Beowulf-Superhero Comparison

The story of Beowulf has some similarities to superhero stories in the American culture. What I noticed was most in common with the hero stories in our culture were the characteristics of the heroes themselves. All superheroes in the American culture are selfless and brave, Beowulf is of course selfless and brave. However, what I found that was most common was that the characters all risk their own lives first. Before the heroes put anyone else at risk they will fight alone to protect others. For example, Beowulf is always fighting some kind of monster to protect his people like Grendel, his mother, and the dragon. All of these monsters were terrorizing his people and he fought them to protect the people from harm. Beowulf and the heroes all have loyalty to their people and their first priority is to protect them. Beowulf and superheroes all share these common characteristics and goals. They want to protect their people against the bad guys.


Although Beowulf and superheroes from our culture are similar in nature and have the same goals, they are different in the way they present themselves. For example, Beowulf is a well known warrior and later becomes a king. In the story they present themselves to the Danish warrior and they are wearing their armor. "Then a proud Danish warrior asked them: 'From where have you carried these gold-inlaid shields, these shirts of mail, masked helmets, and battle shafts? I am Hrothgar's messenger and officer. Never have I seen braver strangers. I expect you're here to find adventure, not asylum.'" The soldiers and Beowulf did not hide their identities, they just wore what was necessary to protect themselves in battle. American superheroes such as Batman, Superman, and Spiderman are all like undercover protectors. In Spiderman for example, his makes his spandex suit to hide his identity. In the movie, the reason that he puts on the suit is to avoid people knowing his true identity. Spiderman especially didn't want his enemies to know who he was because they would come after the people that he loved. In the movie, Spiderman's identity gets revealed to the Green Goblin who then attacks Spiderman's aunt and takes Mary Jane. Therefore, Spiderman's identity is kept secret for his and his loved one's protection. The people know Spiderman is but not the real man behind the mask. Beowulf does not present himself in this manner. When Beowulf wants to help he goes to the king or straight to the monster itself to defeat them. Beowulf never wore a mask and never tried to cover his identity. For some reason, the superheroes in our culture like to hide their faces when they are protecting people to protect themselves. Beowulf however is very open about his identity, not afraid of his enemies coming after loved ones because he is confident that he will defeat them.