Heroic Qualities In Beowulf And Sir Gawain

By definition, a hero a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities (Merriam Webster). Different qualities like courage, honor and selflessness is what makes a hero and creates their reputation. However, a hero cannot be admired by the people it protects without exhibiting these three qualities. These three men show what a hero should really be. Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney and Sir Gawain from “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” translated by Brian Stone and Burton Raffel demonstrate heroic qualities like courage, honor, and selflessness, but Christy Mahon form Playboy of the Western World; and the Riders to the Sea written by J.M. Synge explains what a hero should not do by his actions.

This act is seen as courageous by the Danes because to do this Beowulf had “Came ... from the depths, droves of sea-beasts. Who attacked with tusks and tore at his chain-mail” (Heaney 1510-1511). Not only did he leave the and and forced himself into an uncomfortable situation by having to defeat a monster in the water with other sea monsters attacking him, but he killed a beast that was considered to be extremely powerful. Additionally, a hero must be willing to risk their life to protect the community. Beowulf did this by knowing that fate will not be on his side with his battle against the dragon, but risking his life because no other person has a better chance of defeating the dragon. He knew that “No one else could do what [he] mean to, here, no man but [him] could hope to defeat this monster” (Heaney 2531-2534). This shows his courage because as the king of Geatland, he puts himself in harm's way to give his people the best chance of surviving, even if that means he will not be able to celebrate the victory with them. As well as Beowulf, Sir Gawain demonstrates courage because he goes