...The stories of Theseus and Beowulf both share the common archetype of a quest which the hero needs to complete and the hero also engages in an ordeal which is a natural step within their journey. Beowulf was summoned by Hrothgar to find and slay the beast by the name of Grendel who “found sleeping the troop of warriors, and bore away in his foul hands thirty of the honored thanes” (Rabb 1). Hrothgar gave Beowulf the quest to kill Grendel to prevent him from taking more lives. The quest is a common archetype in mythical tales because it is used to set up the hero’s journey by providing an overall reason for the hero to embark on a dangerous adventure. Similarly, Theseus chose to engage in a quest to kill the minotaur which was used to devour...
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...Beowulf is one of the epic poems portraying a heroic concept. The Anglo-Saxon time frame used Old English to come forth a generation of literature, which included heroic poetry. Beowulf consists of many characters contributing to the plot of the poem. There are both basic and complex archetypes shown in the poem. The epic poem includes many archetypes but the most dominant ones including the hero, the shadow, and the herald. In the epic poem, Beowulf, the author uses archetypes to develop the plot. The main character Beowulf, displays a superior archetype in the epic poem by being the hero within the story. A hero is defined as one who gets praised for brave acts and Beowulf does exactly that. Beowulf displays this archetype in various ways...
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...transition in character while reading and comparing the books of Beowulf and King Arthur. Although the story archetypes remain the same for the most part, different ideals reflect themselves in a variety of ways. Things like companions and quest are still important to the people, but their ideals change. The ideals of the Germanic peoples of Northern Europe drastically change as Christianity moves across the region, and their archetypes reflect this change of character in the culture. In Beowulf, Beowulf and his companions express the heritage based Germanic Ideal of Comitatus or "loyalty to king and companions". Before fighting...
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...Baseball player Jackie Robinson once said, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” In both Beowulf and the Arthurian Legend, the characters play roles in how many everyday people attempted to live their lives. Each individual character is assessed with certain qualities that contribute to the story in many different forms and fashions. The qualities the characters possess play into different archetypes in the story. Archetypes are used to describe different backgrounds and cultures expressing how the ideal life for that certain culture is to be obtained. During the stories of both Beowulf and the Arthurian Legend, specific archetypes are expressed through characters such as Beowulf, Sir Bors, and other knights...
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...Beowulf portrays many characteristics that are shown throughout his actions in the story. There are many different archetypes that can be used to represent Beowulf, but hero is by far the most prevalent archetype he shows. He endures many daring quests which back up the hero archetype, such as when he left his own land to protect the Danes and kill Grendel or when he slayed Grendel’s mother. Grendel was an evil monster who was hated by all of the people under king Hrothgar. Slowly Grendel started killing the common people of the Danes because of the rage he felt toward them for refusing to accept him into their community. They feared Grendel because he was a fiend out of hell (line 99-101). Eventually, Grendel started to construct his own types of raids on the mead...
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...The story of Beowulf is the story of a seemingly invincible hero written by an unknown monk sometime in the 11th century. In the story, Beowulf completes multiple quests; however, despite there being multiple quests, all of them follow multiple archetypes commonly seen in epic poetry. The first quest that Beowulf must complete is slaying Grendel, a hostile monster that is terrorising the Danes. Second, he must kill Grendel’s mother who took the head of one of Hrothgar’s closest friends. Finally, Beowulf is tasked with slaying a dragon that is aggravated that someone stole his treasure. In Beowulf’s first quest, he is tasked with killing Grendel, a monster said to have the strength of thirty men. Beowulf takes the quest to show that he is one of the...
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...the belief set. The hero is the most dominant archetype in Beowulf because it deals with the fraternity warrior’s culture. Although the pluralism of Anglo-Saxon culture is very similar to our American culture, the archetype of The Ruler takes place in America today because everyone wants to take control and have power over their own lives and others around. In Literature, an Archetype is a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal pattern or human nature. There are many set archetypes; The Innocent, The Lover, and The Rebel. However, the one that dominates the most in Anglo-Saxon culture is the Hero. “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old, now, but will fight again, seek fame still, if the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me” (Beowulf’s Last Battle 607-610). In Anglo-Saxon culture being boastful and prideful is praised because it is a characteristic of a Hero. The poem itself was named after Beowulf to show that he was the dominant hero, the one who stood in the spotlight. “Then he stepped to another still body, clutched at Beowulf with his claws, grasped at a strong-hearted wakeful sleeper” (Beowulf 268-270). That night, Hrothgar threw a huge party for the brave Geats and Beowulf was the only man in the hall who was sober and awake. He had the foresight to not get drunk and pretend to sleep because he knew the monsters would come. Once again Beowulf is demonstrating the Anglo-Saxon culture existence...
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...saying is called a(n) epigram.. 6. Most of the time, theme must be inferred from evidence in the text. 7. A theme is an idea that can be expressed in a complete sentence. 8. A theme is always a generalization. That means it is stated in such a way that it applies to everyone. 9. A theme from Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain might be a boy and a slave’s quest for freedom. 10. A(n) universal theme reflects a condition or experience that is fundamental to being human; all people can understand and relate to it. What I need to know about archetypes: 1. archetype are patterns or models that appear repeatedly in literature and oral traditions across cultures and time periods. 2. The epic hero is an archetype, representing the bravest and strongest elements of humanity. 3. Even though Gilgamesh preceded Beowulf by thousands of years, both represent archetypical epic heroes in that they both choose their own journey. 4. Gilgamesh and Beowulf are both motivated by the desire for glory. 5. Both...
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...Mr. King Honors English II Oct. 28, 2011 “Archetypes for a Contemporary Audience” Myths are an important cultural aspect that were, and are to this day, used commonly to help teach morals and life lessons. Strength, courage, and fortitude are just a few characteristics addressed in mythology. The archetypal layout of an exemplary story is composed of the Twelve Stages. The Twelve Stages of a hero’s journey are the steps every person must take in order to prove one’s self as a hero. Mythical heroes such as Theseus, Sigurd, and Beowulf clearly demonstrate the archetypal qualities of a hero. A typical hero is seen as a morally just individual, with a noticeably ethical intent. An archetypal quality of a hero is moral goodness. The hero is always opposing evil and wrong-doing, while attempting his best to halt it. The hero is selfless always willing to give his life in place of another. A villain, or monster, is the opposed force of the hero, whose intent is solely based around a malicious and self-centered motive. The shadow-self of a character is often portrayed as the villain, or monster, but it has a much greater importance. The shadow-self illustrates the two extremes of a personality. Since the shadow-self is the complete opposite of a character, the good and bad qualities of that character are shown, the shadow self of a character can have both good and bad aspects. When someone is able to control the good aspects of both characters, the individual is able to grow and...
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...In the stories of Theseus and Beowulf, there is a mother role present, but this mother plays different role in the story. In Beowulf, the archetype of an evil mother comes into play with Grendel’s “mother; she, a foul sprite, whom the peasants had sometimes seen walking with her son over the meadows. From her dwelling-place she now came forth to avenge the death of her son, and snatched away from the group of sleeping Ring-Danes the good Æschere” (Rabb 4). Grendel’s mother represents the evil mother because she decapitated one of Hrothgar’s mightiest thanes to avenge the death of her son. This use of the evil mother is not very common in other tales because usually the evil mother is the mother of the protagonist and the mother also usually...
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...world would consider you an everyday hero. However back in the time of Beowulf, a hero is portrayed as a strong and courageous super human. And while ancient and modern hero archetypes may serve a purpose in literature, they do not accurately reflect what it means to be heroic in real life. Old stories and modern films use implied metaphors, the hero cycle, and are usually influenced by culture. Whereas a real life hero is not bound by a writers ideas, and acts on their own. In almost every heroic story or film the hero encounters a challenge. These challenges can be thought of as metaphors for heroes in real life. Beowulf goes through many challenges throughout the book, but a notable one is when he goes to Grendel’s mother’s lair. When he “sank though the murky waves for hours, and at last he saw the mud of the bottom” (570, 574) he goes through a challenge. This challenge is a great example of a metaphoric challenge. The water symbolizes all the things he must go through to get to his goal, the bottom. Also he was sinking for hours. This amount of time also shows that no matter how far away the goal seems, it’s always reachable in some way or another. A second instance of this is when Beowulf kills Grendel’s Mother and “her body fell to the floor, lifeless […] Beowulf rejoiced at the sight.” (642, 645). This illustrates that when completing your goal as a hero, you are rewarded. In this case Beowulf is rewarded with pleasure and the knowledge that the people in Hrothgar’s...
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...The character of Beowulf is the representation of the ideas of heroism and braveness that flew in the society at the time this story was written. These ideas have transferred over the ages setting grounds to many stories and ideas about heroic acts and pure courage where the hero is reluctant to back down from a battle and will always save his people. One of the figures that draw inspiration from ancient stories such as Beowulf is the character of James Bond, and in this essay I will evaluate the similarities and differences between the two characters and how an ancient story can provide ground for a contemporary hero. To begin with, in the story of Beowulf he plays the Beowulf takes over the role as a hero by having the archetype as the destroyer. The reason that Beowulf has succeeded in enduring time and is still viewed by our society as a popular story is the fact that Beowulf has been crafted as a marvelous character, where he fights to provide a safe world. He acknowledges that we all will eventually die therefore he faces those challenges in order to establish fame and to be able to live in his people’s memory ( Mythencyclopedia). The character of James Bond is vastly similar to those qualities but in a contemporary and modern style. When you think of a hero you think of the man in shining armor, someone that comes to his fair maidens rescue just in time to save her life. You think of him being handsome with a strong physique and brave. Courageous and brave is what...
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...defined as someone who “…possess attributes which you would recognize as heroic.” More importantly, the archetypal hero has some “…form of journey (the hero's journey archetype); these needn't be physical journeys like Homer's epics, but also spiritual journey(s)…” In the Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf slays dragons and monsters, as well as becomes king, and sails across vast oceans—however, Beowulf’s ultimate purpose to his journey is to be remembered for what a renowned hero he once was, as well as gain recognition from others for his heroic battles. Beowulf can be considered an archetypal hero because he possesses attributes that would be considered heroic, and also goes on a physical as well as spiritual journey. In the story of Beowulf, Beowulf has an ultimate journey that involves a call to adventure, followed by a refusal of the call, as well as reward (seizing the...
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...Wallace Literature 201 Beowulf- Character Analysis For this analysis I chose to contrast Beowulf with The Odyssey’s, Odysseus. Both of the protagonists in these stories have very similar traits and cultural ideals, while maintaining subtle differences. They are both strong and intelligent. They are both boastful, but never without just reason. They are both an ideal representation of the attributes that were praised by their individual societies. However, there are many notable differences in their modus operandi. One of the most notable being their libidos, or absence of. Odysseus was a great leader whose shrewd intellect enabled the Greeks to defeat the Trojans in the war. Beowulf was known to be a great warrior and acute thinker to his fellow Geats and proved to be just as shrewd in assisting the Danes. At the very beginning of the story of Beowulf we are immediately introduced to a shared ideal amongst the Germanic and Greek culture; the importance of family lineage. Much like it is vital for the author to explain the back story of Hrothgar’s lineage and often times refer to Beowulf as “son of Ecgtheow”, it is also vital for Odysseus to give his father’s name when confessing himself to Polyphemus and the loyalty Telemachus shows to his father. One area of difference between the two would be whether are not they exhibit values of “fair-fighting”. While they were both very witty and intelligent, their tactics for using it differed slightly. Beowulf was a much more in your...
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...Loyalty defines a person’s great devotion to another. These two works of literature integrated this theme of loyalty in both The Kite Runner and Beowulf. Beowulf from the epic poem Beowulf emphasizes the importance of loyalty. Beowulf is extremely loyal, as perceived in his commitment to his king Hygelac, to his entertainer Hrothgar, to his own loyal men, such as Wiglaf, and to his people. In contrast, Hassan from the “Kite Runner” shows loyalty for his friend Amir. It is in Hassan’s letter, years after their separation, that puts Amir on the way to redemption. And so, Hassan saves Amir twice, previously as a boy and later in the future, even after his own death. In both The Kite Runner and Beowulf, the authors express loyalty from friendship and from commitment....
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