Achillies

6 Pages 1458 Words

Beowulf vs. Achilles


The comparison between “The Iliad” and “Beowulf” falls along the lines of a comparison

of one myth to another. They both are great examples of Epic poems. They are written in the

same general fashion of an Epic poem. Beowulf is a poem about Prince Bewulf, a great warrior.

He very much resembles the one and only Achilles. They show a number of similar caritaristics

and also a number of differences.

Beowulf comes to the aid of King Hrothgar to kill the Grendel monster that lives in the

bottom of a swamp. The Grendel monster has already killed 30 of Hrothgar's men. Beowulf takes

14 of his best men and brings them to Herot, which is Hrothgar’s castle. The men arrive to open

arms from Hrothgar. He promises Beowulf and the rest of his men treasures beyond his wildest

dreams. This excites Beowulf being the materialistic person that he is, and he cannot wait until

he sees the beast. King Hrothgar has a banquet for Beowulf and his men where they celebrate

their arrival. This celebration shows the hospitality that is shown throughout the epic “The Iliad.”

They just open their doors to Beowulf and his men and treat them as if they were life long

friends. Even though they have never met each other before in their life. They just have an

understanding that being hospitable is the way they live their life. There is one big difference in

“The Iliad”; the trust between two strangers is broken because of the Kidnapping of Helen by

Paris’s when he is a visitor in the house of Menealos. This sparks a war the war between the

Greeks and the Trojans.

Beowulf shows the bravery of the great Achilles when the Grendel comes to the hall of

King Hrothgar. Beowulf proves that he was going to live up to his word and he was going to

show them that he was in fact the...