Beowulf

A detailed Summary of Beowulf

Although the term hero is easily defined in any dictionary, the definition only deals with what is a hero, not what makes a hero. In order to find the answer to this question, alternative sources of information need to be used. Several authors have presented their own view of the qualities that a hero should have in epics, such as The Odyssey, Illiad, and Beowulf. The epic Beowulf portrays all of its heroic figures, from Shield Sheafson to Beowulf himself, as powerful men who scourged all of the surrounding villages. Strangely enough, the villains in Beowulf were also the scourges of the area, and as Lord Acton said "Power corrupts, and ... the most powerful people are almost always the bad ones." Clearly both the heroes and the villains are both portrayed as scourges and powerful people, so another aspect must be involved in determining what makes a hero. According to Beowulf, a hero must have these two attributes: honour, and followers. In modern society, like in Beowulf, a hero is also made using those same two attributes.

The majority of heroes in Beowulf display their honour through their ancestry. Hrothgar the great-grandson of Shield Sheafson, who had conquered the Danes, built the great Hall Heorot to demonstr

In American society, a hero must also have honour, but not honour through ancestry. Great American heroes such as Abraham Lincoln did not have illustrious parents, but he was able to gain honour through his own actions. In America, the heroes are the people who, through their own initiative, have arisen from obscurity to prominence. Instead of potential heroes being aided by their ancestor's achievements, American society discourages it. People like Ted Kennedy, or the younger Rockefellers, are not considered heroes, because they were born into power and wealth; it does not surprise society when they utilize their power or wealth for heroic deeds.

Although the manner in which a hero's abilities are measured has changed considerably over the past 2000 years, the actual attributes, honor and followers, has remained the same. Both Beowulf and modern society agree that if a person does not have the respect necessary to gain and maintain followers, he cannot be a hero. He might be a great man during his life, but when he dies, he will soon be forgotten, and his exploits will not be celebrated throughout the centuries. Both societies agree that honor is also an indispensable attribute for a hero, though how such honor is calculated differs considerably. The quantity of followers one has may decide whether a person is a great man or a hero, but it is the amount of honor one has that dictates whether that person is a hero or a villain.

not be taken literally, these instances merely prove how the state of mind creates the hero. In the beginning, Beowulf is confident, but not so much so as to shun others. Then a change begins in Beowulf and he

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Approximate Word count = 1119
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English