Beowulf And Odysseus Comparison

Odysseus is a skilled warrior and has a strong sense of loyalty towards his family and homeland.

Throughout the epic poem Odysseus displays the quality arrogance through the way he acts when dealing with difficult situations harm his men. For instance,

Odysseus is also a hero who has the intellect to get through precarious situations. Again, in book 9, Odysseus calls himself “Nohbdy” to trick the Cyclops into yelling that name when calling for help. This is supported by the quotes, “My name is Nohbdy'', and, “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nohbdy’s ruined me!” (9.274 and 9.317). This shows that Odysseus is superior in intellect and can even think ahead to outsmart his opponents.

Odysseus is described as a god-like man. He is cunning, sly, suave, strong, confident and self-possessed. He accomplishes many great events like that of defeating the Trojans, slaying the suitors and travelling to and back from Hades. When on the beach in Phaeacia he confidently “stalked as a mountain lion exultant in his power strides through wind and rain and his eyes blaze and he charges sheep or oxen or chases wild deer” , and when he sees Nausicaa “He launched in at once, endearing, sly and suave” . Athena found him to be “so winning, so worldly wise, so self possessed!” . Neither does he lack in ingenuity, King Nestor said that “No one...could hope to rival Odysseus, not for sheer cunning–at every twist of strategy he excelled us all” . Odysseus has a large and gallant reputation to fulfil, but when he first makes an appearance in the book he is crying on Calypso’s island. Crying is often seen as a weakness in a man, but this makes Odysseus more endearing as it reveals the labour of his love.

The epic, The Odyssey, centers around Odysseus, whose disposition can be controversial. Like all heroes, Odysseus displays both positive and negative characteristics, which determine whether he is a admirable figure or not. In my opinion, the parts of his character that are commendable outweigh his lesser qualities, making him an honorable role in the poem. Odysseus’s three main favorable attributes are his cleverness, his determination, and his leadership.

In the epic, Odysseus portrays qualities of being a brave warrior. Odysseus can be described as a brave warrior because he fought the Cyclops with help of his crew and made it through all of his wife’s suitors. Odysseus had been captured along with his crew but they managed to make a battle plan, which was to temporarily blind the beast by stabbing him in the eye. Also, when Odysseus arrived home, he gained respect from the suitors by shooting the bow and completing the challenge his wife had made and killing all of the suitors that had eaten his food and trying to get his fortune.

One of the major themes of Homer’s Odyssey is the importance of cunning over strength. This also happens to be the case with Odysseus and his long ten year journey home from fighting in Troy. Odysseus uses his intelligence over strength to ‘fight’ through tough times and bring himself home to Ithaca. Odysseus uses his intelligence when he has his men tie him down while passing the Sirens, so he himself will be able to hear their beautiful song, but not be entranced by their singing. He also uses cunning to escape from the Cyclops’ cave without being harmed. He then uses his cunning by storing away all of the armory, shields, and knives from the suitors so he is able to kill them easily.

Odysseus, well still a good fighter, was better known to use his intelligence when conflict arose. An example of this was when he came up with the idea of the Trojan horse to defeat the Trojans. Menelaus said, “Listen to what he did in the wooden horse, to bring slaughter and death to the

There was no doubt that Odysseus was an arrogant man. You can find this in

Those are the reasons why I think Odysseus shows his character traits. He showed he was very cocky at some parts of

Beowulf is a hero in the eyes of his fellow men through his amazing physical strength. He fought in numerous battles and returned victorious

In the book Beowulf, Beowulf, the main character, is a man of great strength and ability. He is depicted as a man of wisdom, and that he is a prince that comes from a kingdom that is well respected. He fights many battles, and is seen as a hero with glory to his name, but this does not mean that he is as flawless as he seems to be. Beowulf is a man who desires to help those in need, however, he is greedy for the glory and treasure that he will receive in thanks of his success. He is truly confident, but because of this he is impulsive, never questioning his ability to take on a task. He is also brave, he has almost no fear, but this tends to make him reckless. He is a hero to many, but he believes in himself in such a way that he acts foolishly, and it will eventually be the death of him.

Contrasting characteristics of the two warriors are their innate dispositions. Odysseus can be characterized as distracted, intellectual, and self-reliant. In almost every situation Odysseus is put into, he is distracted by either a temptress or a task he must complete. His arrogance and self-confidence constantly got in the way. For example, when Odysseus is trying to save his men from Circe, he allows himself to get distracted by the seduction of Circe. Odysseus is definitely a warrior that is not solely focused on his ultimate goal, and although Odysseus may not be the strongest warrior, he certainly surpasses every other warrior of his time in battle strategy. He uses his intellect to the fullness of his ability and

Odysseus is a courageous leader because he saves his crew in combat many times. One way Odysseus shows he is a courageous leader is by proving his worth in combat. Odysseus is obviously a good fighter because he survived the Trojan War, if he had not have been a

The poem Beowulf presents the transformation of Beowulf from a brave warrior to an honorable King. The evolution of Beowulf shows how he fulfills his obligations to the warrior’s heroic code and then transcends into a King who loyally protects his Kingdom. Beowulf’s transformation is shown through a progression of three increasingly more difficult conflicts he must overcome- first with Grendel, then Grendel’s mother and finally against the mighty dragon. These three events are seen "as the three agons in the hero 's life"(Chickering 64). Through these adverse events Beowulf will change from brave young warrior to noble King. This paper will examine the manifestation of heroism in the poem