Essay Comparison Of The Epic Hero Beowulf And Modern Hero Iron Man

An epic hero is a character in an epic poem that has conquered dangerous situations/adventures and has shown an endless amount of courage. Epic heroes are commonly born from noble families, exhibit immense strength, and often fight supernatural beings. When comparing both Beowulf and Iron Man we see that these character traits are similar for both heroes. Both Beowulf and Iron Man’s fathers have left behind a positive legacy, are strong mentally and physically in their own ways, and have fought a large number of vital forces.

Beowulf and Iron man both have family members that were recognized for their nobility. Beowulf was the son of Ecgtheow who “was a famous man, a noble warrior – lord. He outlasted many long winters and went on his way. All over the world men wise in counsel continued to remember him”. His father’s nobility paved way for the respect that he himself would receive along with his individual accomplishments. He was also given good word by Hrothgar who he sailed for when he was a young boy. Similarly, Iron man or Tony Stark is the son of Howard Stark who was heir to a railroad dynasty and used his vast talents in science to expand and enrich the family business. He and his father founded Stark Industries, which specialized in engineering and technology, eventually gaining a widespread reputation as a company on the cutting edge.” After his father’s death Tony inherited his wealth and continued his legacy. He continued to improve and build his father’s business and created the Without his father’s past and business, Tony most likely would not have has the resources to invent Iron Man or have the intelligence or skills he is known for having. These two hero’s families laid the foundations for the success that the two men would later accomplish.

Another comparable characteristic between both Beowulf and Iron Man would be their strength physically and mentally. Beowulf is known for fighting large monsters with pure strength and no weapons. For example, Beowulf refused to use weapons in his fight with Grendel stating “I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless ways to use weapons, I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand to hand is how it will be”. An average person would not be able to fight a beast such as Grendel with his bare hands and rip his arm off let alone kill him. Beowulf is not only physically strong, but he is also very courageous and fearless. Beowulf knows going into each battle that there is a possibility that he won’t win or return. He leaves the possibility of his death and the chances of him getting injure to fate. Most people unlike Beowulf would not risk their lives or even consider battling a demon such as Grendel. Similarly, Iron man uses his strength to his advantage when fighting his opponents. However, a major difference between him and Beowulf would be that Iron man uses a heavy-duty suit. His suit is not only strong, but it contains many supportive features such as “self-contained environment, assorted onboard weapons systems, enhanced strength, flight, and various communications arrays and sensors (such as radar and radio). Furthermore, they typically have multiple power sources including a secondary solar energy collection function in the event that conventional-recharging methods are unavailable “and more (“Iron Man’s Armor”). Like Beowulf, Iron man fights his opponents with the risk of becoming severely injured and risking his life. He relies on his suit and knowledge to keep him alive.

Epic heroes such as Beowulf and Iron man battle supernatural creatures or humans that appear to be much stronger and powerful than themselves. For example, in Beowulf’s youth he “battled and bound five beasts, raided a troll-nest, and in the night-sea slaughtered sea-brutes”. His more known fights were with a human eating demon named Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and an angry fire breathing dragon. Similarly, Iron Man has fought many villains such as Whiplash, Obadiah Stane, Aldrich Killian, and Thanos. The mortal creatures or villains that the two heroes have fought in the past typically appear very powerful, want vengeance, and hope to terrorize many. In most cases the hero is able to conquer the villain and leave the fight with a few scratches and bruises, but in the heroes very last fight they are severely injured and die in battle. In Beowulf’s case, he was able to successfully defeat Grendel and his mother but was severely injured by the dragon leading to his death. On the other hand, Iron man was also able to defeat many of his opponents such as Whiplash and Obadiah Stane but was injured during his combat with Thanos and died. However, a major difference between Beowulf’s fight with Grendel and Iron Man’s fight with Thanos was that in the moments of Iron Man’s death he was not directly fighting Thanos himself but was trying to destroy a weapon he made.

To conclude the essay, epic heroes and modern heroes share many of the same qualities and characteristics. They are shaped by their families and backgrounds, known for their physical and mental strength, and for battling large beast and villains. Without these heroes there would be no one to protect or solve problems that the average man could not handle on his own.