Comparison Of Beowulf And Batman

In modern time, at least from our current generation our epic heroes are defined by Marvel Comics, DC comics and some of our favorite action movies like John Wick or James Bond. Beowulf, the first epic hero created the stepping stones for all to follow and left materials for them to make their own paths as well. In this paper, I will be comparing Batman from the Christopher Nolan trilogy (the best one) to Beowulf, their similarities, differences and why Batman is a better evolved Beowulf. Beowulf being the first or earliest epic hero, set the standard for some of the greatest stories we hear today same theme going back to Beowulf and farther than that to the bible with a hero versus a creature or evil to save the people. Batman is no exception. But the way they go about defeating the villains is different and how they go about gratitude is different due to their different characters. Beowulf being arrogant that leads to his great fall and Batman biting more than he could chew. Being an epic hero can mean many things but in our case, it is a character with super human abilities, astounding skills, god like and risks his life for the safety of the people. In our comparison both Beowulf and batman qualify under these categories.

The name Beowulf also created trends for many of the super hero names we see today with Beowulf’s name literally meaning man wolf creates a template for names like Batman, Super-man, Ant-man… etc. Arriving to the Danes Beowulf was greeted and seen as a great warrior. Hrothgar in specific was basically hyping him to his people. From an outside look it could be seen as honor but it could also just be feeding Beowulf’s ego. Another theory that could be is the only reason Hrothgar hyped him up is to give Beowulf the sense of comfort, that he could accomplish it so he wouldn’t back out; because he is a great warrior an example is when Hrothgar says “Nor have I seen a mightier man at arms on this earth than the one standing here…he is truly noble. ” (244-251). With Beowulf being able to defeat Grendel it boosted his ego more and was rewarded and recognized greatly, yet he with a boastful attitude. He was soon seen as the solution for when people are in danger. Sounds Familiar? In Gotham, the hero of the people was Batman. With a half job corrupt police department this one citizen Bruce Wayne took it upon himself to rid the streets of crime and stop villains such as the league of Shadows, Ra’s al Ghul, The Joker, Two Face and the most significant to Batman’s end was Bane. Not being rewarded but doing his civil duty which other epic heroes could not.

Even in the second movie with the joker, Harvey Dent said it was “a civil service to protect his community and it is a noble deed, and this person was elected by the people. ” But was countered by Rachel saying “the last time that happened his name was Cesar and he never gave up his power. ” Same goes for Beowulf he was not a dictator but he did take the throne. Now, he wasn’t a bad leader, he was quite the opposite from the beginning of the poem they honor him saying “In the end each clan on the outlying coasts beyond the whale-road had to yield to him and began to pay tribute… That was one good king. ” (9-11). But could he have just been a great warrior and not have been the ruler? In Batman’s case, he only appears when the people needed him the most. In most eminent threat, he came to the rescue. His key signal was the bat symbol they shined into the sky that put fear in criminal’s hearts, some criminals being “superstitious” staying in and pushing people to meet during the daytime; after the threat, he would go back to his life. Not remain the leader and rule over the city. Some might say “oh well that couldn’t happen there would be military to stop him” well yes but in this world Ra’s al Ghul’s people were able to run the city, Joker was able to wreak havoc on everybody, and Bane completely took over the city secluding it from the rest of the world.

Same with Beowulf, Hrothgar could have appointed somebody else more qualified. Beowulf was just a great warrior what did he know about ruling. Next in battle Beowulf used his strength to defeat the monsters. But was arrogant in the process. With Grendel, he stripped himself of weapons to match him, he didn’t have to do this. And before fighting the dragon he instructed he wanted a burrow named after him. Why demand honor and order shrines to be made for you. Honor should be received in whichever form its given not instructed. That was the most honorable thing of batman, he never demanded recognition. Down to is name. He never said his name to people in the beginning unless people asked what his name was. On to how they fight evil is very different. Beowulf was a great warrior with almost god like strength. With his super human strength, he ripped off Grendel’s arm which is very impressive but can be dull to a point. He rips off the arm and lets Grendel bleed out. With Grendel’s mother, he kills her with a magic sword which is increasingly interesting from a ripped off arm and then later killed the dragon while being bitten in the process leading him to his death by poison. The last two fights were rather boring as it was a mere sword fight and leaving the reader to wonder how the wound on the dragon looked? How many people died? Why did his crew bail? It left some questions that could obviously not be answered because nobody knew who wrote it. This fact is a little interesting though; it leaves the unanswered questions to the reader but it can also lead the reader to create ridiculous theories.

On the other hand, Batman is not unarmed and does not just use a sword he was lucky to be fighting in the 21st century with modern weapons and learned great fighting skills from the League of Shadows. Not super human but beyond any capabilities of an average citizen. When Batman defeats Ra’s al Ghul half the city is burnt or under clouds of gas, with the joker and two face he saves the city from terror attacks and his most important villain was Bane. Here Batman realizes he is not at his prime anymore and is debating if this could be his last fight; being advised by all the people around him to not fight as it would be a death sentence. Just like Beowulf knew he might not win coming out of fight with the dragon. Bringing himself back to his roots and using his wit, skills and technology he saves the city from a nuclear bomb and fakes his death. Batman faked his death and did not hesitate to leave. No demand of recognition for the hero he was only justice and his city to by safe. His helicopter flew into the horizon as a nuclear bomb detonated! That’s a much more epic way of going out than that of dying of poison. And after all of that he continued his life with the love of his life. Beowulf was hubris and died to prove he was THE warrior and a worthy king but Batman was selfless and able to defeat all of his adversaries and live all because he was smarter and better skilled; thus, him being a better modern time Beowulf.