Beowulf
Although the term hero is easily defined in any dictionary, the definition only deals with what is a hero, not what makes a hero. In order to find the answer to this question, alternative sources of information need to be used. Several authors have presented their own view of the qualities that a hero should have in epics, such as The Odyssey, Illiad, and Beowulf. The epic Beowulf portrays all of its heroic figures, from Shield Sheafson to Beowulf himself, as powerful men who scourged all of the surrounding villages. Strangely enough, the villains in Beowulf were also the scourges of the area, and as Lord Acton said "Power corrupts, and ... the most powerful people are almost always the bad ones." Clearly both the heroes and the villains are both portrayed as scourges and powerful people, so another aspect must be involved in determining what makes a hero. According to Beowulf, a hero must have these two attributes: honour, and followers. In modern society, like in Beowulf, a hero is also made using those same two attributes. The majority of heroes in Beowulf display their honour through their ancestry. Hrothgar the great-grandson of Shield Sheafson, who had conquered the Danes, built the great Hall Heorot to demonstr
Hrothgar himself had done nothing noteworthy in his life, but his ancestor's honour had been passed to him, and that was what the hall was built to represent, the Sheafson family honour. Both societies agree that honor is also an indispensable attribute for a hero, though how such honor is calculated differs considerably. All over the world men wise in counsel continue to remember him" (Beowulf 262-266). Instead of potential heroes being aided by their ancestor's achievements, American society discourages it. In America, the heroes are the people who, through their own initiative, have arisen from obscurity to prominence. And therefore his exploits will not be popular enough with people to withstand the test of time and become a legend. Both Beowulf and modern society agree that if a person does not have the respect necessary to gain and maintain followers, he cannot be a hero. What Beowulf tells us is that a person must be well liked, neither too cocky nor too humble, in order to gain the celebrity necessary to become a hero. Then a change begins in Beowulf and he becomes more than confident, he becomes cocky, and sends his thanes away, knowing that he would be able to defeat the old crone easily. For his next deed, Beowulf goes to the lair of Grendel's mother, by himself, and attempts to kill her. Beowulf similarly demonstrates to the sentry of Hrothgar that he is honourable, not by discussing his own personal deeds, but by making his family's honour and connections known. He might be a great man during his life, but when he dies, he will soon be forgotten, and his exploits will not be celebrated throughout the centuries.
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Acceptance Essays
