero. An epic hero is described as a character whose heroic actions are central to his/her own culture, race, or nation. Grendel may not be an actual hero like Beowulf, but a monster who endure appropriate trials for themselves. Grendel’s terrifying and violent actions are things that are feared by many people and encouraged by his race. This is what makes Grendel and epic monster. In the later parts of Grendel, Grendel is shown to continuously wander through the woods seeking for entertainment. As he wanders, the Shapers song that he heard from a distance in Hrothgar catches him. Grendel stops and closely listens to the song the Shaper was …show more content…

Grendel is excited when he first notices Beowulf, someone that will give him a challenge against his killing spree. Grendel decides to attack the meadhall when darkness falls to overcome his boredom. When Grendel tries to kill everyone in the meadhall later that night, he quickly encounters Beowulf himself as he chooses his victims just before he begins his feast upon their bodies. Grendel and Beowulf shortly have a small confrontation seconds after. Beowulf begins by twisting Grendel’s hand, causing him a great deal of pain. Later Beowulf throws Grendel to the wall to break his forehead open. When Grendel finds himself close to death after Beowulf’s violent assaults, he escapes to the cliff that leads to the bottomless pit down below and willingly jumps down into it. Grendel’s defeat and him jumping off the cliff into the bottomless pit or abyss, is the equivalent of an epic hero’s tragic descent into hell or the underground world at the end of their …show more content…

Dante’s hell was based around society of the year 1320, and since then crimes have become more advanced and more severe. Dante’s hell does not account for many of the crimes today, such as forgery. Forgery is a serious crime that exists during this present time period. The first crime I believed that should is domestic violence. I strongly believe that it is wrong for anyone to physically hurt his or her intimate partner out of anger. Domestic violence is an act that is greatly frowned upon and it deserves a great deal of punishment. I believe that domes violence belongs in the eighth circles. The punishment for the abuser is that they are trapped in an abusive relationship for the rest of eternity. The abuser will not be able to defend or fight back from the beatings nor will they be able to speak up about being abused by their intimate partner. The abuser shall experience the pain that they have caused their own partner and without a way to escape

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