Literature often is used as a vehicle to describe and depict to its audience the nature of human kind. Whether it be a novel, poetry, or play, any well-written literary piece can have a profound effect those who have experience it. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles uses dramatic irony to display how ignorance can help perpetuate order and how pride can quickly tear down that order. In Beowulf, Beowulf embodies how confidence and accountability in a leader can generate loyal followers. In these two texts, employing various techniques, the authors effectively reveal numerous human truths to the reader.
The truths regarding leadership in human nature are intertwined into Beowulf. Through Beowulf's actions and his ascent to leadership, the truths regarding the relationship between leaders and the people that they lead are revealed. In Beowulf, the author introduces the idea of a virtuous leader very early on in the text. The narrator, introducing Hrothgar's family lineage, describes the path to becoming a respected leader, "a young prince must be prudent like that, giving freely while his father lives so that afterwards in age when fighting starts steadfast companions will stand by him and hold the line. Behavior that's admired is the path to power among people everywhere." (Heaney, 2002, p.3). While the narrator speaks specifically of Hrothgar's ancestor Beow, this is also a general reflection on how great leaders assume their responsibility.
As the author explicitly states, 'admirable behavior is the path to power among all people'. Such a powerful message so early in the text foreshadows Beowulf's heroism later in the story. Through the use of a hero, the author shares a universal truth about mankind; that people flock to and follow those who are truly honorable men.
The author of Beowulf also develops other characters in further effort to distinguish Beowulf as a model leader. Beowulf is a confident man.