Similarities Between Macbeth And Beowulf

Carpe diem is a Latin aphorism, which literally is translated to “pluck the day” but is referred to as "seize the day”. This term was taken from the first book of Odes (23 BC), written by the Roman poet Horace. Two poems from this English course that exemplify this phrase are Beowulf and Macbeth. Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel, is poem that is set in Scandinavia. In essence, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Now, while this poem does not have a direct connect to the theme of carpe diem, it does exemplify some of the qualities. For example, none of the characters sit around all day, they're fighting, trying to improve their social status. Grendel is out attacking Hrothgar’s mead hall and Beowulf does not just sit on the sidelines and watch, he jumps in to help and defend the hall. After Beowulf ends up slaying Grendel,

In summary, it is about how Macbeth gains the throne. At first, he receives a fortune from some witches who predict that he will become king and then he wife, Lady Macbeth, urges him to do whatever is necessary to gain the throne. This causes Macbeth to kill the current king, King Duncan, and then he proceeds to frame the guards for his crime. The tragedy of Macbeth and the theme of carpe diem have some common threads. One example is how Macbeth is determined to become king, he does not wait for the opportunity to come to him. He evens kills the current king in order to gain what he desires. Another example would be Lady Macbeth. She does everything in her power to try to make her husband king in as short of a timeline as possible. She even tries to kill the king herself but cannot as he reminded her of her father as he