Heroes are a product of a society's perception of someone to be praised and adored. The definition of a hero is dependent on that society's beliefs, laws and taboos. There are heroes for all ages, and for both men and women. Heroes have had changing roles since man wrote his story, and all have been the embodiment of each society, each civilization's ideals. Heroes are put up on a pedestal, and become that which all people desire to become. They inspire people to go to lengths that otherwise seem impossible. But for all their many noteworthy qualities, all heroes possess faults because they are human and all humans possess failings. Heroes make mistakes; those mistakes break the pedestals that set them up so high, and the hero collapses into shadows and ruin, living on only in stories and song, as the world passes on. Thus it happens that heroes of the past no longer remain the heroes of the future; Beowulf and Sir Gawain have heroic attributes, but they are no longer what today's culture would consider a "hero." However, by looking at those traits they possess, one may glimpse the cultures these heroes stemmed from.
Beowulf.
Beowulf is an ancient Anglo-Saxon poem translated by Burton Raffel. The hero of the story, Beowulf, exhibits several traits, but three in particular stand out: his incredible personal strength, courageousness bordering on arrogance, and belief in the supernatural. In Beowulf, Beowulf, hero of the Geats, exerts an incredible amount of physical strength. Beowulf doesn't use a sword while fighting Grendel; Beowulf uses his bare hands. During the fight, Grendel " twisted in pain,/ And the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder/ Snapped, muscle and bone split/ And broke.".
(Applebee, A.N.; Bermudez, A.B.; Blau, S.; Caplan, R.; Elbow, P.; Hynds, S.; Langer, J. A.; & Marshall, J. 2002. pg. 43) as Beowulf rips off Grendel's arm. Grendel himself is extremely powerful; to tear the arm off this "sin-stained demon" (Applebee et al.
