Preview

Odysseus Vs Beowulf Essay

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1388 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Odysseus Vs Beowulf Essay
An epic poem is a long narrative poem that tends to be about heroic deeds and events. Beowulf shows traits of an epic hero by using his ability of strength to help him overcome evil. Beowulf kills Grendel and some of the rest of the men, by using his strength. Odysseus shows traits of and an epic hero by inspiring all his men to fight the cyclops. Odysseus uses his cunning sense to be an epic hero. Furthermore, while Odysseus was on his journey he completed the following: won the Trojan war, went to the Land of the Lotus Eaters, battled with a cyclops, love affair with a witch goddess, tempted by deadly Sirens, his journey into hell to consult the prophet he was looking for, fight with the monster Scylla that is from the water, …show more content…
They both are favored by their god more than other people. Beowulf is favored by his God, which is just one God. Odysseus is favored by Athena one of the few gods that they believe in. The early greeks made these gods to keep control over the people and make sure people stay in order This shows how they are both favored by a god. They also have special abilities each uses to defeat the evil monster they are fighting. In the personal opinion of the writer, he thinks that these are epics. They are without a doubt an epic poem/short story. In this paper, Beowulf and The Odyssey will be compared by the writer. A main point was that Beowulf and Odysseus both fought an evil/vicious and ruthless monster. Odysseus fought an evil one eyed cyclops that ate and killed all of his men. Beowulf fought an evil spirit, a demon, for example and liked to kill and eat his prey. The fate of Odysseus was already made to be doomed and die. While Beowulf didn’t really have his fate set out for him. When it came time for Beowulf to fight the evil spirit, demon, Beowulf relied on his strength to defeat it. Odysseus counted mainly on his wittiness and cunning self of being. They both had abilities they used to defeat their own

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    1. Epic is a long narrative poem involving heroic figures and supernatural events and written in elevated style. Identify some elements of epic in the Iliad.…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First off, Odysseus was a very brave person. Even though and underdog, Odysseus never backed down. His first act of bravery was his ability to face the mighty Trojan army. He was selected to join the war and refused. So the Greeks put his baby Telemachus in front of a plow. He quickly stopped it and accepted the challenge being the brave person he was.” But the ‘draft board’ was smarter than Odysseus. They threw his baby Telemachus in front of his oncoming plow.”(David Adams Leeming 643) Another act of bravery on Odysseus’ part, was taunting the massive Cyclops Polyphemus. ”O Cyclops! Would you feast on my companions? Puny, am I, in a caveman’s hands? How do you like the beating that we gave you, you damned cannibal?”(Homer 476) The last act of Odysseus’ bravery was his willingness to go to the underworld. There Odysseus met Thebes. Thebes requested that Odysseus let him taste blood. Odysseus, the brave man that he was, cut himself to please Thebes. “At this I stepped aside, and in the scabbard let the long sword ring home to the pommel silver as he bent down to taste the somber blood.”(Homer 615)…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Epics have been around for years as people searched for different treasures. The oldest epics talked about would be Beowulf and Gilgamesh. Both characters Beowulf and Gilgamesh are out on a mission, Gilgamesh seeking eternal life, and Beowulf seeking glory. Although many may think they Beowulf was a hero, he really wasn‘t. On the other hand Gilgamesh was a true hero. Beowulf just wanted to be noticed and to have it said he’d done something. Although Gilgamesh was a story told to by the Sumerian city of Uruk, now located in central Iraq, Gilgamesh was an actual person, a king rather. Beowulf wasn’t a real person or story only an epic that was retold and passed on in comparison to Gilgamesh.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is an epic hero? Beowulf was an archetype or, perfect example of what an epic hero is. Being infallible, he had many characteristics that showed this. Three of them are strength, bravery, and determination. Beowulf was always eager to face anything he was challenged with.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the epic poem by Homer, The Odyssey, Odysseus lack heroism presented in his actions. His success is due to the fact, he is able to intelligently apply himself in dire situations. However the majority of feats are unnecessary, as he tends to indulge in these predicaments due to his selfishness and curiosity. For example, at the time of Lotus Eaters, Odysseus sets course to the Lotus Eaters to discover who are natives of the island. His curiosity ended up of 3 of his men getting paralyzed and brainwashed by the Lotus Eaters.…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus was a very faithful, courageous, brave, and a intelligent man. He was not very admirable though. For example, when Odysseus is "stuck between Charybdis and Scylla," he chooses not to tell his men about the nearing danger because he knew they would become alarmed and would put the entire crew and the ship in danger; instead, he said nothing, hid himself below, and allowed 6 men to be eaten! These next few paragraphs are going to explain situations in the epic that reveal some of these traits.…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The elements of an epic poem contain a hero of legendary proportion, adventures of superhuman strength and valor, and involvement in the super natural. The story of Beowulf is a prime example because the main character, Beowulf, fulfills all the aspects necessary to identify an epic poem and hero. The qualities that an epic hero has are displayed in Beowulf by being a hero of great importance, having adventures of epic strength and valor, and being involved in defeating supernatural.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus Weaknesses

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Odysseus faces many conflicts throughout the story. He first leaves his family for 10 years and struggles with temptations by Circe. He was “beguiled by Circe” ,writes Homer, and he had to figure out a way to rescue his men. He also has to decipher a way to get past the sirens who try to inveigle them to jump overboard. It was not an easy task, but they survived through the tribulations they faced and had a great story to tell when they made it home.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the Epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus is determined to be a survivor and return to Ithaca with a status appropriate to his own sense of excellence. Odysseus is not going to make any suicidal heroic stands on the battle field and refuses to compromise a very narrow sense of integrity. On the contrary, he is ready to use any stratagem to get home. Odysseus lies, accepts insults, disguises himself, represses his emotions and even conceals his true identity in order to get through his journey. Odysseus is impulsive and reckless. The Epic, is only the story it is due to Odysseus being a character of impulse and recklessness. He creates opportunities for events and challenges and also the opportunity to return home as a heroic icon.…

    • 679 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus Greek Hero

    • 1626 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Odysseus was a mortal, and the king of Ithica. Odysseus was very brave in his battles and the journey he was on that took him away from his wife and son. This journey and time away from them, lasted twenty years. Odysseus showed wisdom in skill and mental clarity as he was wise in his thinking. For example, when he and his crew were in the caves, he found out it was owned by a cyclops, he had seen his men were in great danger. He begged the cyclops to spare his men’s lives, based on humanitarian laws. He used his quick wit and intelligence to try to persuade the Cyclops to not harm the men. He was not successful, and lost two…

    • 1626 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Beowulf and Hercules

    • 308 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Beowulf and Hercules are both extremely heroic characters with tons of characteristics that make them that seem that way. Both Hercules and Beowulf are very well known heroes that have had stories told about them for hundreds and hundreds of years. They both have similarities and differences but the similarities definitely outweigh the differences.…

    • 308 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odysseus Is A Hero Essay

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A hero must have every element to become a true strong hero. Odysseus is portrayed as an early hero since he was one of the first to be put on a rigorous journey as there might have not been any influence on him to become a great hero before that. Compared to his crew men, they were not a hero as they did not have great nobility, achievements, and courage. His crew men, non-heroic, all died throughout the journey as they were not as strong as Odysseus. Even though Odysseus’s crewmen died throughout the journey, it does not portray Odysseus as a nefarious leader as he was the bravest and had to make the sacrifices of his crew men as they were weak and non heroic, and if he had the ability to save them, it would hold him back and put him in the risk of…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    An epic, is a lengthy narrative poem concerning about social and political organization, and events significant to a culture or nation. In Fred Robinson words, much of Beowulf is devoted to show the Germanic heroic code, in different aspects, which values strength, courage, bravery and loyalty in warriors; hospitality, generosity, responsibility and political skill in kings; ceremoniousness in women; and good reputation in the inhabitants.…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    God and Grendel

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic poem. The poem was written in England but it is set in the Scandinavian country. The time period is between the 5th and 6th centuries, but was written between the 8th and 11th centuries. Beowulf is noted to be the most famous of epic poems, especially in the Anglo-Saxon works of literature. All things in the world boil down to being either of the two, good or evil. In the story Beowulf good and evil are portrayed in a very black and white manner. There are two main characters representing both, one good and one evil. The good character being Beowulf and the bad character being Grendel. Their reputations, the manner in which they use their strengths and their surroundings define the good and evil characters alike.…

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Beowulf and Odysseus have much in common as would be expected. When Beowulf is first introduced to the reader, he is described as being the mightiest man in Geatland, “There was no one else like him alive. In his day, he was the mightiest man on earth, high-born and powerful,” (Heaney 15). Odysseus could be described very similarly, the mightiest man in Greece and also the smartest man in Greece. Also, the two of them are both on great quests, Beowulf to defeat Grendel and Odysseus to return home and reclaim his wife, Penelope. Beowulf announces his intentions to the coast-guard as soon as he and his men reach the shore, “I come to proffer my wholehearted help and counsel. I can show the wise Hrothgar a way to defeat his enemy and find…

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics