Who Is Beowulf As A Hero

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In Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf, Beowulf, the hero of the poem, uses different methods, techniques, and weapons in each of his three major battles against three phenomenal evil creatures. He goes through different experiences in each of his agons, and those experiences alter his development as a hero. The trophies that Beowulf wins in his battles have significances as well. Beowulf becomes weaker and weaker as he goes through his agons. In his first two battles, Beowulf is fearless and is confident that he would win those battles. In his final battle, he is aware of his mortality, and knows that he would perish in the end. The story of Beowulf takes place in Scandinavia between the 5th and the 6th century. A monster, whose name…show more content…
“Life doesn’t cost him a thought” (1536). Even though Beowulf was indifferent to life, he wasn’t indifferent to the world to come. At the time that Beowulf failed to kill Grendel’s mother, he wasn’t even thinking about his glory and fame anymore. This shows that Beowulf obviously wasn’t immortal, and Grendel’s mother could kill him on the spot. At that moment, Beowulf changed, and his sense of arrogance was gone. Luckily, he found a giant sword on the wall. He grabbed the sword and cut through Grendel’s mother’s neck, killing her. The lair became brighter after Grendel’s mother died. This represents that the evil forces are gone and the feud has ended. Beowulf found Grendel’s body and, to take further revenge, he beheaded the demon. The giant sword melted as a result, since the blood of Grendel was poisonous. Beowulf took the jewel-inlaid hilt of the melted sword and Grendel’s head as a trophy for this battle. Beowulf came out of the water a different man. The water symbolizes a place of rebirth for Beowulf. King Hrothgar, delighted to see Beowulf, granted him even more gold than last time. Gold was very important for a warrior’s reputation, and it represented the goodness and glory of a warrior. Later, everyone went to bed and got an uninterrupted night of…show more content…
In his first agon, Beowulf proved that he was extraordinary by defeating Grendel with his bare hands. His hubris gets revealed once he hung Grendel’s arm high in Heorot. He suspended Grendel’s arm to show off his victory and success to others. In his second agon, Beowulf hardly beat Grendel’s mother, even though he had armor and sword. This made him realize that he isn’t superior to everyone, and that there is always someone stronger than him. Beowulf became a different person after his second agon. In his third and last agon, Beowulf killed the dragon with the help of his loyal companion, Wiglaf, but Beowulf died as well. It is noticeable that Beowulf becomes weaker as he goes on. At the end of the poem, the death of Beowulf states that not everything lasts forever, and even the greatest warriors on earth will perish one

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