When thinking of a hero, mythological or legendary figures with great strength and ability will commonly come to mind. To define a hero, you have to look at the characteristics that make up one. A few various examples include: Beowulf from an epic poem with an unknown title, Palamon and Arcite from The Knight’s Tale in Canterbury Tales, and Gawain from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. While defining a hero, one has to look at what a few have in common, or what ties different heroes together.
In Beowulf, the hero is a courageous warrior who protects people from monsters. Beowulf shows bravery when he fights the dragon and all the warriors but Wiglaf run away. He protects Heorot Hall from Grendel, and also his people when he later reigns as king. He is exceptionally strong in battle, which is seen in the way he defeats Grendel and Grendel’s mother. Beowulf is valiant when he fights the multitude of monsters and battles throughout his life. In this example of a hero, the main attributes are being fearless, especially in battle, and being generally dauntless.…show more content… When they meet each other in the grove and decide to fight to the death, they are both honest in the fight. Arcite has the dedication to fight for Emily until they are married and Palamon has the perseverance to marry Emily after Arcite dies. Both of them are courteous throughout the story. Palamon and Arcite both show great courage when they fight in the battle for Emily, including the swordfight in the grove and the joust in the arena with the knights, These examples of heroes include traits such as integrity and veracity of their
