Beowulf assignment 3

Beowulf is portrayed as almost God-like. He was brought up from childhood to be a warrior, he is always fearless, self-assured, and nearly undefeatable. "But a warrior of Hygelac's heard of Grendel's doings; he was the strongest of men alive in that day, mighty and noble." This sets him apart considerably from the ordinary people. In contrast, the heroes in our culture are very human; at times nearly to the point of incompetence. In most of today's stories, hero's ordinary people before they became superheroes, generally by unwittingly stumbling into some drastic and life changing chain of events. Spiderman is probably the archeotype of this kind of modern hero. Before being bitten by a genetically altered super-spider, he was Peter Parker, an unpopular and somewhat nerdy high school student living with his aunt and uncle. People identify with these heroes because of their weaknesses, their imperfections give them humanity.

As he grows old, Beowulf becomes tired and disillusioned with his kingship, saying "Sorrow is in the home, the wine-hall abandoned, bereft of joy. The riders sleep, warriors in the grave; there is no harp song, no joy in the court. Not as there once was. Comes then from the bedstead a song of sorrow.The house and fields seem too large" The same thing happens to many modern superhero's, such as Batman, who eventually considers giving up his role as a hero.