Heroes: Fighting for the Small Guy What are heroes, exactly? To I a hero is a man or woman shaped by the values around them, to reflect the people's way of thinking and safeguard what they believe. None other than, the classic hero of old, Beowulf and the Green Arrow, Oliver Queen, the modern hero who safeguards the rights of the people against their oppressors. Both Beowulf and Queen embody and embrace the timeless values of bravery, selflessness, humility, and caring.
A hero is a person, typically a man, who is loved for courage, outstanding qualities and great achievements. Beowulf displays many characteristics, but he mainly displays strength, bravery, and selflessness. Beowulf ‘s fanatic future's got him through horrifying battles and never got him to give up. Batman has never given up on Gotham city, even when he felt weak or even when other superheroes did not believe in him. Beowulf and Batman are heroes that are very flexible with things and they share the same characteristics.
Odysseus the Hero Superman may be the first person who comes to mind when thinking of the word hero, but not all superheroes wear capes. This is proven in Homer’s book, The Odyssey with the main character, Odysseus, who showed many heroic acts throughout the book. He was clever, brave, and, loyal, proving he's worthy of being a hero. The definition of a hero, doesn’t depend on how strong someone is, or if they can fly, it’s about courage, and noble qualities.
Mostly every superhero has to go through long dangerous journeys to save the day. In fact, both Beowulf and Superman have to travel through dangerous journeys in order to save their people. Beowulf traveled from Geatsland to the land of the Danes and offer king Hrothgar help defeat Grendel, the horrible monster terrorizing this land. Beowulf travels this menacing journey where he has to fight Grendel, Grendel’s mother and a dragon. In contrast to Superman who was born on Krypton but later sent to earth because an explosion was going to destroy his planet.
“He awoke in the basement of Gacy’s home his body naked and pressed into a pillory like rack which held his arms and head. John Wayne Gacy a powerful, heavyset man was also naked, his fat, hairy belly sticking out obscenely. Gacy showed his victims various whips and instruments of torture along with number of strange looking sexual devices explaining lasciviously how he intended to use these implements on him. The assaults and torture went on for hours” (Nash 1247). A candidate that measures up to this disturbance would be the monster from Beowulf, Grendel.
Both Beowulf, from the epic poem Beowulf, and Tarzan, from the movie the Legend of Tarzan, were celebrated heroes. Beowulf was the protagonist of the epic. He was son of Edgetho, who was Danes King Hrothgar’s friend, and a brave Geatish warrior. In the epic, Danes king Hrothgar constructed the wonderful hall called Herot where his subjects congregate and make merry. In Herot, Hrothgar and his warriors spend their time singing and celebrating.
John Gardner author of Grendel and an Unknown author of Beowulf wrote these to compare one another into one mega story. Grendel is about a "monster" who has been at war with humans for over 12 years. Over time he became fascinated by the way that humans live. At the end, Beowulf fights Grendel, and Beowulf pulled his arm off, and then runs away. Beowulf is about how the Danes built a great mead hall to gather and Grendel came and ruined it, killing a lot of the Danes in the process.
Extra Characters in Beowulf Beowulf is a story that has been around since the year 580, or since 1000 AD. With that being said, there are bound to be several adaptations and modern re-imaginings of the same story about this dynamic warrior and all his glorious battles. The epic Beowulf (Heaney,Seamus) and one of its modern adaptation Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarson, S) has a few similarities, but they also have a great deal of differences, ranging from views on religion, Women, and even changing some of the story’s main characters. The movie’s addition of the main characters such as Grendel’s son, the witch, and Grendel’s dad, show that we, as the modern people, have a vastly different worldview with regards to the hardships of life’s complexities. A major addition to the main character 's roster was Grendel’s son.
An epic hero and superhero are very alike in many ways. The simplest definition of an epic hero is a brave or noble character in a epic poem, such as Beowulf. A superhero would be described as someone with superhuman powers and who performs heroic deeds, such as Super Man. These two characters are perfect examples of an epic hero and superhero. The obvious similar traits of the two would be their superhuman strength, and their acts to risk their lives for the greater good.
The story starts off with grendel fighting with a ram over annoyance and pessimistic views. Then the story goes back to Grendel’s childhood and his ages of intelligence and development. Grendel discover the earth and the humans in his childhood and faces off with some mental issues on people’s view on him. Eventually the story return to the present and Grendel talks about his time when he finds the mead hall and his experiences with it. Then the story transitions to the time he meets the dragon and asks him few questions on
Some examples of heroes are the characters Beowulf and superman. Superman is a superhero from the planet krypton which was destroyed so he was sent to earth
Beowulf is known as a Great Hero. Beowulf travels to go help the some innocent People down in Herot. Beowulf is known as the strongest and bravest but also for his heroic deeds for the people. Beowulf went out his way and put his life in danger for the good of the people. Beowulf Is Also Known For His glory and fame.
Years has passed when Hygelac is killed in battle. His son, Heardred, inherits the throne with Beowulf 's support. Beowulf became the king of the Geats village and he rules over everyone for 50 years. The had arose and started to stalk the village at night and eat people and destroying homes. He also destroyed Beowulf’s great hall.
Throughout the years, Beowulf has been compared to many modern day super heroes. However, the super hero that Beowulf is most easily compared to is Superman. Although there are multiple differences amongst these two characters, there are a few similarities as well. Such similarities exist in appearances, as well as supernatural qualities. Moreover, Beowulf and Superman are both portrayed as heroes for their time.
The Webster's definition of a hero is “A person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities”, this also happens to be one of the qualifications of being an epic hero. There are many things that can be used to compare and contrast Beowulf as an epic hero and a modern day hero, but you’ll find that the human idea of a hero was primarily the same in 700 CE as it is now although the job descriptions of hero’s have changed. In today’s time a person is usually considered a hero if they help the public good, like a police officer, soldier, firefighter and so on. In Beowulf’s time a person was considered a hero if they were a great warrior. When looking at the characteristics of what makes Beowulf an epic hero and the characteristics
