Aeneas and Beowulf

Aeneas was the son of Anchises out of Venus (Hamilton 208), prince of Troy, a vagabond exile who became consort to a world-beater and father of Rome. No other hero of antiquity had the piety so treasured by the Roman people. For his part, Beowulf was the son of Ecgbeow, exiled for his fathers crimes, Grendels bane, Dragon S temporaler, and female monarch of Geats. His deeds of valour ar sung by Saxons and Norsemen alike. dislocated by a crac mogul span of time and distance, Aeneas and Beowulf shared similarities in that both were on the whole besides fearless and are eternally remembered for their pious valor and the mighty deeds they wrought.Aeneas of the Iliad was a Trojan prince. gallant in his own right, though not as forthcoming in arms as his kinsman Hector, he labored mightily to protect his native Troy from the wrath of the Greeks (Camps 23). In the end, he failed and the realm vaporize to its enemies. He alone of the Trojan lords survived the rape of Troy and leads the survivors into exile. Thus does Homer conclude his tale of Aeneas, Aphrodites son.In his quest to forge the founding epic of Rome, wise Virgil c onceived the Aeneid, the saga of an exile who would become the true crack up of Rome (Hamilton 220). Continuing where Homer left off, Virgil had Aeneas take the remnant of his people away from the land of their sorrows. He bore with him the statues of the household gods of Troy. a pious symbolism of taking all that remained of Troy with him (Aeneid Book I). bold the lucks of the Mediterranean, he sailed about in a Greek lake. Every land he passed posed peril from Greeks, if not Cyclops, Harpies or other venomous beasts. Yet for all his perils Aeneas held his course, he quailed not and still the charms of Queen Dido could stay the Trojans for long.Beowulf, on the other hand, had no divine parentage. The true author of this saga cannot now be known. tradition (Wikipedia) places the author as an Anglo-Saxon from the 7th speed of ligh t A.D. Unlike Aeneas, whose deeds were spun by the fruitful estimation of Virgil, Beowulf may very well have been an actual King Geats sometime in the 5th century A.D. However, his heroic deeds have placed him high in the pantheon of Anglo-Saxon heroes. Beowulfs father Ecgbeow off Heaolaf, a Wulfing noble.Unable to pay the were gild to compensate for killing Heaolaf, Ecgbeow went into exile among the Danes. The Danish King Hro gar paid the wereguild in his behalf and asked him to swear an oath. Ecgbeow then entered the service of the Geatish king Hreel and marries his daughter. Their issue is Beowulf. Save for the ostracism of his father, Beowulf origins were uneventful, a sharp contrast with the tale of Aeneas.But soon enough, Beowulf was called to arms. Hrogar and his court in Zealand are besieged by a demon named Grendel (Heaney 15). In payment for his fathers debt, Beowulf traveled from Geatland, essaying to put to death Grendel if he might despite the knowledge that the no mortal weapons could harm the Grendel. So began the first of his iii great battles. Grendel bore the mark of Cain and was feared by all save Beowulf only. In a mighty duel, Beowulf wrestled with Grendel and know him, tearing off his arm and sending Grendel scrambling home to die (Heaney 37). Beowulf then reaped great honor from King Hrogar tho earned ire of a new enemy Grendels mother.The second great battle of Beowulf was with no less than Grendels mother who also bore the dread mark of Cain (Heaney 88). look vengeance for her dead son, she entered Hrogars hall and curl schere, his most trusted warrior. As an aside, infra the Germanic law of that day, death must be visitd with death or payment called a were gild. Thus Grendels mother conceived that she was merely upholding the law of vengeance (Heaney 101).But since Hrogar saw himself wronged once again, he essayed to slay Grendels mother. Again Beowulf played the heroes part. He dove right into the swamp and slew her with a sword that only he could wield. For the second time, he earns great honor for his deed. Here a Christian theme is played out. Thought to be dead, Beowulf returns to his fellows at non that is, the 9th hour of day or 300 P.M., the same hour that Christ is said to have died (Tolkien 265).Beowulf mastered the Cursed Spawn of Cain, the first murderer. They were demons that no lesser man could slay. Aeneas for his part was Cursed by Juno queen of the gods. But for Aeneas a lesser resistance would be unworthy. Motivated by Paris rejection, Junos wrath for Troy (Hamilton 233) extended to Aeneas. Junos hate is worsened by her foreknowledge that from the loins of Aeneas would come forth the race of high men who would lay low her own favored city of Carthage (Aeneid Book I). She causes a great storm to be revenue stamp upon the exiles overtake in a vain effort to annihilate them. The storm is so terrible that Aeneas fleet is driven off course and they end up on the shores of Carthage.Dido , queen of Carthage, would find shipwrecked Aeneas and offer him Kingship of Carthage if only he would stay and love her (Hamilton 235). It is at this point that Aeneas piety is stirred anew for Mercury is move to upbraid him. Shamed for straying from his destiny, Aeneas secretly leaves Carthage with all his folk, thus rekindling hope for the destiny of Rome besides also earning the eternal ire of Didos heirs.Aeneas held funeral games in honor of his dead father and shows his piety to his ancestor. (Hamilton 237). With Sibyl, he descended to the depths of Hades to hold converse with those who would become mighty among the Romans (Hamilton 240). His wavering faith is strengthened and ere long Aeneas leads his followers to the shores of Latinium. At last their wanderings are over, they can now rebuild their homes or so they hoped.Beowulf too proves to be a pious man of high doom. His king Hygelac died in a raid. As the son of a Geatish princess Beowulf was offered the throne. He hu mbly declined in favor of prince Heardred his kinsman. Headred later harbored the Swedish princes Eadgil and Eanmund who fled Onela the usurper. Eager to put an end to his foes, Onela invades Geatland and killed Headred. Beowulf was title King in his place and under the custom of were gild swore revenge against Onela (Heaney 165). The primary Beowulf text speaks modest of this hardly Swedish sources speak of a counter invasion by Beowulf and Eadgil to restore Eadgil to the throne and avenge Headred (Olson).A hero is best remembered for his greatest achievements, For a Roman hero it is his prowess for war. Juno stirred all of Latinium to war against Aeneas but this time he could resist her devices because the Trojans had become mighty in war (Camp 47). Outnumbered in a hostile land, Aeneas and the Trojans fought with desperate valor though they saw little hope.Aeneas left camp to seek aid among his other neighbors first among his new allies is the boy Pallas. (Aeneid Book IX). Ere his gates were mastered, Aeneas returns with the valiant Etruscans. many another(prenominal) deeds worthy of song were forged in that war. Not the least was Aeneas pursuit of an Italian poltroon who allowed his son to die while he fled.When the war reached an impasse, single combat was proposed between the captains (Aeneid Book XII). On the one hand was Aeneas, prince of Troy, and on the other Turnus, King of the Rutuli. Both coveted Lavinia, heiress of Latinium. Turnus was valiant in his own right but his foe was no mere mortal. In that duel Turnus fought valiantly but with no hope. Virgil portrays Aeneas as a demigod who quickly mastered Turnus. The latters pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears when Aeneas saw that Turnus was wearing the armor of Pallas(Hamilton 245). A true Roman, Aeneas accordingly slew his fall foe in vengeance for fallen Pallas (Camps 35).Memorable too was the final battle of Beowulf king of the Geats for 50 years. In his last days, his realm is plagued by a dr agon. Despite his old age he tried to slay the Dragon in open battle but failed. Instead, he enters the Dragons lair accompanied only by Wiglaf his Swedish relative (Heaney 175). They succeeded in killing the Dragon but Beowulf was mortally wounded (Chance 53). According to Swedish scholar Birger Nerman, Beowulf lies in Skalunda Hg in west Geatland.In the time of Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxons and the other Germanic peoples were not yet Christianized. However, the saga tells of Germanic moral codes such as were gild and revenge for the slain overlaid with references to Christian Faith (Chance 47). For example, the mark of Cain, the hour of Non and Beowulfs prayers to a suffer Almighty, to name a few. So much so that Allen Cabaniss (101) proposed that the Beowulf was written precisely to parallel the word of honor and present a Christian hero to the Anglo-Saxons.By comparison, Aeneas was valiant and honorable, as most heroes are. He had a destiny to fulfill and a people to lead to safe ty. Son of a goddess, his chief foe was no less than the Queen of the gods (Camps 106). Though the saga was written by a Pagan hand, Aeneas shows Christian virtue as the Romans of Virgils time defined it. He was pious to friends and family, to his gods and most of all to his destiny (Camps 93). Many a time he was tempted to remain in comfort and ease in another land. Yet he ultimately resisted and would remain faithful continuing on his path to found Rome.To conclude, Aeneas and Beowulf are valiant and stand as is fitting of true heroes. But to set them apart from the likes of Achilles, they are men who act not out of vanity and pride. Instead, they act out of service and a pious desire to fulfill what they hope is good.Works CitedWilson, Frank R. The Hand How Its Use Shapes the Brain. New York Pantheon, 1998.Cabaniss, A. Liturgy and Literature. University of Alabama evoke, 1970.Camps W.A. Introduction to Virgils Aeneid. Oxford University Press 1969.Chambers R.W. Beowulf An Intro duction to the Study of the Poem, 3rd edn Cambridge Press 1959.Chance, Jane. Tolkiens Art a Mythology for England, University Press of Kentucky, 2001.Fulk R.D. Interpretations of Beowulf A Critical Anthology, Midland Book 1991.Hamilton Edith Mythology a timeless tale of gods and heroes, Warner books 1999.Heaney Seamus, Beowulf A New Verse exposition (Bilingual Edition) Norton Press 2000.Tolkien, J.R.R. Beowulf the monsters and the critics, Proceedings of the British Academy, 22 1936.The Project Gutenberg Etext of Vergils Aeneid in English available at http//www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext95/anide10.txt (last accessed 14 Nov 07)Olson, Oscar Ludvig, The Relation of the Hrolfs Saga Kraka and the Bjarkarimur to Beowulf A Contribution To The History Of Saga Development In England And The Scandinavian Countries available at http//www.gutenberg.org/etext/14878 (last accessed 21 Nov 2007)Beowulf available at http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_note-valibrary (last accessed 14 Nov 2007)