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Characteristics of the epic hero
One reason of how beowulf and superman are similar
Characteristics of the epic hero
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An epic hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to endure overwhelming obstacles. In Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, three heros named Perseus, Theseus, and Hercules exhibit different traits that affect their journey in a positive or negative way. Perseus receives supernatural help, Theseus displays incredible strength, and Hercules has a fatal flaw that will end tragically, these qualities are what classify each as an epic hero.
An epic hero is a brave and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements or affected by grand events. Edward Bloom is a fantastic example of this in Big Fish, a Daniel Wallace novel. The book begins where Edward is dying. Through larger than life stories about his heroic journeys, he teaches his son about life.
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.
Beata Hanson Mrs. Desilva English 12 30 September 2015 Achilles vs. Beowulf Who is the better hero, Achilles or Beowulf? They are both epic heroes yet they are extremely different. One is a young, moody “hero” and the other is a seasoned warrior. Also, Achilles had refused to fight because of a quarrel he had with his commander while Beowulf never turned away from a chance for glory. However, they did have one thing in common, compassion and they put things aside for what was right.
Epic Hero An Epic Hero is a person who that has superhuman strength, courage and is intelligent. At times their life even ends tragically. In the story “The Trojan War” by Edith Hamilton there is two men who are made out to be epic heroes Hector and Achilles, but only one of them can be the real epic hero. They were both courages and brave, but Achilles was the Epic Hero.
An epic hero is one of great strengths and supernatural abilities. Beowulf is unable to be harmed by certain weapons, and Hercules has great strength. They also both go on a quest. Beowulf seeks to kill the evil Grendel, Hercules set out on a quest to complete the 12 labors.
What qualifies a person to be called a hero? Officially a hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Most people think of a superhero, like Batman or Spiderman, or someone closer to them such as their mother or their life-saving doctor. Heroes tend to be the main character in a story. Beowulf and Odysseus are two famous epic heroes in the texts Beowulf and The Odyssey.
"Things seem to lose something with their skins off don't you think but every man to his own taste”. {nye 27}. During this quote Unferth is trying to accuse Beowulf of being wicked because he can eat witches' apples Beowulf does not yell or argue he just simply replies that he does not peel the apples and why that wouldn't make him wicked. This proves that Beowulf values self restraint because he held himself back from getting angry and arguing and instead replied calmly with self control. One important value of supermans is also his value of self
The first quality they share is courage. The two heroes demonstrate their courage in a different way. Beowulf is a hero with a lot of courage because he fights without weapons. He does not believe in using weapons to kill people. Beowulf is described as: “Dripped with his enemies blood”.
Superman and Beowulf express different timeless values and universal themes. Timeless values are the values a certain person or hero has. Universal themes transmit the overall message of a story,film or play. The hero and warrior Beowulf shows the timeless value of courage because he defeats Grendel in order to avenge those innocent people killed by the monster, and since Grendel was very strong it would take courage from any hero to confront him. On the other hand, superman shows more the timeless value of honor, because he is looked upon as a god and the majority of humans respect him.
A epic hero is a person who had a noble birth and has great courage and strength. The epic hero is Antigone because an epic hero needs to be strong, rich, has courage and other great characteristics. She saved the town by not having a curse put on it. A curse was put on the town because the old king was not buried. Polyneices, one of the brothers, was not supposed to be buried by the decree of King Creon; however, Antigone knew that a curse was going to be put on the kingdom.
Both Beowulf and Superman travel far and wide to defeat villains, save people, and encourage others. Their appearances are similar as well. Superman and Beowulf are dry, muscular, and strong. In fact, most people during their time would have considered them handsome. Both Beowulf and Superman have supernatural qualities.
Throughout the story of Beowulf and the movie Thor, there are many similarities; from the enemies they meet, the characteristics of the two warriors, and the things they have conquered. Both Thor and Beowulf have lots of pride. Thor is known as someone powerful and brave in Asgard, he has many enemies. Beowulf is known as a courageous warrior who can conquer any enemy, and he also has different enemies that he must defeat throughout the story. Both of the brave warriors come to figure out what their destiny must be, they are destined for greatness but they must go through great storms to achieve it.
Shallow, selfish, and cowardly, these are just a few of the character traits we can attribute to Cruella De Vil. To name another fictional character who also has those very “glamorous” traits, is Mollie, from Animal Farm. Mollie is known as the pretty horse in the book. She, before the rebellion, pulled Mr. Jones’s carriage and was almost always dressed in ribbons and eating sugar lumps, things that after “Manor Farm” was changed into “Animal Farm”, got her in trouble. Mollie, being the entitled horse that she was, refused to give up these humanly related items and in turn fled the farm to be once again treated like a princess.
Christopher Reeve (AKA the 1978 superman) said that, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles”. Both Beowulf and Modern day heroes are similar in that way in that they fight for the common good of people. That quote from Christopher Reeves on what a modern day hero is, also applies to the epic hero qualities that Beowulf has. Similarly Beowulf and a modern day hero defeat an evil so that good can prevail. Some examples are, Beowulf Slaying Grendel and Grendel's mother to save the land of the Danes, and soldiers fighting enemies that threaten the lives of a country, and police officers putting criminals behind bars.
