Similarities And Differences In The Odyssey And Beowulf example essay topic

After reading Beowulf and The Odyssey I began to compare and contrast the two epics. There are lots of obvious differences and similarities. An obvious similarity is there are heroes in both of these epics. The settings in both epics are similar too. The characters in both are different in many ways though. So the next few paragraphs you will learn the main similarities and differences of these two epics.

Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic that puts good against evil. It puts Beowulf against Grendel and Grendel's mother and in the end Beowulf comes out on top. He fought and beat both Grendel and Grendel's mother. In The Odyssey all the survivors of the Trojan War had returned home except Odysseus. He was at Calypso's island and she wouldn't let him leave. When he finally got to leave he face many problems getting home because Poseidon, god of the sea, was angry with him.

In both epics there are several problems that the hero's face and overcome. In Beowulf it is Grendel and his mother and in The Odyssey the main problems were the gods being angry with Odysseus. While both The Odyssey and Beowulf examples of heroism, Beowulf's acts of being a hero actually fit the description of a hero more than Odysseus. Beowulf has many heroic qualities that are easy to see. One of his major heroic qualities is his strength during the battle with Grendel.

Beowulf also shows many other qualities that prove him to be a great warrior and leader. In the Odyssey, Odysseus shows different qualities of being a hero. The battles that he is in are not ones he has gone out looking for, it seems like most of his battles are some kind of revenge from the gods. Beowulf usually goes and faces the bad guys head up but Odysseus sometimes used a little more trickery like when he fought the Cyclops. He waited until the Cyclops was asleep then blinded him and escaped. So Odysseus had somewhat of an unfair advantage.

But in both epics Beowulf and Odysseus both show and have good qualities of a hero such as good leadership and being a warrior. Beowulf takes place in Denmark and Sweden in the Dark Ages. The approximate date is between 500 A.D. and 700 A.D. A specific place that Beowulf takes place is probably Northumbria, an important Anglo-Saxon kingdom between Scotland on the north and the Humber River on the south. Northumbria was home to monks who excelled in learning and literature.

The Odyssey takes place in the same time period as Beowulf did. Odysseus home was Ithaca and he was always trying to get back home from where he sailed. He always had problems getting back home though because very few of the gods helped him. It was like they were all against him. In both epics the heroes were away from home and in the end they both returned to their home heroes. In both epics there were a lot of major themes.

In the Odyssey home and wandering were a couple of the main themes. Odysseus was always away from his home and was always trying to get back home. While he was trying to get back home he was wandering a lot. Another theme is disguise. Odysseus was always good at disguising himself.

The main theme that was in both The Odyssey and Beowulf is heroism. Both Odysseus and Beowulf were heroes in these epics. One other theme in Beowulf is Christianity and fate. Beowulf and Hrothgar both give praise to God for the defeat of Grendel.

Beowulf also puts his trust in God also. In both epics there would be bunches of special effects. In both the settings and background would have to be special effects. Clothing would be another big special effect that would be important.

In Beowulf Grendel and his mother would also be some important special effects. In The Odyssey the Cyclops would be a special effect. In both epics the battles would also have to be special effects. For both epics a major part of them would have to be special effects. In conclusion there are many differences in The Odyssey and Beowulf. But there are also a few similarities in the two epics.

A big thing that is similar is that in both epics there would have to be lots of special effects. The settings of both are also somewhat similar also. The characters in both have lots of the same qualities but are also very different in many ways. Both epics were great to read and it was good to compare and contrast them.