Achilles And Beowulf: A Selfless Warrior

Beowulf demonstrated bravery in the face of opposition. He was also a selfless warrior, who fought for the greater good of his people. Achilles was also a brave warrior, but he fought for what he wanted. Making him more of a selfish person. Both of these heroes demonstrated cunning, and wisdom through battle.

They are both brave warriors because they fought even when the odds are greatly against them. Beowulf does this when fights Grendel, whom had been killing all of his men. Achilles shows bravery when he fights Hector, who was wearing Achilles’ armor which is incredibly strong. Both also great knowledge in battle. Achilles, while battling Hector, realizes that his weaponry will not be able to puncture his armor. Because of this he aims his

Achilles is a very emotional fighter, and often times allow his emotions to persuade him to make decisions. For example, Achilles was not willing to fight the Greeks. Because of this Patroclus went to battle in Achilles armor, and was defeated. This flooded Achilles with many emotions, as his best friend had just died because, in Achilles eyes, he had not been there for him. He was devastated, but even more angry, so he sought to avenge his friend and honor his name. On the other hand, Beowulf, has little emotion in his decisions to fight. He looks at the greater need of his people, not what he wants or what might happen to him. He shows this when he volunteers to battle Grendel. Grendel had not done anything to Beowulf personally, but to his people. He slaughtered his men, mutilating and devouring their bodies. Knowing that the chance of death was very high, Beowulf challenged Grendel anyways. And using his cunning ability to battle, he defeated

These poems and epic tales that depict them as heroes, but whose values would make the world a better place today? Beowulf is selfless and believes in the greater good for the populous as a whole. Achilles is selfish and believes in what is best for him and the people that he cares about. Today’s society is massively larger in scale to societies depicted in these tales. While a common goal to achieve what is best for the whole is great for a government, it would be near impossible for the hero, or one person, to achieve this. But everyone can be a hero to the people around them and to themselves, and if everyone took care of their needs, and helped their loved ones to do the same. This would create an intertwining web of people helping each other, thus creating a stronger system based off of Achilles values shown through the