Compare And Contrast Beowulf And Le Morte D Arthur

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Throughout history, different civilizations created stories about a common topic: heroes. These stories are called epics, and we can see several examples of these in England, Mesopotamia and Ancient Greece. These stories usually exhibit the same traits: a hero that goes on a quest, exhibits extraordinary strength, and gets praise for his actions. In Europe, two of the earliest epics to be created were Beowulf from Scandinavia, and Le Morte d’Arthur from England. Both Beowulf and Arthur exhibit overarching traits that are typical in an epic hero, but they also feature significant differences that make them stand out. We can see these traits on their deeds, values, and the cultures they represent.

Firstly, similarities and differences can be seen in the deeds of the two epic heroes. Both heroes go on quests to defeat an enemy. However, they differ on how often they were in conflict, as well as with whom they fight with. We can see Beowulf fight in three different instances throughout the epic poem. In the first one, he fights Grendel, a monster that has wreaked havoc in their kingdom: “a prince of the Geats, had killed Grendel” (Beowulf, Line …show more content…

In both stories, we see the theme of fate and destiny based on the actions of the two heroes. In Beowulf, this is seen most importantly in Beowulf’s death: fate swept us away, sent my whole brave high born clan to their final doom. Now I must follow them” (Beowulf, Lines 431-433). On the other hand, we see a premonition of Arthur’s destiny when he was about to fight Sir Modred: “Remember your vision- how Sir Gawain appeared with a heaven-sent message to dissuade you from fighting Sir Modred” (Malory, p.196). We also see an emphasis on paying tribute at the end of Beowulf with the burial of the hero: “they extolled his heroic nature and exploits and gave thanks for his greatness” (Beowulf, Lines

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