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Compare and contrast the characters of Beowulf and Gilgamesh
Compare and contrast the characters of Beowulf and Gilgamesh
Characteristics of the epic hero
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Beowulf and Gilgamesh are two epic heroes, but drastically different ones. While considering the aspects of their journeys, character, and leadership, the two have a few character traits in common. For the most part, however, the two characters are very divergent in these aspects.
An epic hero is hardly a hero if he does not journey on an incredibly dangerous voyage. The journey is one of the many common themes among epic heroes, and Beowulf and Gilgamesh are not exceptions. Beowulf goes on a journey to kill Grendel, the monster that has been terrorizing the Danes at Herot. From there, he travels on to defeat Grendel’s mother, and he gains fame and power from his heroism, becoming king of the Danes himself. His journey comes to an end
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when he battles the dragon, defeating it but dying shortly after. Beowulf is a hero of the people. His tragic demise after the battle with the dragon is the result of his resolution to help those under his rule. Gilgamesh is not nearly as benevolent as his Geatish counterpart. Gilgamesh sets out on a journey fueled by his desire for eternal life, as well as grief for his deceased friend Enkidu. After Enkidu dies, the idea of death scares Gilgamesh. He goes to visit Utnapishtim, who is said to have the ability to live forever. Utnapishtim issues him a challenge to stay awake for a week to attain eternal life. After failing the test almost immediately, Gilgamesh hears of a plant that restores youth, which is obtained and eaten by a snake. At the end of his journey he comes to terms with his own mortality. This contrasts with Beowulf, who meets his death, rather than simply accepting that it will happen. Epic heroes are usually very deeply characterized. A few common traits of epic heroes are strength, courage, and having flaws. Beowulf is a warrior of superhuman strength, and his courage is evident throughout the entirety of his journey. With a perfunctory look at the story, Beowulf appears to be a flawless hero, but there is a crucial flaw hidden under the surface. His pride and confidence that fueled him to victory in numerous battles was his downfall when he refused to back down against the dragon, meeting his tragic end. Similarly, Gilgamesh is a hero with the traits of tremendous strength and bravery, however these aspects of his character can be overshadowed by his glaring flaws at the start of the story. He is very arrogant and inconsiderate towards the people he rules until he changes near the end of the story. His flaws do not prove fatal, but they were harmful. Both characters have companions. Wiglaf accompanies Beowulf and Enkidu accompanies Gilgamesh. An epic hero is also usually a great leader.
Beowulf and Gilgamesh are certainly both rulers, however Beowulf is the only one that is undeniably great. Beowulf is a brilliant king, who is revered by his people. He effectively defends them, creates alliances, and gains riches for them. Gilgamesh is loathed by those under his authority, and for good reason. He uses them for slave labor, and takes advantage of the attractive women of Uruk on a regular basis. This results in the creation of Enkidu to humble the arrogant Gilgamesh. The feelings of the people display the effectiveness of each of their leadership styles. Gilgamesh can only be an effective leader after he returns from his journey with a new appreciation for his position as king of Uruk. An advantage that Gilgamesh had over Beowulf was his ease in acquiring leadership. Gilgamesh is born into power as two-thirds god and one-third human. Beowulf starts a lowly warrior and fights his way to the top through feats of courage and heroism. The difference in attainment of the position as king could be the reason that Beowulf is so much more humble in comparison to Gilgamesh. It is possible that if Beowulf was handed his leadership rather having to earn it, the Geats would have been taken advantage of as
well. Although there is a basic format for what an epic hero should be, they are in no way all the same. After considering the three points of journeys, character, and leadership, it should be obvious that Gilgamesh and Beowulf are very distinct traits despite being the same variety of character.
In Beowulf, the protagonist Beowulf is shown as a hero with extrodinary strength. This is not what makes him a hero. By definition, a hero is a man of exceptional quality. However this term does not do Beowulf justice. His self-imposed purpose in life is to help others, and eventually sacrifices his own life in doing so. Beowulf’s battle with the dragon serves as a critique of the notion that Beowulf is a hero. The Dragon section displays many of Beowulf’s heoric characteristics. Beowulf establishes himself as a hero by fighting the dragon, exemplifing strength and courage when fighting the dragon, and sacrificing himself so that others can live.
What is hero? A hero, under the Merriam-Webster definition, is a person who is admired for brave/great acts or fine qualities. This is a very broad definition that combines both ancient and modern belief of what --or who-- a hero should be. Beowulf is an epic poem that focuses on an Anglo-Saxon hero. As such he embodies the traits that his culture valued most. Deadpool, on the other hand, portrays the most recent ideas of what traits a hero should embody. With these examples from contrasting periods, we are still able to see similarities and differences that shows how modern and Anglo-Saxon idea of heroism reflects its culture.
His selflessness is shown on full display after Hygelac’s death, where “…Hygd offered him throne and authority as lord of the ring-hoard…” (165). Instead of accepting the offer, Beowulf refuses under the notion that he couldn’t “…be elevated over Heardred as his lord or to undertake the office of kingship…” (165). It is not until Heardred is killed that he finally agrees to ascend to the throne (166). Beowulf’s actions and initial refusal to take the throne shows that he cares more about the wellbeing of others and the order of succession than assuming power; a sure sign of selflessness. Later on during the final moments of his life, a weak and perishing Beowulf addresses Wiglaf one last time, telling him “…I give thanks that I behold this treasure here in front of me, that I have been allowed to leave my people so well endowed on the day I die. Now that I have bartered my last breath to own this fortune, it is up to you to look after their needs…” (174). Once again, Beowulf’s selflessness prevails. Even in his dying state, one of his top priorities was to make sure all his people would be taken care of and live happily. Neither can be said of Gilgamesh, who represents quite the contrast.
Do people ever talk about superheroes, and monsters? Especially people into comic books and children. Every child, even adults, have a superhero they look up to, or a role model they want to grow up to be like. Superheroes are everywhere from movies to books. Children even sit in their room playing with toy superheroes, hoping one day they can be just like them. Even hundreds of thousands of years ago there were superheroes! A long time ago in the Anglo-Saxon Period there was a brave and loyal hero! His name was Beowulf, and everyone looked up to him. This hero definitely brought peace to many people, and if it wasn’t for the mighty hero Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxons would have been terrorized forever. Therefore, the times were hard before Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon warriors always stood for three values, and the time was changed without monsters.
Beowulf, the great Geatish warrior, lives a very adventurous life filled with many voyages, battles, and victories. Through all of these events, he meets various people who are considered to be heroes like himself. These heroes, however, are unable to have the same abilities and characteristics of Beowulf. His great achievements cannot be matched by anything that they have done in their lives. Beowulf is a superior hero to Hrothgar, Unferth, and Wiglaf in the epic of Beowulf because he kills every monster that he fights, becomes a widely feared warrior and king, and dies in battle completing his final heroic act.
known in the Bible as Erech (now Warka, Iraq). According to the myth, the gods
To begin, we can examine the physical appearances of the two heroes. From the get go, we see Beowulf as a very powerful man. We see emphasise of this through the drawings of the novel. We see how muscular he is and the overall aura. He is relaxed and in control every step of the way.
...concerns was fame. He only wanted to build his name. Another way in which Gilgamesh did not demonstrate the same heroic values as Beowulf is the fact that he was not fearless. He was afraid of his own death. We witnessed this after Enkidu died, when he set out on his journey to gain immortality.
Beowulf was born to lead and not follow. Beowulf’s character from youth to old seeks out battles with all his devotion to win as a great leader would do. “I risked my life often when I was young. Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning, if the evil one will only abandon his earth-fort and face me in the open” (Beowulf 2011-15). Beowulf claimed his right as a king to his people and battled against the dragon to protect his people.
At the beginning of the novel, Beowulf represents a savage warrior, displaying mostly his strength and bravery by defeating Grendel and his mother. However, as Beowulf ages, he begins to change into a different kind of hero. After becoming King of the Geats, Beowulf matured and took on more of a leadership role in the community, as opposed to a warrior. Even though Beowulf was still a hero, he began to lead an army of geats and acted for the good of the people. In both cases however, Beowulf was respected by others for his admirable
In every epic story, the center of attention will be on the epic hero. Usually all the epic heroes have some kind of special power, which keep them different from other characters. Later on, their epic journey these powers, help them to win the glory, which make them epic heroes. In Beowulf, Beowulf is truly an epic hero, because of his wisdom, strength and bravery.
Beowulf displayed great courage and honor throughout his journeys and battles; he was an epic hero. An epic hero is a person who is viewed as larger than life and possesses values of a certain society. From the time of Beowulf’s battle with Grendel to his brawl against the dragon, he has showed everyone what being an honorable hero looks like. His heroism is revealed through both youth as a young warrior and wisdom as a reliable king. He never backed down and didn’t give up when situations were tough. Beowulf had obligations to fulfill and went about every aspect of his life with courage and strength. He cared for his people and was willing to take on anyone that threatened them or his kingdom. He sincerely was the hero of his time.
In the stories of Beowulf and A Knight's Tale, there are many different themes. One of the major themes is the religion that runs through both of them, yet both stories have a very different view of religion. In Beowulf, it seems as if God has chosen where our life will end and where it will begin, everything happens by the will of God in a fair and just way. In The Knight's Tale, we see Greek gods playing with the characters and when they "play" with them, there is no real pattern to how they choose things. Each vies is different and this affects the stories in different ways.
An epic hero according to Anglo-Saxon literature is a hero who is larger-than-life; someone with self-confidence, great strength, and the qualities of loyalty, bravery, and honor. Beowulf can be considered an epic hero for multiple reasons throughout “Beowulf.” Beowulf is a character constructed on all of the Anglo-Saxon epic hero qualifications. For starters, Beowulf is seen as a noble character, that is willing to provide security for the people by risking his own life. As a character, Beowulf conducts superhuman strength, and can complete impossible tasks. These are only some among many other reasons and characteristics Beowulf can be classified as an epic hero.
An epic hero is a main character who embodies the ideals of a certain culture. The character is named Beowulf and he represents the ideals of the Anglo-Saxon culture which were bravery, skillfulness, and generosity. Beowulf showed his braveness multiple times throughout the story. After he heard of a monster named Grendel who, for twelve years had been attacking King Hrothgar's mead hall Heorot, Beowulf traveled to the Danish islands to defeat him. Even though Beowulf didn't know anything about Grendel he went on a long voyage to reach the islands so that the Hrothgar's people need not live in fear. Then, after Beowulf Grendel, Grendel's mother came after the people of Heorot to avenge her son's death. To reach her, Beowulf had to dive into dark dangerous waters, facing unknown peril. He swam down through the shadowy lake by himself fighting off monsters the whole way. Once he did arrive at her lair a vicious fight ensued, but the courageous Beowulf came out victorious once again. Later in Beowulf's life, a dragon destroys his village and the large mead hall he had built for his men. Even though he knew he was no longer as agile and strong, Beowulf went straight to the dragon and gave a defiant shout of challenge.