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Abby Haywood
Mrs. Mount
English Honors 1
January 3, 2012
Epic Essay
An epic is a long narrative poem about important events in the history of folklore
of a nation or culture. Epics are based on traditional or legendary hero’s who go through
many feats and challenges. Beowulf is an epic poem filled with a lot of action in the
poem. Beowulf is about a hero named Beowulf who marches with his fourteen warriors
and go to a place called Heorot where the king there is terrified by a monster called
Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel and Grendel’s monster mother at a lake. Then he returns
to his country where he becomes the king and rules the kingdom for fifty years. In the
end of Beowulf, Beowulf dies because of the wounds he got while fighting dragons.
Beowulf is an epic because the poem is very long, the poem has a hero in it, and it’s about
certain culture’s history. Beowulf is based on real people in the 6th-century Scandinavia.
Another poem that is an epic is The Iliad, the poem was written by Homer and is centered
on Greece.
The Iliad is about Agamemnon’s demand for the Achilles’ war prize then
Achilles’ pride is wounded. Achilles’ consequent refusal to fight causes the Achaeans to
suffer greatly in their battle against the Trojans. Achilles’ returns to combat and ensures
the fated fall of Troy, once Troy retreats from the war Achilles gets revenge on Hector, a
Trojan price and Troy’s greatest fighter. The Iliad is an epic poem because it is a long
poem that has a lot of action with heroes during the time of Ancient Greece. The culture
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that The Iliad is based on is ancient Greece, the poem is around the Trojan War time
period. The Iliad is an epic poem and The Epic of Gilgamesh is another famous epic
poem.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a moving tale of the friendship between Gilgamesh, the
king of Uruk, and Enkidu. Throughout the tale the three friends learn to accept each other
and others. The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic because it is a long poem that has a lot of
exciting things going on. It is an epic also because it has heroes, the heroes are Gilgamesh
and Enkidu, and it is centered on a certain culture. The culture that the poem is Arabic,
the Arabic language came from countries like Iraq, Syria, and Iran. In epics hero play a
large role in making the story more entertaining, heroes have many different traits to be
considered a hero.
A hero is and skilled, fearless, caring, and generous person who is usually the
main character. A hero is also very courageous, strong, brave, wise, and sophisticated.
Heroes are sometimes even legendary and are celebrated by many people. A hero in a
book is Johnny in Johnny Angel, Johnny is a hero because he saves his family by making
all there unsolved problems disappear and become solved. Another example of a hero
from another book is Susan in The Dog’s Life, Susan is the hero in the piece of literate
because she took in a stray dog and gave it a home. Susan is a hero because she is and
very generous, caring, and giving person in the story. A hero from another book is
Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus is a very good example of a hero because he
made some people realize that it is wrong to pester and discriminate against people who
don’t do anything to harm you. In the story Atticus teaches his children and the town
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many valuable life lessons, he is a very generous, wise, and respectful person. Not only
are there heroes in books there are also heroes in movies.
Heroes are everywhere in the world they are in books, movies, poems, shows, and
in real life. A hero that is in a movie is Spiderman in the movie Spiderman, Spiderman
protects the town from danger, and keeps the town safe and a peaceful place. Spiderman
is a hero because he is strong, fearless, brave, and helpful, and he will do anything to
protect his town from villains. Another hero from a movie is Batman in Batman. Batman
is a hero because he also tries to protect the city from any danger around, like Spiderman.
Batman is strong, courageous, and fearless, he looks after the city and governs it and
keeps a watchful eye on all the citizens around. An example of a hero from a movie is
Marlin in Finding Nemo, Marlin goes on a journey across the entire ocean to find his lost
son Nemo, and Marlin goes through endless battles in the ocean. Marlin is adventurous,
persistent, and hopeful and that makes him a hero. In The Odyssey the character Odysseus
has many heroic traits and uses them to do a lot of dangerous things the story.
In The Odyssey Odysseus has several heroic traits like being persistent, patient,
and brave. Odysseus is persistent because he goes through years of treacherous journeys
just so he can return to his beloved wife and family. Odysseus is persistent when he goes
through Scylla and Charybdis and almost dies. Odysseus is also a hero because he is
patient and waits for the perfect time to attack the Cyclops. He is also patient because he
waits to kill Antinous along with all the other 116 men that want to marry Odysseus’
wife, instead of demolishing him after he is cruel. Not only is Odysseus persistent and
patient but he is also very brave, in The Odyssey Odysseus is brave because he defeats the
Cyclops even though Poseidon will make him suffer. Odysseus is brave because he went
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right through Scylla, the six handed monster and Charybdis, the deathly whirlpool.
Odysseus is also considered a hero because he accomplishes many things in his journeys.
In The Odyssey Odysseus is considered a hero because he accomplishes many
things over his years trying to return home. One thing that Odysseus does to be
considered a hero is he defeats Cyclops, Odysseus out smarted a one-eyed giant. He was
brave enough to defeat the enormous beast even though Poseidon may cause Odysseus
problems afterwards because the Cyclops is Poseidon’s son. Another thing that Odysseus
does to be considered a hero is he passed the Sirens with easy and avoided their
beckoning call to their island. Odysseus put wax in his crews ears so they couldn’t hear
the call of the women, and Odysseus ordered his crew to tie him up so he couldn’t go to
the island of the Sirens.
An example of a popular super hero today is Captain America, Superman, Spider
Man, Batman, and the Hulk, one of the most common super heroes is Superman.
Superman protects the planet for all types of evil around the universe. Superman has
many powers like super strength, super speed, X-Ray vision, heat vision, flight, and the
ability to live forever, Superman has many other powers as well. He hides his identity
from humans during the day. During the day he is known as Clark Kent who is a reporter,
and during the night he is a crime fighting superhero and protects all from danger.
The Odyssey is an epic because it is a long narrative poem, the poem is based
around a culture, and The Odyssey has a hero named Odysseus. The Odyssey is a very
long narrative poem, the poem consist of about 1,620 lines. The epic poem is based
around a Greek culture and talks about the gods and beliefs of that culture. Another
reason why The Odyssey is an epic because it has a hero named Odysseus, Odysseus
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travels on endless journeys passing by some of the most powerful gods like Zeus and
Poseidon. Overall, The Odyssey is a wonderful epic that teaches you many things about
Greek culture and what a real hero does.