Indian epic poetry

In literature there tend to be many stories where a hero goes on a journey to save his beloved home and become the hero that he/she wants to be, but only in a few of those stories does the hero truly find out what kind of hero he/she really is. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain gets thrust into several daunting tasks and challenges and gets pushed to his edge with trying to preserve his life and uphold the honor of Camelot.A number of archetypal situations occur in Sir Gawain and the…

Attack of the Mammoth Response The hero in this story is the boy, even though the boy is not the main character in the story he still exhibits the traits of the hero. He fights for good by killing the mammoth and he has otherworldly help in the form of his magical arrows and trousers. He also exhibits humility, in the story he doesn’t speak one word about how he had these magical powers, there was no mention of his capabilities and was purposely avoided by the rest of the villagers, and yet when…

Another big difference from the poem that can be seen in the movie is the portrayal of the main character, Beowulf. In the poem, Beowulf is shown to be a big hero to everyone around him. The movie shows Beowulf's heroism as an issue instead of being the solution. Although the movie follows the same storyline as the poem, they have different depictions of Beowulf's courage. To show the difference of Beowulf's courage in the poem and movie, Beowulf's enemy, Grendel must be described first. In the…

In the epic, Beowulf fights 3 different monsters. Each of these monsters symbolizes something different, attacks for different reasons, and gives Beowulf a different result from the fight. Each battle also progressively gets tougher for Beowulf starting from Grendel, then going to Grendel’s mother and then the dragon. Beowulf has a different mindset going into each battle and prepares for each in a different way. The first monster Beowulf encounters is Grendel, a ferocious demon-like creature…

The last step of the hero's journey is the Return. The Return is when the hero is able to come back to the old world with his accomplishments. Sometimes the hero may feel content in the new world and refuse to return to the old world. In order for the hero to fulfill their destiny and become the leader they need to return to their old world. An example of a refusal is when Jack fights against the cops and refuses to turn himself in and go to jail. Another step in the Return is the Magic Flight.…

The Last Kingdom, by Bernard Cornwell, is a historical fiction novel about a young man’s journey into adulthood. Beginning with the rather sudden death of his older brother, newly named Uhtred is forced to become the new heir of Bebbanberg and is taken to learn to fight the Danes. After he is captured and his father murdered by his captor, he is instructed by the Danes in the art of warfare and learns to lead his fellow warriors into battle. By the time he returns to the Saxons after Ragnar’s…

The Three Devices The use of literary devices is in every literature that is written. Authors always tend to put these term to great use and the terms will always emphasize their writing. In the epic poem, Beowulf, there are three main literary terms that help people understand the poem better; the three devices are theme, symbolism, and conflict. The first device that is used is theme. Theme is usually a moral or a lesson that is given in any literature writing. Authors use theme to show and…

Beowulf and Roland were two men that lead very different lives. One was a man who was perceived as a hero from the start of his story. The other was a man who was notably egotistical and did not redeem himself until his last moments alive. Though these two men seem have no common ground they are connected in their similarities to Christ and man. Though Roland did not show heroic tendencies throughout his life he died a hero. When Roland and the rest of the rear guard were attacked Roland…

According to Edith Hamilton (1999), Greek mythology is mostly learned from historical poets. The poet highly accredited with the written greek myths is Homer. He is generally believed to have lived about a thousand years before Christ. Homer’s work includes the Iliad, which is considered to be the first written record of Greece. The Iliad is the oldest Greek literature and is written in such a way that it provides an indisputable proof of civilization. Greek mythology is not be read like…

In many respects Homers “Odyssey” the genesis of Western literary folklore Odyesseus serves as the vehicle of Homer’s story and more over is portrayed as a character that is “godlike”, having both mortal and immortal qualities. Although Odysseus actions blur the lines of mortal and God with all his heuristic deeds and characteristics there is still quite a distinction between both beings. While Odyesseus is fast, inventive, heroic and all other various things that make up a God, we can see very…