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   epollock Teacher
   High School - 12th Grade

   eNotes Editor

   wec1022,

   "Beowulf" is an epic hero. Beowulf is a hero, larger and stronger than other men but nevertheless mortal. Beowulf must deal with monsters of more-than-human size and strength. Like all epic heroes, Beowulf is eager to win fame and be remembered in song and story after his death. He also helps us understand the values of Germanic culture and especially the virtues of a great chieftain. 

   Beowulf also represents society in the way the poem’s definition of a “good king” is Germanic, emphasizing fighting, winning treasure, and being remembered after one’s death. Beowulf’s principal enemies—trolls and dragons—are creatures from Anglo-Saxon mythology associated with cold, darkness, and the wilderness; they are enemies of human values and achievements, and they reflect the hostile environments from which the Angles and Saxons came from.

   His death during his battle with the dragon is no surprise; for these people, all stories end in death and destruction, as does their mythology about the world itself.

   What also makes Beowulf an epic hero representing his society is that he takes the dragon with him when he dies. Beowulf’s death means the destruction of his people—another reminder of the gloomy Germanic world view that is underscored by a favorite device of epic poetry, understatement.

    

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/beowulf-wilbur

   http://www.enotes.com/beowulf-wilbur/themes

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   Posted by epollock on Friday June 5, 2009 at 10:20 PM