Beowulf And Odysseus Comparison

Another hero I wanted to use was Odysseus. Even though Odysseus isn't necessarily a modern hero, I felt that Odysseus and Beowulf would be the best “pair” since both of their stores are epic poems. Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic poem written around 700-1000 AD while The Odyssey is a Greek epic poem written around around the end of 8th century BC by the poet Homer. One characteristic that both Beowulf and Odysseus have is standing out in public. Beowulf is the best of the Geats and is loved by everyone is his kingdom, which allows Beowulf to fight Grendel. Odysseus, at first, didn’t want to fight in the war, he wanted to stay back in his kingdom in Ithaca, however, due to Odysseus’ personality and strong physique, he was dragged into the Trojan War by king Menelaus. …show more content…
Beowulf’s enemies were Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a fire breathing dragon. Odysseus’ enemies, while returning home, were Circe (witch-goddess), Polyphemus (cyclops, Poseidon’s son), Calypso, and many more. One characteristic that I found to be different was both Beowulf and Odysseus winning at the end. Even though Beowulf wins against Grendel and his mother, he dies while fighting and killing the fire breathing dragon. In my opinion, a hero is considered a winner if he/she kills the enemy AND returns alive. In Beowulf’s case, even though he kills all his enemies, he dies at the end. On the other hand, Odysseus is considered a winner. When the Trojan War was over, Odysseus’ goal was to return home and reunite with his wife and