Beowulf; Original Hero

When reading this tale of "Beowulf", I could not help but think about how we have our own vision(s) of superheroes, both men and women figures, and how they have almost literally came from the ideals of the great Beowulf. Of course there are flaws to Beowulf and his methods, for example his lack of consideration to long term consequences of his decisions, but we got to see those sides in him that we readers and fans alike, today can appreciate in any comic book or superhero movie. Me personally I follow to the heroes that struggle the most with their own personal issues, or the ones whom kick the most ass without breaking a sweat, whichever or whomever I route for I found myself saying "Whoa, Beowulf is like all of these people, he was the first! How cool is that?!". These connections I have made really got me into my childhood and think about who I idolized for different reasons. Take the time to ask yourselves if this happened to you while you read about Beowulf, and who that other role model might have been.


The first person that came to my mind from my childhood was the hero known as Batman. The man of a thousand talents with the deepest darkest side that sometimes he could not even comprehend, also has the innate ability to leap without looking, which in a monumental way helped him keep the people around him safe, but the affect on him was much more conflicting than what met the eye. Sound familiar? Batman had his own golden rule not to kill anyone, which was a great moral for anyone who believes in one true form of justice, but what about the long term consequences? For example, when his enemies were able to escape prison and committed those same horrible crimes again and again, much like the Joker had. Beowulf too had a rule of his own making, that no one should have to fight his battles putting themselves in danger to protect him, which in the end unfortunately got him killed. A long term consequence of that was he had no heir to the thrown before he met his end. Any superhero that we can think of has his or her conflicts between right and wrong, but in these scenarios it all comes down to their decisions to put themselves and the people around them at risk because of it. But hey, Batman can do it all.

Cocky bastard.

I really appreciated the original superhero mentality brought out in Beowulf, and the thought that this is what most of us, myself in particular, look for in a superhero made the whole controversial side to him so much more enjoyable. Getting to know the hero for who they are make it harder to judge, but just appreciate what happens throughout the tale. Does Beowulf do this for you guys too? Or am I just crazy?!?!?!?!?!?

"Yeah he's crazy it's okay just go with it"