Beowulf and Achilles as Hero-Figures

¶ … Beowulf and Achilles as Hero-Figures

Both Achilles and Beowulf are the centre hero-figures of the literary works they are presented in and the poems "Beowulf" and "The Iliad" are centered on their existence and evolution. However, while Beowulf's mythological struggle seems to bear an extraterrestrial projection, his success seemingly determined the outcome of mankind's faith, Achilles is the centre of a battle between individuals on Earth. Despite godly interventions, the Iliad remains a battle between the Greeks and the Trojans over the fate of Helen of Troy rather than a glorious combat of mythological perspective.

Further more, while Beowulf is presented in full dynamism, fighting and slaying numerous dangers for his kingdom (Grendel and Grendel's Mother, the Franks, the dragon etc.), Achilles personality develops almost entirely and to his death in the Trojan War, all previous mentions of his life being limited.

Achilles' battles are all fought against human individuals (if we out aside the battle he fought against one of Poseidon's sons) and the battles he obtains are all on this human level. While considered almost invincible in these battles, he never provokes any of the gods to fight him. In fact, based on the Greek conventions on the role of gods in every day life and their place on a significantly superior level, Achilles only occasionally dares top provoke them verbally. There is a very clear separation in the Iliad between gods and mythological beings and human kind.

On the other hand, in Beowulf, the hero often fights mythological beings with significant success. He kills Grendel and Grendel's mother and fights and kills the dragon, in the end of the poem. Beowulf's challenge to mythological beings seems perfectly reasonable and, indeed, he is often successful in his quests. His character is so build that he can traverse the human world and access the mythological world with the same odds of succeeding. From this point-of-view, he is less limited as a character than Achilles is.

In fact, Beowulf is himself a half mythological character. This derives not only from the mythological conflicts he is involved in, but also from the way he approaches issues, from the way he is perceived by the rest of his community. He is more than a king, he is a mythological king. On the other hand, Achilles only leads a troop of Myrmidons in the Trojan War, he is not even the leader of the Greek armies and has to submit to Agamemnon's control. Despite being the best warrior of the army, he is not offered high command and this causes constant problems with Agamemnon.

This is perhaps a significant difference between the two characters. While on one hand, Beowulf is undisputedly the leader of his kingdom, Achilles is an unofficial leader, unrecognized in function, but perceived so on the battlefield.

Achilles is also more human in reactions and the relations he ties with the other individuals than Beowulf. There is no mention of any close companion in Beowulf and the reader doesn't perceive that Beowulf has any friends. Part of Achilles' legend, on the other hand, is based on the legendary friendship with Patroclus. The relationship with his friend humanizes Achilles even more, along with the suffering he feels as Patroclus dies in battle.

The heroes' death is also significant in crayoning the two characters. Since we have already discuss the fact that Beowulf seems to transpose the human realm and become a mythological figure himself, it seems natural that his death cannot come from a simple mortal. He is, indeed, killed by a dragon, during his last fight, when he is stabbed by one of the dragon's horns. He does, however, manage to kill the dragon and thus complete the final mythological challenge that is laid upon himself and his kingdom. From this point, he seems ready to join the mythological realm of afterlife, despite the simple burial as a human being.