Eden Harris Harris, 1
Mrs. Schmidt
British Literature
September 4, 2014
A Hero Defined What is a hero? A hero is “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.” (www.dictionary.com) A hero is defined in these three poems: Beowulf, The Knight’s Tale, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. All three authors of these poems define a hero in different ways.
The definition of a hero in the book Beowulf is shown by a man, Beowulf, who is a man of courage and faith. His actions define him as a hero because he took on many difficult problems in life that most people wouldn’t even bother to deal with. He came to aid when his fellow warrior, Hrothgar, who was in need, and risked his own life for his warriors. He took on the two evil dragons, Grendel and Grendel’s mother. “… I have in my youth undertaken many heroic deeds. The ravages of Grendel were made known to me in my native land…because they knew the power of my strength, they saw it themselves, when I came out of battles, blood-stained from my foes,…” (Dover, pg. 8) Dover shows us that Beowulf is a heroic man with Christian customs who is very willing to die for his own, and to defend his people from evil with the help from God. Knights, Palamon and Arcite play the part of a hero in the poem, The Knight’s Tale. They swore an oath of brotherhood, which has them protecting one another for everything that they do. Palamon and Arcite are both noble knights, but when a fair