"Beowulf"

Paper Summary:

The paper analyzes the epic poem of "Beowulf", written by an unknown poet sometime between the seventh and tenth centuries AD. By discussing the style and content of the poem, the paper compares this poem to another great epic, "The Iliad" by ancient Greek poet, Homer. Some of the similarities shown are the fact that both poems started out in the oral tradition and that both authors were virtually anonymous.

From the Paper:

"Perhaps if Beowulf had had more time to develop in the oral tradition, it might have progressed to the more penetrating sort of analysis and insight into epic tragedy that we see in Shakespeare's work. Meanwhile Beowulf leaves his people without a hero king, exposed to danger from other tribes. In the last lines we feel the tragic intensity of a people who are again at odds with their world with the loss of their hero.

"Beowulf is an epic hero in an epic poem. Growing out of a different culture in a different epoch, Beowulf reflects many of the qualities called epic by the Greeks. Most importantly, Beowulf embodies a sense of the hero most fitting to his culture, yet a hero of epic proportions, like those of the Iliad, greater and grander than a mere human could be, but true to the requirements of the heroic code of honor of his society."

More papers on "Beowulf":

• Analytical Essay # 134779 : "Loyalty in "Beowulf"
• Poem Review # 116965 : "The Monsters of "Beowulf "
• Comparison Essay # 32818 : "Restoration Vs. Translation of "Beowulf"
• Book Review # 69025 : "Heroic and Elegiac Elements in "Beowulf"

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