Gilgamesh Vs Beowulf
There are hundreds of epic stories that have been read and re-read for thousands of years by millions of people. These stories have been studied, researched, poked and prodded through and received their titles as epic stories. How do these stories become epic stories and what qualifies them for this? There are many specific “conventions” for making a story epic. These include: an invocation, an epithet, a confrontation, and most importantly, a hero. An epic hero is a massive requirement for a story to be considered epic. Beowulf and Gilgamesh are both characters in an epic story, but are they epic heroes? According to the requirements, Gilgamesh and Beowulf are indeed, epic heroes. Along with the characteristics of an epic story,
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Beowulf says: “I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons; therefore, to heighten Hygelac's fame and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand is how it will be, a life-and-death fight with the fiend." (433-440). Beowulf describing this battle with Grendel in such a simple way, leads his followers to believe that nothing is too big of a challenge for the great Beowulf, he gains glory for himself and fights strongly against evil. Later in the story, Beowulf’s strength is described as superhuman: “The story goes that as the pair struggled, mead-benches were smashed and sprung off the floor, gold fittings and all. Before then, no Shielding elder would believe there was any power or person on earth capable of wrecking their horn-rigged hall unless the burning embrace of a fire engulf it in flame.” (774-781). With both Beowulf and Gilgamesh being described as noble beings with superhuman strength, it is clear that they are very similar epic heroes. Though there are many other conventions and ways that these two characters are similar, being noble and having superhuman strength are just two ways they are similar epic heroes. After the amount of research that has been conducted over these stories, it is clear that Gilgamesh and Beowulf are definitely epic heroes and are very similar in all the ways of the epic
Beowulf says: “I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons; therefore, to heighten Hygelac's fame and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand is how it will be, a life-and-death fight with the fiend." (433-440). Beowulf describing this battle with Grendel in such a simple way, leads his followers to believe that nothing is too big of a challenge for the great Beowulf, he gains glory for himself and fights strongly against evil. Later in the story, Beowulf’s strength is described as superhuman: “The story goes that as the pair struggled, mead-benches were smashed and sprung off the floor, gold fittings and all. Before then, no Shielding elder would believe there was any power or person on earth capable of wrecking their horn-rigged hall unless the burning embrace of a fire engulf it in flame.” (774-781). With both Beowulf and Gilgamesh being described as noble beings with superhuman strength, it is clear that they are very similar epic heroes. Though there are many other conventions and ways that these two characters are similar, being noble and having superhuman strength are just two ways they are similar epic heroes. After the amount of research that has been conducted over these stories, it is clear that Gilgamesh and Beowulf are definitely epic heroes and are very similar in all the ways of the epic