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...