A traditional hero typically displays characteristics of great bravery and/or wit. ... Although he accomplishes his goals in the end, his motivations and methods for doing so, combined with his unique perspective and characteristics, make it difficult to categorize him as a traditional literary hero. Galileo is best described as an anti-hero because he does not act heroically or display the usual characteristics of bravery, wit, and even morality. ... He admits that his recantation was not a covert plan to finish the "Discorsi"; in other words, he did not plan ahead of avoiding tor...

• Word Count: 802
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

While containing the characteristics of an epic, Beowulf also has the elements of an elegiac and heroic poem. ... As an epic hero, Beowulf has "superior physical strength- and "reflects the values and heroic ideals of a particular society,"" that being Anglo-Saxon's mythical culture. ...

• Word Count: 343
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

However, while Santiago lacks some of the advantages and characteristics of more celebrated heroes, he is able to take his place among the pantheon of heroes that have preceded or succeeded him because he possesses qualities, and portrays behaviours, that are common to all conventional heroic figures. ... Foremost among the characteristics of many conventional heroes is a deep sense of pride. It is not a pride that boasts of accomplishments or victories, or that pompously parades skills or physical strengths; it is instead a quiet dignity – a sense of self-respect – and an honorabl...

• Word Count: 1942
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In today's society physical feats are not required to obtain the status of being a hero anymore. ... In the poem Beowulf, there is one character who possesses all and a greater amount of these expressed characteristics, the hero Beowulf. All through the poem Beowulf embodies the perfect's characteristics and archetypal hero, such as loyalty to his men and his kingdom, and Beowulf's bravery and strength throughout the epic. ... Throughout the poem, Beowulf is constantly displaying characteristics of an epic hero. ... Beowulf's life demonstrates the characteristics and traits...

• Word Count: 1028
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Throughout his quest he discovered not only characteristics of their journeys but also their heroic conduct. ... There seems to be emphasis on physical strength and raw courage, tested in life-threatening activities. ... The heroic tradition known to us as our common heritage "represent the heroic action as physical; the higher religions show the deed to be moral" (Campbell 1973:38). ... Heroism for Beowulf seems to be more physical in nature, where heroism of Gawain is of a more spiritual nature. Jokinen points out, "the epic hero gets tested in physical combat" (1996), where chivalri...

• Word Count: 2885
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Yet by exposing these foibles "through characteristics of the sylphs rather than of Belinda herself" Pope is fulfilling the workings of satire, showing us a society obsessed with superficial splendour, class and social status. ... He surely intended to comment on the less pleasing aspects of the community in which he was "a total outsider" due to his own physical defects. ...

• Word Count: 2068
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate