Epic Heroes In Macbeth And Beowulf

Heroes in works of fiction can be separated into two main types, epic and tragic. A hero is put into these categories by his actions and his story. Beowulf, the hero of the story Beowulf, is an example of an epic hero in fiction. He was the hero at the beginning and he remained a hero until the end of his tale. His persona did not change throughout the story and he had an, at least, semi-happy ending. He got what he wanted and achieved fame and glory. A tragic hero is the opposite of the epic hero. A tragic hero is a person that at the beginning of their story is the protagonist, however, by the end of their story they become the antagonist. They often do not get their happy ending and by the “end of the tragedy will, then, be the hero's recognition

Both Macbeth and Beowulf had a large amount of pride, however, the way the two were influenced by it is where they begin to differ. Macbeth, at the beginning of Macbeth, had a reputation of an honorable war hero, but after he meets the three witches in the street with his friend, Banquo, his pride begins to change to that of a power hungry man who thinks he is invincible. This change was caused by what the witches said to boost his pride, although Banquo warned him not to listen to them and walk away. This pride is one of Macbeth’s tragic flaws, the flaw in which makes a tragic hero fail or fall. His wife, Lady Macbeth, throughout his story, also inflated his pride because she had control over her husband and wanted the power and glory that could come with being queen of the land. This would also aid the witches in ruining Macbeth. Beowulf’s pride did not lead him down a path of devastation and unhappiness. His pride was well earned in the eyes of the people surrounding him and the in eyes of himself. In fact, after he defeated the horrible Grendel and Grendel’s mother, he was warned by King Hrothgar to not be over prideful and tells him of heroes, a lot like Macbeth, who followed the path that led to their destruction. Beowulf decently understood and tried to maintain a level head, though he was extremely full of himself because of his

A hero’s ambition, pride, and reasoning for their actions can show the differences and similarities between the tragic and epic hero. Many of these heroes will be remembered for what their stories tell, whether it ended with the hero following the path of disaster and destruction or ending with the hero living the life they have always dreamed. The story of the heroic man or woman changes and evolves with time however the faults and traits of these heroes do not often change. Heroes from today’s stories such as Katniss Everdeen or Tony Stark share a few of these traits. It goes to show that storytelling and heroes do not change with time and will forever stay the