When you think of a hero what is the first image that comes to mind? In this class many would perhaps answer Beowulf, because Beowulf is described as a heroic man with many tales of deeds that stretch beyond imagination. In the story he hears of Grendel and his crimes against the Danes and unceremoniously decided to leave his homeland with fourteen of his steadfast and brave warriors to travel and defeat this beast. Now one might think him brave for taking on this futile task, however brave though he is three parts the fool, and rather arrogant. Though this trait seems to be rather common among ancient, or epic, heroes. For example, Hercules, who Beowulf shares several traits with, often took upon those impossible tasks and came out
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The sheer foolishness of that moment had astounded me the first time around, because Beowulf had no way of knowing, save the stories he heard, how this creature was in terms of strength. He was practically a blind man coming into this situation with
Grendel, and though he did come out victorious, his arrogant approach could have been his downfall. Though perhaps this is the modern take on this unsavory character flaw. In Beowulf’s time people believed if they were to become everlasting in stories and become immortalized throughout time and history, their fame had to be heard of and known. The prideful nature is seemed to be acceptable amongst the men, some even encouraged Beowulf at times by boasting
about him. These cohorts help feed Beowulf’s ego and keep his spirits and ego high and in order to maintain a reputation of a hero.
This leads me personally to believe that it boils down to whether he is simply over confident with his abilities and is a product of his era, the Age of Heroes, or he simply
The sheer foolishness of that moment had astounded me the first time around, because Beowulf had no way of knowing, save the stories he heard, how this creature was in terms of strength. He was practically a blind man coming into this situation with
Grendel, and though he did come out victorious, his arrogant approach could have been his downfall. Though perhaps this is the modern take on this unsavory character flaw. In Beowulf’s time people believed if they were to become everlasting in stories and become immortalized throughout time and history, their fame had to be heard of and known. The prideful nature is seemed to be acceptable amongst the men, some even encouraged Beowulf at times by boasting
about him. These cohorts help feed Beowulf’s ego and keep his spirits and ego high and in order to maintain a reputation of a hero.
This leads me personally to believe that it boils down to whether he is simply over confident with his abilities and is a product of his era, the Age of Heroes, or he simply