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In Shakespeare's Henry IV Prince Hal fought Hotspur in order to dispel others' negative views of him. There is a feeling, similarly, that Beowulf may have felt he had something to prove and this could have motivated his decision to vanquish the monsters and the manner in which he set about achieving that goal. Although this could have been the case it is hard to argue that this means Beowulf is not a hero. Despite the possibility of ulterior motives in wanting to help the Danes, he still displays a huge number of personality traits we associate with the idea of a
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One such idea is that he fought the monsters chiefly for personal reasons:
Beowulf steadily shifts from a primarily defensive role to an aggressive one, motivated to varying degrees in each of his battles by thoughts of glory, vengeance and treasure'
It is particularly the stance that Beowulf was motivated by thoughts of glory that I believe endangers the belief that he was a hero. The argument that this hamartia affected him is accentuated by looking at the final words of the entire poem, where the protagonist is described as keenest to win fame' . Reading this translation in today's social climate it is easy to view this final line as a lamentable trait of Beowulf's. The pursuit of fame is often seen as a primarily selfish act which does little to further the greater good of society as a whole. I think it would be wrong to condemn Beowulf in this sense however, as even in the modern era there are exceptions to this perceived rule that the pursuit of fame is bad. One such example is Muhammad Ali, someone often described as a modern-day hero, he says of his …show more content…
He consistently displays typical heroic qualities, both in youth and old age and is responsible for the protection and preservation of many lives both in his homeland and in a foreign land. He is strong, brave, fearless and above all fair, particularly in his first two battles, where neither party has the upper hand. Returning to the dictionary definition of a hero I believe it is impossible to say that Beowulf was devoid of an immense amount of courage given the battles he took part in and in looking at the outcomes of these three events one could hardly argue he did not accomplish his fair share of outstanding achievements. Indeed he is still a character fully admired today, well over a millennium since his story was first
One such idea is that he fought the monsters chiefly for personal reasons:
Beowulf steadily shifts from a primarily defensive role to an aggressive one, motivated to varying degrees in each of his battles by thoughts of glory, vengeance and treasure'
It is particularly the stance that Beowulf was motivated by thoughts of glory that I believe endangers the belief that he was a hero. The argument that this hamartia affected him is accentuated by looking at the final words of the entire poem, where the protagonist is described as keenest to win fame' . Reading this translation in today's social climate it is easy to view this final line as a lamentable trait of Beowulf's. The pursuit of fame is often seen as a primarily selfish act which does little to further the greater good of society as a whole. I think it would be wrong to condemn Beowulf in this sense however, as even in the modern era there are exceptions to this perceived rule that the pursuit of fame is bad. One such example is Muhammad Ali, someone often described as a modern-day hero, he says of his …show more content…
He consistently displays typical heroic qualities, both in youth and old age and is responsible for the protection and preservation of many lives both in his homeland and in a foreign land. He is strong, brave, fearless and above all fair, particularly in his first two battles, where neither party has the upper hand. Returning to the dictionary definition of a hero I believe it is impossible to say that Beowulf was devoid of an immense amount of courage given the battles he took part in and in looking at the outcomes of these three events one could hardly argue he did not accomplish his fair share of outstanding achievements. Indeed he is still a character fully admired today, well over a millennium since his story was first