Beowulf Hero's Journey Essay

The Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and Dante Alighieri's Dante's Inferno are both epic poems which are still widely read, and in both works, the protagonist experiences a journey. In most ways, however, these two poems and these two journeys are nothing alike. These to text are based on a hero’s journey but they have a couple of things that aren’t the same. A hero’s journey describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization. Both Poems are very alike but there is things in their journey that set them apart.
Through both poems the basic difference between the hero’s journeys is very evident that these two characters- Beowulf and Dante- are

Beowulf hears about Grendel and all the trouble he is creating. So he gathered his best men and decides to cross the sea to fight the monster. Beowulf knew that he was the only hope for hrothgar because of the history he has of fighting monsters. While Dante’s journey is to save his soul from a fate similar to those that Dante pilgrim witnesses in hell. The journey is supposed to prove what Christians would have been taught on earth: that this life and its decisions have to do with the afterlife. Dante solidifies this fact by including famous people in the Divine Comedy. Another thing is Dante’s journey is one of moral exploration and enlightenment rather than Beowulf's purposeful journey to slay a monster and save a people. On the other hand, Dante learns something about himself and the nature and consequences of sin, while Beowulf is morally unmoved by his

Both texts contain a literal descent into the underworld which not only correlates with the hero’s journey, but also serves as a setting for the introduction of monsters. Beowulf’s descent comes when he must dive into the boiling lake in order to slay Grendel’s mother. Dante’s descent lasts much longer- throughout the entire epic- as he makes his way through the nine circles of Hell. The various monsters that each protagonist faces function as more than simple plot points. Both Beowulf and The Inferno use monsters as a examples of good and evil. In Beowulf, Grendel, his mother, and the dragon are monsters which represent malevolence. These monsters are destroyed throughout the epic in order to depict the triumph of good over evil. The Inferno also contains a multitude of monsters which depict the badness present in Hell. One distinguishing feature present with the monsters of Hell is the specificity of the characteristics each monster possesses with regard to their respective