Ina word, Beowulf is a hero that can be described with one word - loyal.
Beowulf is nothing if he is not loyal. This is a significant trait and one that every warrior or hero must possess. e know that a hero must not only be loyal to oneself, but also to one's personal belief and one's country and one's belief to be a good warrior. Loyalty appears in the poem in many different ways, with one being how the other characters in the poem relate to Beowulf. For example, Hrothgar demonstrates his loyalty to Beowulf with promises of a "rich treasure" (385) for his good deeds. This scene is interesting in that we see that loyalty is a two-way street. On the one hand, Beowulf is demonstrating his loyalty to his code of ethics by offering Hrothgar his assistance because his father, Hrethel, owed Hrothgar a favor. Beowulf arrives…...

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Works Cited

Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf. Bilingual ed. New York W.W. Norton & Company, 2000.

Fisher, Peter. "The Trials of the Epic Hero in Beowulf." PMLA. JSTOR Resource Database. Accessed February 15, 2008.http://www.jstor.org/Site

Lawall, Sarah. "Beowulf." The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Vol. I. New York W.W. Norton and Company, 1999.

Magill, Frank. "Beowulf." Masterpieces of World Literature. New York: Harper and Row, 1989.

The tragic hero always elicits sympathy from the audience. According to Struck (2002): "Finally, Oedipus' downfall elicits a great sense of pity from the audience. First, by blinding himself, as opposed to committing suicide, Oedipus achieves a kind of surrogate death that intensifies his suffering. He comments on the darkness - not just the literal inability to see, but also religious and intellectual darkness - that he faces after becoming blind. In effect, Oedipus is dead, for he receives none of the benefits of the living; at the same time, he is not dead by definition, and so his suffering cannot end. Oedipus receives the worst of both worlds between life and death, and he elicits greater pity from the audience."

While Oedipus is the classic tragic hero, when we look at a character like Achilles, it is clear that there are other types of heroes that Oedipus does not compare…...

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References

Struck., Peter. (2002). Oedipus as the Ideal Tragic Hero. Classical Studies 200. Retreived from the Internet at http://www.classics.upenn.edu/myth/tragedy/oedhero.php.

Winnington-Ingram, R.P. Sophocles: An Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980.

Wikipedia. (2005). Classical Tragic Hero. Retrieved from the Internet at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragic_hero .

The Tale of the Heike

The Tale of the Heike focuses on heroic qualities as depicted by the Japanese culture of the 12th and 13th centuries. It is deeply ingrained in the Buddhist tradition, with its central morality focusing on the foolishness of an attachment to material things. Pride and arrogance are undesirable qualities that inevitably lead to a fall. These qualities are embodied in the anti-hero, the arrogant Taira no Kiyomori. These flaws remain part of his character until he dies and he thus serves as the personification of the most undesirable qualities, and the opposite of the hero. The Japanese hero, on the other hand, is embodied in the central figure of the amurai, Minamoto no Yo*****sune.

The qualities displayed by the amurai adhere to the principle that nothing in the world is permanent. The central truth is that the prosperous must decline, and that prosperity generally corrupts, as seen…...

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Sources

Grummere, Frances B. (Trans.) Beowulf. The Harvard Classics, Vol. 49. 1993.  http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/beowulf/index.html 

Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. By Samuel Butler.  http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.html 

Homer. The Iliad. Trans. By Samuel Butler.  http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.html 

McCullough, Helen Craig (trans.) the Tale of the Heike. Stanford, California: Stanford University Pres, 1988.  http://www.glopac.org/Jparc/Atsumori/Heiketxt.htm

There must be a significant act that they perform in order for them to be deemed heroic. That is not always the case, but it seems to be among the most common ways people are considered for heroism.
Because Moses and Krishna were not heroes in the traditional sense, however, does not in any way negate the value they had to their respective time periods and the information that was written about them. Being a hero can come in so many different types of forms, that anyone can be a hero in some way and an amazing, courageous act is not always required. At times, all that is required is for the hero to do small things, but to do them with such love and consideration that they become big things in the grand scheme of the world. While not everyone understands this concept, most people who have seen these…...

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References

Bhagavad-Gita (Books 1, 10-11). (n.d.).  http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/intro.html 

Coburn, T.B. (1984). 'Scripture' in India: Towards a typology of the word in Hindu life. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 52(3): 435 -- 459.

Exodus. Chapter 19-22. (2012) the King James Bible.

Houston, Walter J (1998). Exodus. In John Barton. Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press.

Heroism
Most of us have a general notion of what heroism is or who are the heroes or heroines. The idea has always been those overwhelming acts of courage and selflessness that are the stuffs of headline news and befitting accolade from society. But not all heroes or acts of heroism make headlines or even become "viral" on the Internet. There are everyday heroes who chose to stand on the sidelines, do whatever they can and disappear into oblivion. Then there are those who are but ordinary people living their simple lives and extraordinary circumstances came their way that saw them springing into action and doing heroic deeds. I have witnessed several heroes in my life -- both the acclaimed and unsung ones. I could never forget though when I was only ten years old and I saw my first real life hero.

I was with my friends in the playground…...

heroism is not new to the world. The word 'hero' often stimulates the thought process of a person in such a way that the person automatically starts thinking about the heroic figures that he or she has heard about in stories, seen in movies or read in fairytales. However, the concept of heroism is slightly different from the common perception of this word. One can ask some questions in order to understand the exact definition or the description of a hero. The first question that one can ask is that whether hero is a person that we simply respect, admire and look up to. e can ask if hero is someone that has super powers, and thus a superhero. Some people might wonder if takes a great deal of fame and money to be known as a hero. Others might that what are the other things that are involved…...

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Works cited

Hieatt, Constance B. Beowulf, And Other Old English Poems. 1st ed. New York: Odyssey Press, 1967. Print.

Homer., et al. The Odyssey. 1st ed. Print.

He has incredible powers and strength, and out of all the many ways villains try to hurt him, they always fail because in the end, what can hurt him is a piece of a rock.
Batman, as Bruce Wayne, has powerful lineage, just the Greek heroes. He may not be descended from the gods themselves, but there still exists a comparable mythology around him. His parents, but particularly his father, was a very rich and powerful man. His parents were philanthropists and very prominent in the world of business, of which Bruce Wayne is the heir of their legacy. His parents' souls exist in heaven, or in the clouds, or somewhere where Bruce can only return to them through death, which is similar to Greek mythological heroes that can return to or greet their god-ancestors after death and after living a life truly reflecting heroism. Superman's father was a prominent…...

Product of Sheer Coincidence
Fame and heroism is a lifetime pursuit for most people, yet some don't want to be famous, and some without knowing or pursuing fame they find themselves famous and being the focus of the world. And that was my fate, sheer coincidence brought fame my way, and the consequences as well.

Everyone looks forward to a day when they will be able to venture out of America and be in a distant land. A place where they will be able to tell of the return tales and adventures that they had while there. A distant place that many would only look for on the map or google it on the internet yet may live never to visit the place. I had for long purposed to visit any interesting country in Africa for some long holiday and enjoy the sun, beaches, hospitality, the animals and the weather in general,…...

Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim is a novel bookended by two deaths. In the beginning of the novel, Jim is able to save his own skin by abandoning the passengers on the Patna and escaping with the other crew members when it is erroneously believed that the ship is about to sink. Their actions are effective in the short-term in terms of securing Jim's safety even though the members of the crew are in flagrant disregard of virtually every established ethical system regarding how seamen are supposed to behave. hen it is later revealed that Jim and the crew were misguided about the likelihood of the ship's failure and the Patna sails safely to shore, Jim's self-interested actions are revealed. Although understandable to some degree, Jim's actions are in violation of the personal code he has set for himself at the beginning of the novel. Jim wants to be a hero…...

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Work Cited

Conrad, Joseph. Lord Jim. Project Gutenberg. 1917. 13 Nov 2014. Available:

 http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5658/5658-h/5658-h.htm

Essay Topic Examples 1. The Bystander Effect and the Suppression of Heroic Acts:
    This essay explores the social problem of the bystander effect, where the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation. The discussion can delve into psychological theories explaining this phenomenon, its impact on society's ability to nurture heroism, and potential strategies to encourage individual action despite the social pressures of passivity.

2. False Heroism in the Age of Social Media:
    This topic examines the issue of performative heroism on social media platforms, where individuals may engage in heroic acts for the sake of online recognition rather than genuine altruism. The essay can discuss the implications such behavior has on the perception and value of true heroism in society, and how this phenomenon may dilute the importance of selfless acts in the public eye.

3. Commercialization of Heroism and Its Societal Impact:
    The essay on this topic…...

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Primary Sources

Allison, Scott T., and George R. Goethals. Heroes: What They Do and Why We Need Them. Oxford University Press, 2010.

Franco, Zeno E., Kathy Blau, and Philip G. Zimbardo. \"Heroism: A Conceptual Analysis and Differentiation between Heroic Action and Altruism.\" Review of General Psychology, vol. 15, no. 2, 2011, pp. 99-113.

Becker, Ernest. The Denial of Death. Free Press, 1973.

Rank, Otto. The Myth of the Birth of the Hero: A Psychological Interpretation of Mythology. Nervous and Mental Disease Publishing Company, 1914.

Ehrenreich, Barbara. Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. Metropolitan Books, 2009.

He is described as being of gigantic size and of tremendous emotion. Always Achilles is described with the most exaggerated terms, shining like the sun or falling in the most absolute wretchedness. In a moment of sublimity oddly precognizant of gothic writers like E.A. Poe, Achilles refuses to bury his beloved Patrocles' body because "since I'm journeying under the earth after you, I'll postpone your burial...Till that time, you'll lie like this with me..." (book 18, 330-338) Achilles is perfect and heroic in the extremity of his nature. A more archetypal approach would say that he was heroic because, more than any other character, he represented the purity of war. Archtypically, he represents a purity of action and emotion than can drive men to battle, the pure warrior who is at once filled with the strength of emotion and will and yet resigned to perfect destiny, faithful towards the…...

However, because of Gilgamesh's thought that he may be invincible, he is actually putting his friend's life at risk by going on his adventure. In his attempt to prove that he is brave and that he would rather die for a cause, he actually indirectly causes the death of Enkidu, who shows that he was the stronger of the two.
5) Defining Honor

Honor is a characteristic that few individuals posses. It is a special type of distinguishing factor, that although many attempt to have, very few actually embrace it to its full meaning. Honor entails pride and personal excellence. It is fully believing in an action or an entity that represents something very important to the self and to those around. To me, honor is being able to stand up for your beliefs despite the opinion of others.

Honor in society can actually be viewed in two ways, depending on your…...

He kills his father as he flees his home and marries his mother after solving the riddle of the Sphinx. His end is inevitable, but Sophocles clearly shows the role negative character traits play in Oedipus' tragedy, while Hamlet's supposedly negative traits of doubt are not necessarily evil.
Thus Hamlet could be classified as a kind of nascent anti-hero, a man who mourns "the time is out of joint/oh cursed spite/that ever I was born to put it right," and never succeeds in 'putting it right' because society offers him only one, ineffective mechanism for pursuing a brutal type of justice (1.5). The failure of heroism to 'put things right' is manifested starkly in Waiting for Godot, where the heroes famously wait for the final 'solution' of the arrival of the presumably heroic Godot, who never comes. These characters are not so much heroes or even anti-heroes -- rather they…...

The Aeneid

Taking a character from The Iliad and setting him on his own journey, the Roman Virgil's epic The Aeneid necessarily contains certain parallels with the earlier Greek text. The overall story of this lengthy poem in and of itself reflects many of the same basic understandings of mankind's place in the universe, its relationship to the gods, and the relationships that exist within society and between men that are already described above, demonstrating that no real fundamental change has occurred in this schema. Aeneas, the titular hero of the tale who flees his native Troy after it is sacked by the Greeks, is as important as the individual heroes of the war itself, but more than a tale of individual heroism The Aeneid is the story of the founding of a people and the long trajectory of history and humanity. It is a tale for and in many ways…...

"(Twain,39). Later on, he witnesses with his friends their own funeral service, because they had been considered dead after their disappearance. Also, Tom pretends to be visionary and recounts his so-called dream to aunt Polly, which was in fact only an account of what he himself had seen: "Tom! The sperrit was upon you! You was a-prophesying -- that's what you was doing!" (Twain, 157)
Finally, Tom emerges as a "real hero," when his concern the others outweighs his concern for himself. Thus, one of his real acts of heroism is taking the punishment in Becky's place, for tearing the teacher's book, and getting the latter's sincere appraisal: "Tom, how could you be so noble!"(Twain, 176). Also, he rescues Becky from the cave, and the fact that he persuades Huck to be civilized, putting it as a condition to him, so as to let him be part of the gang: "A…...

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Works Cited

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New Yor

1. The influence of Greek mythology on Chaucer’s "The Canterbury Tales" and Boccaccio’s "The Decameron"
2. The portrayal of Greek gods and goddesses in Chaucer and Boccaccio’s works
3. The role of fate and destiny in Greek mythology and its connection to the themes of love and tragedy in Chaucer and Boccaccio’s writings
4. Comparing and contrasting the use of Greek mythological figures in Chaucer’s and Boccaccio’s works
5. The significance of classical allusions and references to Greek mythology in the literary techniques of Chaucer and Boccaccio
6. The role of heroism and epic narratives in Chaucer and Boccaccio’s works, drawing parallels to Greek mythological....

1. The Role of Mythology in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
2. The Influence of Classical Mythology on Chaucer's Characters
3. The Importance of Mythological Allusions in Chaucer's Works
4. Comparing and Contrasting Chaucer's Use of Mythology with Other Medieval Writers
5. The Symbolism of Mythological Creatures in Chaucer's Tales
6. The Concept of Fate and Destiny in Chaucer's Mythological References
7. The Role of Gods and Goddesses in Chaucer's Narrative Structure
8. Exploring the Theme of Love and Desire Through Mythological Figures in Chaucer's Writing
9. The Mythological Roots of Chaucer's Moral and Ethical Themes
10. The Evolution of Mythological Themes in Chaucer's Literary Career.
11. A Comparative Analysis of Chaucer's....

1. The sinking of the Titanic: what were the factors that led to the disaster, and how did the world respond to the tragedy?

2. The legacy of the Titanic: how has the sinking of the Titanic influenced maritime safety regulations and practices?

3. The construction of the Titanic: what technological advancements were incorporated into the ship, and how did they contribute to its reputation as a marvel of engineering?

4. Women on board the Titanic: how did gender roles and expectations play out during the disaster, and what stories of heroism or tragedy emerged from the female passengers and crew members?

5. The....

In comparing and contrasting the epic hero Beowulf with modern day heroes, it becomes evident that while both display exceptional courage, strength, and a willingness to sacrifice for the greater good, there are distinct differences in their motivations, values, and the context in which they operate, ultimately shaping their impact on society and the expectations placed upon them as heroes. One way to shape your thesis statement into a clear argument is to highlight the specific motivations, values, and contexts that differentiate Beowulf from modern day heroes. By focusing on these key aspects, you can develop a more nuanced analysis of....