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A Comparison of Oedipus and Beowulf The characters Oedipus and Beowulf represent two different types of heroes. Oedipus is a tragic hero and characterized by its standards. He was an influential man of stature who had a tragic flaw. While he contributed to his own downfall, Oedipus was not entirely responsible for it. He also learned a lesson from his mistakes which ultimately creates a catharsis in the reading audience. Beowulf, on the other hand, is characterized by the standards of an epic hero.
He strives for excellence and individual glory by doing heroic deeds. He has an admirable set of ethics, is great warrior, and is very loyal to his master. Beowulf is also rewarded for his deeds with fame and fortune. Although both of these men are heroes, the individual circumstances which allow them to achieve this status vary greatly.
Oedipus was a man of power and high social status. This was due to his position as King of Thebes. He was greatly respected by his people because he had ruled well during his reign as king. Oedipus did, however, have a tragic flaw which was his inability to control his anger. This lack of self-control is illustrated when Oedipus kills his father in an argument over the right of way in a road. Oedipus anger is also exhibited when he yells at the prophet Tiresias for telling him the truth about his mistakes.
Oedipus downfall was partially his own fault, although it was not entirely deserved. Oedipus made the choices in his life that brought him into contact with his parents. He also choose to kill a man in a fit of rage. He had control over all of these factors, but it can be argued that he was destined from the beginning to commit these deeds no matter how Oedipus tried to prevent them. Oedipus inability to control his tragic temper ultimately led him to commit this horrendous acts (Fergusson 388). Despite the awful acts committed by Oedipus, he learned a very important lesson.
He discovered that fate cannot be changed. This was proven to Oedipus when he finally learned what he had done through Tiresias. Oedipus, by trying so hard to succeed in his obligation to free Thebes from the curse, caused his own undoing (Fergusson 388). This moment of realization for Oedipus causes a catharsis of emotion among the audience.
They feel pity for Oedipus, who unknowingly and unwittingly committed these deeds. Beowulf is, however, a completely different type of hero. Beowulf is surrounded by fame, glamour, and fortune. He is an uncommonly great warrior and has performed many heroic feats.
By the end of his life, Beowulf has beaten Brecca in a swimming race, killed Grendel, killed Grendel's mother, and exchanged fatal blows with a dragon. Beowulf is an ideal epic hero. He knows to perfection the proper etiquette and he has cogitates towards his leaders and elders. As to the issue of loyalty, Anderson says that he depicts the loyalty of warrior to chieftain; of freeman, earl, and churl to their king a whole-souled devotion to which Anglo-Saxon was ready to dedicate his life (99). Beowulf, for the most part, follows the heroic code.
The only portion he violates is the call for humane treatment of a fallen foe. He deviates from this part of the code when he beheads Grendel after his mother in order to achieve revenge for the loss of one of his own warriors. Besides this, Beowulf is a man of dignity and polish. His moral values are generally noble, grave, and courageous.
His courage, however, is believed to be more physical than moral because he exhibits such super-human abilities (Anderson 99). These include his unhuman strength and superb lung-capacity, both of which he uses to defeat Grendel and his mother. As a reward for his great and heroic deeds to Here and King Hrothgar, Beowulf was given tremendous wealth and honor, As was customary at the time, he split his fortune with the king of his home land. Beowulf returned to his home where he continued to live by the heroic code until the day of his downfall. Beowulf had a flaw that brought about his demise. He had a superabundance of valor and a resulting overconfidence which prompted him to battle the dragon with inadequate protection (Anderson 99).
Both Oedipus and Beowulf were heroes of differing qualities. Oedipus was that of tragedy, while Beowulf was that of triumph. Oedipus fit perfectly into the mold of a tragic hero with his unwitting fall from power. Oedipus was seemingly guided by fate and could not prevent his inevitable downfall.
Beowulf was a perfectly shaped epic hero of fame and glory. He possesses uncommon human ability and a very loyal nature. He won the respect of all who came in contact with him through his champion-like etiquette and dignity. Although these two characters represented entirely different types of heroes, they shared one important similarity. Each had a tragic flaw that caused their demise.
Anderson, George K. The Old English Heroic Epic Poems. Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Vol. 1. Eds.
Dennis Poupard and Jelena O. Krstovic. Detroit: Gale, 1988. 98 - 101 Fergusson, Francis. Oedipus Rex: The Tragic Rhythm of Action.
Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Vol. 2. Ed. Jelena O.
Krstovic. Detroit: Gale, 1988. 388 - 389.
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Research essay sample on Tragic Flaw Heroic Deeds
