“You can do it Superman, you can do it!” Superman is one of America’s most idolized super heroes. Okay, so no regular human could take on what Superman does, but does it mean that we can’t still watch his heroic ways every week at seven o’clock? Superman is our modern day hero, one that everyone wants to be like but realizes that that they will never be able to fly through the air to save a burning building. If we love Superman today then who did people idolize hundreds of years ago?
A man named Odysseus entered the reader’s mind in around 700 B.C. Homer, the brilliant mind behind this epic poem wrote about the ancient Grecian super hero through an epic called “The Odyssey.” The reader traveled through Odysseus’s heroic ways and joined him on his ten-year quest home. Now, that was in 700 B.C.. What happened when Odysseus soon became “so five minutes ago?” A hero known as Beowulf came along, is what happened. The reader entered Beowulf’s travels through the Anglo-Saxon epic known as “Beowulf.” “Beowulf” was created around 1000 A.D. Beowulf was a great hero who traveled to Scandinavia to fight a beastly monster. In both classic epics the reader discovers the culture during the time and learns what a “super hero,” was really like back then. Through behaviors and strategy the two heroes are so very different yet so very similar; these ways are presented through the reader’s eyes in the two classic epics.
The great Odysseus was recognized throughout many lands and was known for his trickery and brilliance. He stopped at numerous islands on his quest home; each island different and unique. Upon arriving to the land Odysseus had a certain semblance that he carried, and said to allow people to understand who he was. He would land at this new place and soon by his grand entrance he would be known to all. Odysseus had a certain way to introduce himself. This way was through an eloquent speech that he told to the new land. He described himself as, “The Great Odysseus.” Indeed, he was great, but was this necessary? The great hero felt that he must let people know who he was because he was not just anybody. In his mind he thought, “I have a great past and everyone knows of me, I must also tell these people.” This eloquent speech about himself soon became recurring throughout the novel, like any other superhero of a certain time period.
The Essay on Telling Beowulf Epic Poem
Telling Beowulf The epic poem Beowulf, written in Old English by Christian monks around 750 AD, is a wonderful adventure story about a warrior who kills ferocious monsters. The use of description and imagery enlivens the story, making it possible for a reader to really see in his or her mind the characters and events. Metaphors, exaggeration, and alliteration are three devices that together allow ...
Beowulf was a man known to have powerful strength. He traveled to “The Geats” for a mission. This mission was fairly simple; he was going to fight Grendel then return back to his homeland. Beowulf arrived at “The Danes” with leadership and integrity:
Beowulf is my name.
If your lord and master, the most renowned
son of Halfdane, will hear me out
and graciously allow me to greet him in person,
I am ready and willing to report my errand. (25)
Beowulf made his entrance to a famous king very graciously and eloquently. Beowulf had to let this new land know who he was and become acquainted with him. He would not crudely tell them about himself; he had to come up with some way to present himself that would not make this new place interpret his comings in an incorrect way. Beowulf was a hero, and made a hero’s entrance.
Odysseus and Beowulf; both heroes and both respected individuals. In each of the character’s times they were known of their heroic acts. If they arrived at an island they wouldn’t shamelessly present themselves to the citizens of the island. Odysseus and Beowulf would both present themselves to a new place with dignity. When reading “The Odyssey,” you often read of Odysseus’s grand speeches when arriving at the Island of the Winds or arriving at the Swinherd; when reading Beowulf you read his “presentation speech” to the king of “The Danes.” Both men realize that they are heroes and if they present themselves in a negative fashion they will not be respected.
The Essay on Comparing and Contrasting Beowulf and Odysseus
The characters of Beowulf and Odysseus can be considered a contrast between ice and fire wherein one and is violent and uses its strength to consume and subdue while the other is cool and calculating preferring a patient yet affective approach to solving problems. When referring to the characteristics of fire and ice I am referring to Beowulf as fire and Odysseus as ice this is due to the fact ...
Entering a new land is one thing, but saying “goodbye” to a land is totally different. If you were a great hero, like Odysseus you must leave a land with grace. Being sure to show that you appreciated what your host’s did for you. Odysseus knew how to do that but what his host’s left him with differed. Odysseus left many lands and traveled far and wide to reach Ithaca. Leaving a land meant that his hosts would set him off on his ship. Odysseus’s hosts were extremely kind to the Grecian hero and left Odysseus with thoughts that he couldn’t forget; thoughts about what Odysseus did for the land or what he was going to accomplish. Everywhere he traveled, whether it be Circe’s trap or Calypso’s “love fest” he was left with thoughts that truly made Odysseus the hero he was.
Beowulf was sent to “The Danes” for one mission. The mission was fairly simple; battle the enemy of “The Danes,” and return home. Beowulf accomplished this mission with a fair amount of ease so now it was his time to return back to “The Danes.” Before leaving on the journey King Hrothgar left him with a few words:
My liking for you
deepens with time, dear Beowulf.
What you have done is to draw two peoples,
The Geat nation and us neighboring Danes,
into shared peace and a fact of friendship
in spite of hatreds we have harboured in the past (127)
This speech to Beowulf is obviously on a positive note. The hero could leave “The Danes” knowing that he accomplished something and knowing that “The Geats” now had peace with “The Danes;” which hadn’t happened for some time. This speech in its self would be quite appreciative for anyone, including a hero. A grand speech sending you on your way home would certainly make any hero truly the quintessential hero.
Beowulf left “The Danes;” Odysseus left Calypso’s Island. Each character left each place on a note that made them the hero that we call them today. They left with a speech, not any speech; a speech that showed them how much they were appreciated and how much they did for the land. “A hero’s speech,” is it what it should be called. You do not become a “superhero” overnight or in a day; you earn the power and learn how to use it. To become a stronger hero you learn about what you have done and what you should be doing next. Beowulf and Odysseus both heard speeches like this, numerous times in both epics. No speech was negative nor were they misleading. They simply proved that what you do in life will be rewarding.
The Term Paper on Ancient And Modern Heroes
Ancient and Modern Heroes The term hero is often described as a man of exceptional quality, who wins admiration by noble deeds. The culture (including music, literature, cinematograph) of any nation has a character, which they consider to be a hero. Two famous epic stories of the ancient world created by one the most well known Greek philosophers Homer, the Illiad and The Odyssey introduce the ...
An ancient Greek warrior, an Anglo-Saxon fighter, and a modern day superhero, they all have something in common. They all share similar conflicts and mutant beasts, yet two particular heroes come alive. Beowulf and Odysseus were written about hundreds of years ago and today we still idolize them. Beowulf fought against an overbearing beast and Odysseus fought against a manipulative goddess. How could two totally different characters be so fascinatingly similar? It’s funny how that happens; a hero is a hero, no matter how you look at it. Beowulf and Odysseus have similar behaviors and war strategies as well as they are always fighting for what they believe in.
The two, century old hero’s prove to the modern day world that they are so similar yet so different maybe even Superman could be friends with them!
