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Loyalty in greek literature
Loyalty in greek literature
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Beowulf, an epic poem that tells about a well respected man leads the story as a hero with values of lof and comitatus. Beowulf and the best of the geats carry their christian morals throughout the story, although lof and comitatus are pagan values. The men wanted lof because they believed their wasn't an afterlife and that every accomplishment needed to be achieved on earth. Comitatus is the idea that no matter what, at all costs you protect and stand by your king. Is comitatus and lof as important then death itself ? As we look at the meaning and values in Beowulf we will see some fail and some that bring great success. Comitatus was all Beowulf and the men had. The mead hall is where some of that was built and the trust and love. “ Hrothgar, their lord, sat joyless in herot , a mighty prince mourning…” (44-50). The attack of grendel destroyed …show more content…
In the end they broke that commitment , but one stayed. “By almighty God ,I'd rather burn myself than see flames swirling around my lord.” (782-764).It was beowulf's last quest , him and his men sat out to fight the worst evil of them all . Greater than beowulf, he knew he stood no chance without fighting with weapons. Shown too strong the dragon showed his mighty powers and the men fled leaving beowulf alone,but one man stayed till his death ,
In Beowulf a New Telling the author, Robert Nye expresses the theme revenge. Revenge relates to life because people are always getting revenge for the small and big things. Revenge is a prompting element for several characters throughout the novel. The first revenge example is when Grendel first attacks Hall Heorot as revenge to humanity. Mankind has killed his people, and they symbolize everything Grendel despised, including light, good, accomplishment, and joy. (Page 7-8). The second example was when She, Grendel's mother, attacks Heorot because someone there took her son's life, evilness, and pride. She and Unferth both attack the Hall because they murdered Grendel. She was motivated by revenge and mothers rage, and Unferth was motivated
Beowulf is steeped in a pagan tradition that depicts nature as hostile and forces of death as uncontrollable. Blind fate picks random victims; man is never reconciled with the world. Beowulf ends a failure. There is some truth in this conclusion, but for the most part, someone who didn’t have a well-lived life has most likely portrayed it.
Beowulf is very faithful to the kingdom in which he works with and serves. He says to Hrothgar, “If there is any favour I can perform / beyond deeds of arms I have done already, / anything that would merit your affections more, / I shall act, my lord, with alacrity” (1822-1825). Even if he is home, all the way across the seas, he would drop whatever he was doing and come to help Denmark defeat its evil that comes to that land. He shows his undying dedication to helping the king and the kingdom that he lives in. Beowulf then tries to defeat this dragon, that is, his final battle. He has been in “retirement” and has not fought in quite some time, but he still is being depended on by his kingdom to fight off this evil. Sadly, he does die, but he was so dedicated, brave, and strong enough to fight off this dragon to make sure all is safe. It was, “that final day was the first time / when Beowulf fought and fate denied him / glory in battle” (2573-2575). Each characteristic has a special part of an epic hero, but faithfulness can really set the tone for a hero's life.
In the epic poem of Beowulf, written by an unknown monk in about 725 AD, the Anglo-Saxon virtue of comitatus is displayed as a slowly dying aspect of life. Comitatus is the basic idea that everyone protects the king at all costs even if it means a warrior giving up his own life, and if a king is killed, the warriors must avenge the death of the king or they can no longer serve as warriors for the next king. This value of comitatus is displayed mostly through the three battles that Beowulf encounters during the epic poem. An analysis of the three battles is important because Beowulf’s choice of weapons, behavior of the Thanes, and preparation for and attitude toward battle all emphasize the death of the Anglo-Saxon virtue of comitatus.
As a young kid Nate had imagined he was fighting feared monsters, many times more than once. He would defeat these monsters and parade around like he owned the world. Nate was imagining that he had much glory from killing these monsters, like the way that Beowulf had real glory from defeating his monsters. Every time that Beowulf killed a monster he gained more glory and treasure. As the leader of the Geats he had to be fearless to show his glory and prove his ability as a leader. In reality there are two kinds of glory, real earned glory and glory made by telling false stories or making things seem better than they really were.
8. Based on Beowulfs opening address to Hrothgar my first impression is that he is very confident and perhaps even self obsessed. He brags about his success and his strength. He says “of my youth have been filled with glory” and also states “my people have said, the wisest, most knowing, and best of them, that was duty was to the Danes’ Great king. They have seen my strength for themselves, have watched me rise from the darkness of war, dripping with my enemies blood. I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from the earth.” And also to continues to list all of his world changing achievements that he accomplished all on his own. To me personally, he comes off as self conceded and feels as if he is untouchable.
Early in the poem, Beowulf hears accounts of Grendel’s destruction of Herot, Hrothgar’s majestic mead hall. Knowing his strength and military prowess, Beowulf immediately devises a plan, recruits men, and orders boats, thrusting himself into a battle that was not necessarily his to fight. Beowulf felt obligated to end Grendel’s reign of terror. Though he knew the death of Grendel would bring him fame and honor, the idealized Beowulf was able to set aside personal ambition in order to end the suffering of the Danes. Shortly after slaying Grendel, Beowulf again displays an awareness of duty when Grendel’s mother extracts revenge upon Herot, killing one of Hrothgar’s best men, Aeshere. Instead of leaving Herot in a state of frenzy, Beowulf comes to King Hrothgar’s side, pledging allegiance and service. Bolstering the defeated king’s moral, Beowulf boldly addresses the older King Hrothgar saying, “So arise, my lord, and let us immediately set forth on the trail of this troll-dam. I guarantee you: she will not get away, not to dens under ground nor upland groves nor the ocean floor. She’ll have nowhere to fall to. Endure your troubles to-day. Bear up and be the man I expect you to be.” Beowulf could not set aside his duty and obligation, though he knew full well the suffering and pain that might result from his actions. Thus, Beowulf is a portrait of
All our childhood years, our parents have taught us the importance of being selfless. Maybe that is by sharing with your siblings growing up, or just taking care of your elder grandma when she’s feeling under the weather. This important life, quality has been embroidered into our skins from such a young age; that our hearts are willing to help others in need. I know that not everyone is as willing to be selfless as others, but that is just a part of life. You aren’t always going to pick the sweetest apple from the tree, or in other words, some people are just not as altruistic as others. Furthermore, I think an important theme shown among British literature is the importance of being selfless and how it can impact your life. Throughout the stories in Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales, the aspect of being selfless is shown greatly among its characters and how their decision to be that way impacts their lives.
Throughout history rulers have always been protective of their kingdoms. In hopes of always being in control of their territory, rulers develop special relationships with the people to protect them. This relationship was usually achieved by of instilling fear into the minds of their warriors, or instilling respect between each other. In the story Beowulf the relationship between the ruler and his thanes is that of honor, friendship, and respect.
Towards the end of Beowulf’s epic hero cycle and life as king, he had to take on one last monster, the Dragon. He commuted back to Geatland with his men. As he begins to fight the Dragon, his sword failed him, and Beowulf was left with no weapons. Then ten of the eleven men he brought fled in fear and Beowulf was left with only Wiglaf. They took on the Dragon together and successfully killed him only after being badly wounded in the neck. Beowulf then collapsed and passed on. This finished his cycle as hero and as
Beowulf wants to fight Grendel, a monster wreaking havoc, and is boasting that he is more powerful and courageous.
Beowulf shows loyalty when he comes to the aid of Hrothgar, he feels a sense of loyalty to the king because of his father. When he was younger, Beowulf shows his loyalty to Hrothgar when he agrees to help him rid the castle of the monster. When he speaks to Wealhtheow, Beowulf explains that he will fight Grendel, and he intends to defeat him, even if it means his own death. He is letting him know that he is loyal to the end. He stated, ‘‘And I shall fulfill that purpose, prove myself with a proud deed or meet my death here in the mead-hall. ‘Beowulf showed outstanding loyalty throughout the piece. Beowulf’s actions were clearly motivated by
Beowulf is widely regarded as a classic “good versus evil” story. The Beowulf-poet depicts Grendel, his mother and the dragon as the “evil” of this dichotomy. This raises an interesting question concerning the idea of a community: How exactly is “good” distinguished from “evil” in an absolute sense? Given that the Beowulf-poet expresses a tone suggesting that the pagan figures are the evil ones, it is clear that he is biased in his treatment. Still, this tone contradicts some of the events that play out in the epic. Building upon this, one could argue that the distinguishing of this good-evil dichotomy is relative; what is considered “evil” to the Beowulf-poet may be considered “good” from another’s perspective. With this moral relativism in mind, a psychology of confusion is established in the reader that creates a sense of uncertainty concerning one’s values in shaping a community.
To both the Geats and the Danes, the ultimate goal of life seems to reach glory before an unavoidable death. This is actually enunciated by Beowulf to Hrothgar in the following lines, “Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning. For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark.” (1384–1389) Here it is revealed that Beowulf and likely all of his company view glory as the sole and most important goal that one can achieve before passing. Likewise in the lines, ‘The man whose name was known for courage, the Geat leader, resolute in his helmet, answered in return: "We are retainers from Hygelac 's band. Beowulf is my name."’ (340-343), Beowulf announces himself, and by doing so he invokes the reputation he had built up for himself in the past through his great feats. This further stresses the importance of glory and renown to these early European natives as their ultimate goal in life, and as Beowulf is perceived to be a great man, the fact that he must only utter his name to bring forth an account of all he has done in his life is representative of this
The first fight depicted in the poem is between Beowulf and Grendel, who is described as a “cruel spirit” and an “unhappy being” (102-4). Grendel is a monster descended from Cain (106-7), who murdered his brother and was condemned by God. Grendel attacks the Hrothgar’s kingdom because he is envious the joyfulness of Hrothgar’s mead hall (86-99), thus Grendel represents envy. Beowulf fights Grendel without neither weapon nor armour because he is fair and brave. He fights against Grendel to save other people, not because of any personal gain, which shows his generosity and. He believes in God and thus is worthy of his strength. Beowulf is considered the strongest man on earth, therefore he does not envy. As a result, Beowulf easily wins the fight and kills Grendel (808-814). This first fight shows that there are similarities between Christian heroism and pagan heroism. Even though Beowulf is a pagan, his courage, kindness and aversion towards envy are eviden...