Beowulf's Heroic Traits

What defines a hero? Is it someone who is admired for their selflessness or their bravery? Is it someone who is defined as a good and caring person? In the epic poem Beowulf, the main protagonist, Beowulf is characterized as a hero by many of the geats in Herot. He came to the aid of King Hrothgar to protect his people from an evil monster, who had been killing people for the last twelve years. However, as an audience, we saw how he was not the perfect person as he began to fight for fun and glory instead of for defense. Throughout the novel, Beowulf exhibits characteristics of a hero and a monster, but the people of Herot are grateful to him regardless of his traits. One way Beowulf demonstrated his heroic behavior was through his selflessness

He was doing it for glory and to show off his might. After defeating Grendel’s mother, he was very proud of himself for chopping off her head. “The sword dripped blood, the swordsman was elated” (1568). After this fight, this demonstrated how Beowulf was no better than another of the other monsters like Grendel or his mother. Earlier in the poem, Beowulf explained how Beca and himself were swimming out in the water trying to outdo each other, and how he killed many monsters in the sea who were lurking about. Beowulf killed monsters who weren’t attacking him or threatening him. Another example showing his monstrous behavior was when he chopped off Grendel’s head after he already had killed him. “Beowulf in his fury now settled that score: he saw the monster in his resting place, war-weary and wrecked, a lifeless corpse, a casualty of the battle in Herot. The body gaped at the stroke dealt to it after death. Beowulf cut the corpse’s head off” (1584-1590). Beowulf wanted a prize for killing Grendel. He didn’t care that he disturbed a dead creature, he wanted to show the Geats that he was a hero. He only cared about his reputation, his