Beowulf

Beowulf Essay Shane Rehmann A hero can be portrayed in many different ways. To some a hero is someone who saves lives, and to others it can be someone who simply changes lives. A hero in my eyes is someone who helps other people in the time of need and changes their lives for the better. If one's views on something changes by the help of another person, one can say a hero has changes their life. Beowulf was an extraordinary hero who had saved and also changed lives. His physical and mental attributes portray him as an epic hero. He is unhumanly strong and extremely confident in his battles against evil. He has intangable characteristics of might and confidence, as reflected through his battles. In his fight with Grendel, he faces him with nothing but his bare hands, later he fights Grendel's mother with a sword, and afterward he goes against the dragon with full armor and a sword. Over time Beowulf develops only one flaw, arrogance. During the first two battles, his might prevails over Grendel and Grendel's mother. Although the difficulty of the battles increase, Beowulf still maintains his confidence in himself. Many years later he battles the dragon, where he is finally defeated. Beowulf's actions in his battles made him into a hero. In Herot, he slayed Grendel, who has been killing there for twelve years. To the people of Herot, Beowulf is a hero because he had saved lives and protected innocent people from being slaughtered by Grendel. He also changed their lives with a sense of peace that came with the extermination of Grandel. Beowulf developed a high publicity status with the people and was very famous for his doings. He continued to slay evil creatures for fame and greatness, which he gained throughout his lifetime. Beowulf can be compared to a modern day super hero, much like Superman. Superman is a lot like Beowulf with many characteristic traits like an epic hero. Superman uses his powers to fight evil and save lives of innocent people. He is also portayed as immortally strong, and publically loved. Although Superman does not slay monsters with a sword like Beowulf, he still gives people a sense of peace by eliminating criminals and detroying their plots of evil. His motivation for his actions is for the fame and greatness. Another similarity between Superman and Beowulf is the fact that they only have one weakness. Superman's weakness is kryptonite, while Beowulf's weakness is his arrogance. It is easy to be said that Superman is an epic hero. Epic heros usually have many unhuman traits like the ability to fly, or the abilty to fight demons underwater, but a real hero is someone who changes a life. In my life i have two heros, my mother and my father. My parents are heros because they impact my own life everyday. My mother and my father help me mature into an adult and always help me in my times of need. Although they do not go around saving lives, I believe that they have helped me convey my life into a way that would be much different if it were not for them. They are my heros because they are always there for me and they do change my life for the better. They do not do their actions for fame and greatness of the people, but they do them out of love, unlike Beowulf or Superman. Overall, my parents are my idols and heros because they change my views and thoughts for the better in my life. Heros are one of a kind. Some are strong and mighty, killing to save lives of others, and some are more suttle, guiding lives of others in the right direction. A similarity between heros and epic heros is the battle between good and evil, right and wrong. The overall direction of a hero's impact on others is for the good, leading in the right direction. Beowulf and Superman's fame is for the good gotten out of them from the people they helped. As a hero, good will always prevail over evil.