Similarities Between Beowulf And Sir Gawain

Knights. Firefighters. Soldiers. Policemen. Celebrities. All these people are considered heroes. A hero is a person who defies evil, protects the defenseless, and is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Many fictional characters in literature display heroism. Beowulf, from the epic poem Beowulf, and Sir Gawain, from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, were heroes, while Arcita, from the Canterbury Tales, failed to exhibit these characteristics on numerous occasions. Beowulf, the son of Ecgtheow and a mighty warrior of the Geats, exemplified heroism. He was a brave, strong, skillful, wise, bold, self-sacrificing king. This fabled man traveled across the sea to the land of the Scyldings to …show more content…
Sir Gawain was a hero because he presented valor, courtesy, honor, bravery, boldness, humility, and trustworthiness in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. He was one “to whom belonged all fame, and valour, and courtesy, and whose honour was praised above that of all men on earth” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 19), but he humbly took no credit for these qualities, saying, “I am the weakest, I wot, and the feeblest of wit, and it will be the less loss of my life if ye seek sooth” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 7). When the knights of the Round Table were challenged by a mysterious Green Knight on New Year's Day, Sir Gawain was the only one, save King Arthur, who would accept the ultimatum, demonstrating that Sir Gawain was brave. In the challenge, Sir Gawain would strike a fatal blow to the Green Knight, and this blow would be repaid by the Green Knight to Sir Gawain on the next New Year. Sir Gawain swore to the conditions of the challenge and lobbed off the head of the Green Knight, but to Sir Gawain's shock, the Green Knight miraculously picked up his bloody head and rode off. When the year had nearly drawn to a close, Sir Gawain kept his word by riding off to find the dwelling of the Green Knight, although he was certain that the consequences of his actions would be prove fatal. Sir Gawain kept his word, and thereby kept his honor. On his journey he fought a multitude of evil …show more content…
Arcita and his brother, Palamon, followed and defended the malicious monarch, Creon, who had mercilessly massacred his political rivals. Arcita nullified his heroism because he swore allegiance to the murderous monarch. When Theseus, the king of Athens, avenged these murders by defeating Thebes and killing the tyrant, he discovered Arcita and Palamon, Theban cousins who had sworn an oath of brotherhood and friendship with each other, and threw them into prison for the rest of their days. Then, when Arcita and Palamon spied Emily, the sister of the Theseus, they both fell in love with her and unnecessarily bickered over their lusts. Arcita loved Emily, who he had not even met, so passionately that he became depressed and despondent after he was released from prison, since Theseus had thereby kept Arcita from gazing upon Emily. Therefore, in order to see Emily again, Arcita deceived Theseus by changing his identity to that of an imaginary serf named Philostrates who desired to serve in the court of Athens. Deception is not a noble act. Palamon, who had recently escaped from Athens, met Arcita alone in the countryside and, filled with passion for his beloved Emily, challenged him to a fight to the death. Arcita hastily accepted the fight and broke his oath of friendship with his cousin, saying “'But meet your death right now, and at my hand. For I renounce the bond and its demand...”

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