A Hero's Motivations In Beowulf

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A Hero’s Motivations
(An Analysis of Beowulf’s Motivations)

What is a hero? Some people's first thought goes to those who perform need jobs like military service or doctors. But another common thought that springs from the word ‘hero’ is superheroes.The entertainment industry has capitalized on this topic, creating many well-known series. But where did such ideas originate? The idea of a superhero originated from the Anglo-SAxons epic poem Beowulf. Not only is the main character, Beowulf, the first hero to have extraordinary abilities in such a story, but he set the standard for the values of what became known as superheros. Beowulf had impactful motivations for why he did what he did throughout the story. In the epic poem Beowulf, by …show more content…
Understanding Beowulf’s value of respect helps clarify his motivations behind some of his decisions. It is obvious because of Beowulf’s exceptional strength that he could get anything he wanted and do anything he wanted, whenever he wanted. However it is because of his standard of respect that, as Beowulf arrives to Herot, that he shows respect for not only king Hrothgar, but the watchman as well. When Beowulf arrives to Herot with his soldiers, he respectfully explains his non-threatening reason for their presence. “We have come seeking your prince, Healfdane’s son, protector of this people, only on friendship: instruct us, Watchman, help us with your words! Our errand is a great one, our business with the glorious king of the Danes no secret; there is nothing dark or hidden in our coming. ” beowulf respectfully asks for help and assures the watchman of their friendship and righteous desires. He also demonstrated respect when he approached the king in the hall. Instead of storming the hall and making demands, Beowulf chooses out of respect for the king to ask if he could battle Grendel. Furthermore, Beowulf left his weapons outside the hall, demonstrating further his value of
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