A Comparison Of Beowulf And Achilles

There are many men who fight and are in wars as heroes, however most heroes now sit behind screens or desks. President Bush told first graders of New York City Public School that a hero is someone that they look up to (Cannon). This shows that anyone can be a hero as a role model. One of the most overlooked heroes are the ones sitting behind screens. There are many men doing brave things on the battle ground in war, however most of the war is waged behind computer screens (Cannon). As society and technology evolved heroes did as well they became more associated with acts of heroism on screens or making new medicines for saving lives. There are however still old world heroes today such as, Beowulf and Achilles from classic literature. Beowulf …show more content…
Beowulf was a young adult that set out to Herot to gain fame and fortune. He pretended to be asleep to attract Grendel into Herot’s mead hall. He then battled Grendel and took his arm as a trophy for the hall which enraged Grendel’s mother who then took the king’s best friend, so Beowulf was sent to kill her and gained the crown. Later as an old King he left to battle a dragon despite knowing he would die in the process. While, Achilles was sent to the first battle on Troy and took riches and Brisiess, he was willing to share his gold with the king even though he fought for it yet when the king took all the prized he pulled his men from battle. When Trojans came to their beaches later he sent Patroclus to fight in his stead and gave him orders not to lead the army or face Hector, but Patroclus engaged anyway into a fatal battle with Hector. When Achilles heard of this he grieved for his cousin and went out to take down Hector for revenge. On the other hand, despite having very different lives and adventures both Beowulf and Achilles had similar values. While Achilles and Beowulf go through their stories they show how caring they are. When Beowulf went off to face Grendel’s mother he had his men wait for him at the lake. This clearly shows he doesn’t want anyone of his friends to get hurt in his battle. Likewise, when Achilles was sent to Troy with his crew he had them not fight for the king who wanted riches, but for themselves. This shows that Achilles thinks his crews’ lives are worth more to him then the king’s favor and war prizes. While, they do have their similarities they still are very different