King Arthur Vs Beowulf English Literature Essay

King Arthur Vs Beowulf English Literature Essay Numerous stories about numerous heroes have been told and retold. All of these heroes do different things and all of them have different sets of qualities which make them heroic. Due to the fact that there are only so many heroic adventures and qualities, most are shared in part with at least one other hero. Such is the case between the great hero, Beowulf, from the epic poem Beowulf, and King Arthur from the story of Morte Darthur. These great heroes have strong similarities and a great deal of differences. Once their similarities have been compared I find it evident that Beowulf is the greater hero of the two. True heroes do good things for good people. Such is the case in the story of Beowulf. Beowulf leaves his homeland to help the Danish people rid themselves of the man eating monster, Grendel. This heroic quality is also evident in Morte Darthur, where Arthur consciously rides into a battle in order to rid his people of an evil knight who would not allow others to pass. Both heroes are displaying their concern for others by risking their own lives in battle for the greater good. In the same aspect they are also striving to gain the love and respect of the people they protect In order to obtain maximum respect in each conflict, both Beowulf and Arthur enter into battle somewhat alone. Beowulf specifically asks, That he, alone and with the help of his men, may purge all evil from the hall. His request is granted by Hrothgar, King of the Danes, so he and his man enter into the battle themselves so that when Grendel is defeated, the glory, love and respect belong solely to Beowulf and his men. Arthur does the same, he met with his man and his horse, and so mounted up and dressed his shield and took his spear, and bade his chamberlain tarry there till he came again. Although Arthur begins his journey alone he does meet up with Merlin, the court magician and faithful companion, who accompanies him. Much like Beowulf, Arthur gains great respect and praise from his people by fighting alone, even though it is not necessarily the smartest thing to do. The characteristic of being fearless when faced with death is often a trait of heroes because it is associated with courage and strength. King Arthur and Beowulf are not afraid to die, thus showing their courage to their adversaries and followers. When Arthur is faced with death he declares, welcome be it when it cometh, but to yield me unto thee as cowardly I had liefer die than to be so shamed. Simply put, he would rather die than admit to defeat and being cowardly. Beowulf feels much the same way about death. He illustrates this by showing no fear for his own life but instead expressing concern for the honor of King Higlac by asking that, if death does take him, send the hammered mail of his armor to Higlac. In sending his King his armor it recommits himself to his country and lets his King be reminded of his bravery every time he looks upon it. That is the extent, from what I was able to interpret, of which Beowulf and King Arthur are similar. Beowulf has way more confidence in his fighting ability then Arthur has in his. This is evident in the fact that Beowulf fights Grendel unarmed and says my hands alone shall fight for me, struggle for life. His reasoning behind this is that Grendel is the scorn of men and is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none so nor will he (Beowulf). Facing Grendel unarmed shows that he is brave and, more importantly, unafraid to fight on an equal level with Grendel. Since Grendel is going to fight without the use of weapons, Beowulf creates equality and therefore earns himself even more respect by doing the same. The less confident King Arthur on the other hand fights only with weapons. Once his wounds were amended his first thought was, I have no sword, followed by the task of finding him one. This demonstrates Arthurs relative weakness in his dependence on weapons when held in comparison to Beowulfs willingness to fight a creature greater than himself with nothing but his bare hands. It is this that I feel best illustrates Beowulfs greatness. Beowulf is indeed the greater hero as the help he received from his men was minimal, not by fault of his men but by the fact that Grendel, had bewitched all mens weapons, laid spells that blunted every mortal mans blade, Since Beowulfs men could give him no help due to Grendels spell, he had to defeat the monster by himself, with his bare hands. Arthur on the other hand lost his battle. First Arthur lost a jousting match and then he lost on the ground when the knight smote King Arthurs sword in two pieces. Merlin had to come to his rescue at this point and, by using his magic, he put the knight to sleep for a period of three hours. So to recap, Beowulf defeated a monster with no aid from his companions and Arthur could not defeat a knight and instead had to rely on the aid of magic from Merlin. Even though both King Arthur and Beowulf are great heroes, I think that Beowulf emerges as the greater of the two. He does this through his successful feats, not through his heroic qualities. For when comparing the heroic qualities of Arthur and Beowulf they come up pretty even. Both demonstrate a great love for others as they both try to do good things for other people. Their differences in heroism might be due to the fact that Arthur is a young hero in comparison to Beowulf who is an experienced hero. Either way they, like most heroes, have similarities and differences which make them the characters that they are.

Environmental Views of Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) Essays

Executive Summary The Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) is a beautiful 19.6 million acre coastal plain, and is located in the Northeastern part of Alaska. ANWR is home to numerous species of wildlife and one of the largest untapped oil preserves in the United States. There is an immense debate between the opposing environmentalists and the politicians who want to drill for oil on a section of ANWR, which is only 1.8% of the refuge. Environmentalists who oppose drilling for oil in Alaska say the wildlife and the native populations are threatened by drilling for oil in ANWR, even though most of the natives are strongly in favor of drilling. ANWR could save the US from having to import $800 billion worth of foreign oil, creating hundreds to thousands of American jobs, and generate hundreds of billions in royalties and taxes (anwr.com). Three different environmental ethic views will be addressed, Utilitarian, Deontology, and Lockean. The Utilitarian argument is that the greatest function of ANWR will be reached through drilling. It implies that the intrinsic qualities of the land are of lesser value, and that ANWR serves the people better by being given over to the purpose of oil production. Deontology views ANWR rationally. The question is asked: what would a rational person do when developers propose to convert an unspoiled landscape to commercial use? In the Lockean view, man has a right to use property and the various resources of the earth as he wills, to support his life and values. The development of ANWR overshadows the minimal risk of environmentally disrupting the wildlife. The US economy and the citizens of Alaska would benefit from the development, not to mention the wildlife would be monitored and thus receive more attention. Introduction Alaska is surrounded by ocean and mountainous terrain and has one of the most beautiful landscapes in the United States. Alaska is home to the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, in which hundreds of thousands of wildlife reside alongside with one of the largest oil preserves in the United States. Environmentalists are vexed about the possible disruption in the wildlife’s natural habitat and the effects it may have on the Alaskan Natives. Congress is being faced with the challenge of mergin... ...s.org/releases/pr2005/pr031105.html Rodger Schlickeisen. Fight to Protect the Arctic Refuge Reaches Critical Point Refuge Faces Most Dire Threat in Decades. Retrieved April 10, 2005 from http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/arctic/ardrill.html http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/arctic/news/arcticpoll.pdf Retrieved on April 9, 2005 http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_1741573203/1987_Alaska.html "Alaska," Microsoft ® Encarta ® Online Encyclopedia 2005 http://encarta.msn.com  © 1997-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/members/issue.tmpl?articleid=04210222393811 http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&oi=defmore&q=define:Property+Rights N.A. Retrieved April 10, 2005 http://www.jdnews.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&St oryID=30570&Section=NIE http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4542853/ http://www.newsviews.info/environment05a.html http://www.savearcticrefuge.org/learnmore.html Retrieved on April 9, 2005 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11332-2004Sep10.html Stephen Segaller. PBS: Extreme Oil (2004). Retrieved April 10, 2005

Shopping Mall Descriptive Essay Brain Storming (Points)

Shopping malls are the important part of lives of some people in today’s era. An essay on shopping mall all the benefits of a shopping mall. The shopping malls are the places that are packed in weekends. The malls of today’s world are huge and provide all the products that a man desires as a source of entertainment. During weekends people come with the families for shopping and fun in the shopping malls. There are large in size with hundreds of shops. If one enters a shopping mall, he/she can get each and everything from household products to eatables in the same mall.These shopping malls attracts huge youngster crowd towards them Many people just come for window shopping to the shopping malls. These days the malls have become a good source of entertainment for everyone. There are many branded showrooms in the malls. Shopping malls have made the shopping of people very convenient as they get almost everything from one same roof. These shopping malls are constructed beau tifully to attract more and more customers. They have huge infrastructure.Descriptive essay on shopping malls explains the various aspects shopping malls whereas in opinion essay on shopping malls people/writer expresses his views on the shopping malls. Opinion essay on shopping malls explains the general view of the people regarding these malls. If the writer wants to write about the negative views about the shopping malls than he/she has tell about some particular aspects that he don’t like. If it’s so hard for you to write the descriptive essay on shopping, or if you haven’t a lot of time, you can buy essays at our custom writing service – Essays Lab.Opinion essay on shopping mall can describe the negative and positive aspects of the malls. Some people find the shopping malls as highest achievements of our civilization and some people are totally against this view and are very much irritated about few things related to the malls. The writer who has neu tral views about the shopping malls can write a descriptive essay on the malls. The descriptive essays do not have any argumentative statements. These essays can be written in paragraphs. The essay can be divided in introduction, the main body and the conclusion.The introduction should be very attractive mentioning the importance and usefulness of the shopping malls. The writer should be very clear about what he wants to write in his essay. The essay should be such that it conveys the purpose and importance of these malls. In the introduction the outlook of shopping malls should be mentioned. The main body of the essay should consist of inside interior of shopping malls. It can also mention the different kinds of people who visit the shopping malls. The kinds of small shops and departments can also be explained in the essay.

Role of Women in Homeric Greek Society Essay - 1927 Words

Including both Homer’s works, the Odyssey and Iliad, he echoes his cultures conception of women as being either helpers of men or hindrances or restraints to them, however essentially insubstantial in their own right. Yet the only exceptions to this rule are immortals such as Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite, who function by a different set of guidelines because they are goddesses. For instance, they are allowed to have more independence then flesh- and-blood women because they are already symbols of some random abstract virtue or perhaps a principle, or beauty, and therefore they instantly have their own role to fill. As we know Iliad and Odyssey are poems relating adventures surrounding the Trojan War where both poems women are common and†¦show more content†¦However, despite the fact that it was her flight which spawned the Trojan War, she seems to just go with the flow. Hector’s mother Hekabe (in many translations, called Hecuba) is another character whom seems to fit squarely into a socially-acceptable feminine role. She treats those whom her husband and son abhor, fear for her son, and urges or advocates him not to re-enter the battle; he disregards her on purpose, of course, because to have listened to her would have considered as unmanly in his culture. She almost functions in the same capacity as the Chorus in a Greek tragedy where hers is the voice of her culture. In addition, Hector’s wife, Andromache, also appeals with Hector to remain with her; just like Hector himself, she know the Trojan cause was doomed, and she wanted to hang onto her husband and child for the brief time they will have left together. Now, it is clear they really love each other, and the love they share for their little son touching and human. Accordingly, he tells her, â€Å"Please go home and tend to your own tasks, the distaff and the loom, and keep the women working hard as well† (Iliad, Book VI, 304-305). Although in Andromache we see a flee ting glimpse of not only a respectful devoted wife but a frightened woman, we still see her only in relation to her husband, and in the end this is how her husband sees her as well.Show MoreRelatedHomeric Hymn To Demeter1287 Words   |  6 PagesThe Homeric Hymn to Demeter details the kidnapping of Persephone and the consequent fallout of this event. The myth itself represents a change in the structure of Greek myth, shifting from a centrally matriarchal system to that of a patriarchal. By casting feminine traits in a negative light and masculine traits in a positive light, the myth spreads a new ideology to the formerly matricidal Greeks. 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