Comparing Beowulf And The Hero's Journey

When deciphering between what it considered to be heroic or monstrous, it is important to keep in mind the angle in which a story is being told. While reading Beowulf, the protagonist of the epic poem could be considered either heroic or monstrous through the eyes of different characters. Beowulf can be classified as a hero according to The Hero’s Journey through the eyes of Hrothgar and Hygelac. On the other hand, Beowulf could be viewed as being monstrous according to Monster Theory through the eyes of Unferth and Grendel’s Mother.

Beowulf could be considered as a hero through Hrothgar’s perspective. For example, in The Hero’s Journey, a hero must enter the unknown and Beowulf does this more than once in order to restore Heorot to its

former glory. Besides the fact that Beowulf traveled across the sea in order to accept the call of killing Grendel, Beowulf enters the unknown when he encounters Grendel, who could be considered supernatural in the sense that he is not easily killed. The second time Beowulf enters the unknown is when he goes after Grendel’s Mother for the death of Aeschere, In order to reach Grendel’s Mother, Beowulf had to venture into her abode which contained other monsters. Also, according to Hero’s Journey, a hero is rewarded before he returns home. So after killing both Grendel and Grendel’s Mother, Beowulf is rewarded with treasure before his venture home to the Geats.
Beowulf could also be considered as a hero through Hygelac’s perspective as well. Upon Beowulf’s return home to the Geats, he meets with the Hygelac. He tells Hygelac of his accomplishments and his rewards that he received. In response, Hygelac tells Beowulf is proud of his deeds even though he did not have a promising youth. This could be interpreted through The Hero’s Journey that Beowulf was considered to be out of place, but proved to have abilities that other warriors did not have. Also, Beowulf was again rewarded with treasures and land for his deeds. Also, Hygelac and his son dies later in the poem, and Beowulf becomes king. Which according to The Hero’s Journey, a hero proves themselves to be worthy of kingship.
On the other hand, Beowulf proves himself to be monstrous through the eyes of Unferth according to Monster Theory.

Unferth seems to be jealous of the courage that Beowulf has to kill Grendel. This jealousy is demonstrated through the distorted version of a swimming race between Breca and Beowulf. Also Unferth wants to be the one who kills Grendel for his king, Hrothgar. This goes along with Thesis VI: Fear of the Monster Is really a Kind of Desire, which Beowulf is a symbol of something that Unferth desires he could be.

Another instance that Beowulf proves himself to have monstrous qualities is through the shoes of Grendel’s Mother according to Monster Theory. When Grendel’s Mother came to Heorot to avenge her son’s death she crossed territory that was not in her domain. In response, Beowulf killed her. In Thesis V: The Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible, Beowulf was a symbol of limitations of how Grendel’s Mother could act while grieving for the loss of her son.

Therefore, depending on which perspective you choose to look at Beowulf, it could either be heroic or monstrous. Beowulf would be considered more of a hero from first glance because he is doing the majority a favor by destroying the figures that seem harmful. However, Beowulf could be considered a monster in the eyes of the figures on who he is inflicting pain

on.