Epic of Beowulf Essay - Beowulf and the Hero Myth :: Epic of Beowulf Essay

Beowulf and the Hero Myth         Beowulf contains a myriad of different heroical ethical and social values. Most of these values are ingeniously grow within, or made evident by the argue forces of the poem. The initial opposing force arrives in the form of Grendel, a vile creature whos rampages mirror that of a modern serial killer. As the poem draws toward the conclusion, it focuses on the dragon, a creature developed by the poet to solidify the rise and fall of the archetypal hero.         After Adolf Hitler failed in his artistic studies at Vienna, he began to develop what would bring to pass a reign of terror on those who were not like him. His spring towards a society that rejected him as an artist spawned his anti-Semitic and policy-making beliefs. The same anti-societal anger has found its way into the minds of countless other killers, both(prenominal) past and present. Take for example Theodore (Ted) Bundy, who i n 1978, after watching students beverage and dance in a college hold on, witnessed a healthy ritual of bliss from which we know he forever snarl exiled.  Shortly thereafter, Bundy  left the bar and traveled to the Chi Omega sorority house where he watched from outside, entered, and then killed cardinal girls and wounded two others.         Just as Bundy had done, Grendel watched and surveyed from the distance. He waited outside the long hall, listening to the mirth and celebration from within. He hated them. The revelers inside felt no misery of men.  They were not uninvited, outcast, and below the social class of Hrothgars company. These feelings of inadequateness propel Grendel to slaughter those who oppress him. For twelve winters  he smashes bodies and eats his victims, creating a bloody rampage and a dire need for a savior.         The enquiry of Grendels origin is difficult to trace. The author rem ains ambiguous throughout the poem, referring to Grendel as biblical, but also suggesting that he is hu humanity. The original manuscript often refers to Grendel as man, but man with a long vowel meant evil, whereas man with a short vowel literally meant a man.  It cannot be received which pronunciation the author intended, what has been butchered in the translation, or whether this was meant to be a ingenious play on words.