Legendary: What Are Beowulf's Motivations?

Legendary

(What are Beowulf’s motivations?)

Why do we have heroes? Do they play an important role in our society? Perhaps they played important roles in our past societies? People all around the world can be said to be a hero, for many different reasons. It could be from a small gesture to a grand favor. Some people just have the characteristics to be a hero for someone else. What are those characteristics? This answer may differ depending on who you are and what you have been exposed to. There is such a thing called an epic poem. In Compton’s by Britannica, it explains why we have such a thing, “The purpose of the epic was to educate and inspire one generation of people to value and follow the deeds of their larger-than-life predecessors. It was hoped thereby that the present generation would live up to the best of its traditions.” (epic, 2009) Within an Epic Poem,

When Lewis Warsh describes Beowulf he says, “A hero must be judged by the things he does and the way he reacts and relates to other people. His deeds must be marked by a nobility of purpose, and he must be willing to risk his life for his ideals.” (Warsh, 2004) Beowulf did many courageous and dangerous things because he could. He had the skill and courage to fight and protect his people, and sometimes not even his own people. It was his duty to risk his life for others because he can. In Beowulf, it describes three monsters that was said to be impossible for anyone to stop, but Beowulf did his job. His people will in return give him glory. Beowulf loves to receive glory from others because he thinks he deserves it, which is true. It could be argued that he was only doing what was said to be good for himself and the glory he would receive after, but instead it was because he had an obligation to do the duties that were put upon him. He knew that before he could get his glory, he had to successful complete his