Pride, fame seeking, loyalty, strength, courage, and respect. These heroic traits can be seen in many of today’s popular shows, books, and movies. The Anglo-Saxon culture was one of the very first to use these traits in stories and many of those traits can be seen in popular stories today. One of the more popular stories is the Harry Potter series, a couple of Harry’s traits are loyalty and courage. He shows his loyalty to Ron when he chooses him over Draco when they first arrive at Hogwarts. His courage can be seen when he gets transported into a cemetery fights Lord Voldemort during the final event in the Tri-Wizard Cup. The importance of these traits can be seen in the epics Beowulf and The Tale of Gilgamesh. Beowulf is a poetic epic that
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They believed that is was important to become famous because fate always turns on you so, if you are famous when fate does turn on you, you will be remembered. When fate turned on Beowulf he had done amazing things like killing monsters. The first monster he kills is Gendel, “The victory, for proof hanging high/ From the rafters where Beowulf had hung it, was the monster’s/ Arm, claw and shoulder and all.” (Beo. 12.275-277) Beowulf is so proud of his accomplishments he hangs Grendel’s arm in Hereot Hall for all to see and to show how he is the strongest warrior. Also, to show everyone should be afraid of him because he can kill a monster as vicious as Grendel these traits made Beowulf a desirable leader in Anglo-Saxon culture.Gilgamesh does something very similar to Beowulf, Gilgamesh cuts off Humbaba’s head,“The head of Humbaba swinging from a tree.” (Gil. 55) Gilgamesh hangs Humbaba’s head from a tree, like Beowulf hung Grendel’s arm, to show off that he killed Humbaba and that he should be thought highly of because he killed the great Humbaba that no one else could kill. This would also make Gilgamesh a desirable leader to the Anglo-Saxons because of his pride and how he sought …show more content…
The Anglo-Saxons thought this was important because a warrior should stay loyal to his people, kingdom, and King. But also it was important for their society to be loyal to one another the epic Beowulf shows this through the ending when Beowulf returns home to the Geats. When fate finally turned on Beowulf and he was dying the people still respected and were loyal to him because of his prior accomplishments. Beowulf’s last words were “[...]When funeral flames have burned me, and build it/Here, at the water’s edge, high/On this spit of land, so that sailors can see/ This tower, and remember my name, and call it/ Beowulf’s tower and boats in the darkness/ And mist, crossing the sea, will know it.”(Beo. 38.695-700)When his people heard this they buried all of their newly found treasure with Beowulf and they made the tower that he requested and buried him inside it. Similar to Beowulf, Gilgamesh’s story shows loyalty but in a different way when Humbaba is beating up his friend Enkidu he comes to help him even though Humbaba is a huge and ugly monster, “Gilgamesh in horror saw/ Him strike the back of Enkidu and beat him to the ground/ Until he thought his friend was crushed to death.[...]And he stood over Humbaba with his ax/ Raised high above his head watching the monster plead.” (Gil. 23-35) In this part of the epic Gilgamesh watches as his friend gets beat up and when Humbaba is at his weakest
They believed that is was important to become famous because fate always turns on you so, if you are famous when fate does turn on you, you will be remembered. When fate turned on Beowulf he had done amazing things like killing monsters. The first monster he kills is Gendel, “The victory, for proof hanging high/ From the rafters where Beowulf had hung it, was the monster’s/ Arm, claw and shoulder and all.” (Beo. 12.275-277) Beowulf is so proud of his accomplishments he hangs Grendel’s arm in Hereot Hall for all to see and to show how he is the strongest warrior. Also, to show everyone should be afraid of him because he can kill a monster as vicious as Grendel these traits made Beowulf a desirable leader in Anglo-Saxon culture.Gilgamesh does something very similar to Beowulf, Gilgamesh cuts off Humbaba’s head,“The head of Humbaba swinging from a tree.” (Gil. 55) Gilgamesh hangs Humbaba’s head from a tree, like Beowulf hung Grendel’s arm, to show off that he killed Humbaba and that he should be thought highly of because he killed the great Humbaba that no one else could kill. This would also make Gilgamesh a desirable leader to the Anglo-Saxons because of his pride and how he sought …show more content…
The Anglo-Saxons thought this was important because a warrior should stay loyal to his people, kingdom, and King. But also it was important for their society to be loyal to one another the epic Beowulf shows this through the ending when Beowulf returns home to the Geats. When fate finally turned on Beowulf and he was dying the people still respected and were loyal to him because of his prior accomplishments. Beowulf’s last words were “[...]When funeral flames have burned me, and build it/Here, at the water’s edge, high/On this spit of land, so that sailors can see/ This tower, and remember my name, and call it/ Beowulf’s tower and boats in the darkness/ And mist, crossing the sea, will know it.”(Beo. 38.695-700)When his people heard this they buried all of their newly found treasure with Beowulf and they made the tower that he requested and buried him inside it. Similar to Beowulf, Gilgamesh’s story shows loyalty but in a different way when Humbaba is beating up his friend Enkidu he comes to help him even though Humbaba is a huge and ugly monster, “Gilgamesh in horror saw/ Him strike the back of Enkidu and beat him to the ground/ Until he thought his friend was crushed to death.[...]And he stood over Humbaba with his ax/ Raised high above his head watching the monster plead.” (Gil. 23-35) In this part of the epic Gilgamesh watches as his friend gets beat up and when Humbaba is at his weakest