Epic Hero Notes

On Wednesday, we discussed epics and epic heroes.

Epic heroes, as you see in the powerpoint below, are characters that represent the best of a culture and symbolize the values that culture holds dear.

In this class, we will be reading "Beowulf," an epic written originally in Old English about the exploits of Geat warrior named Beowulf as he tries to save the Danes from a monster named Grendel.

So, what makes someone a hero? 



In class, we discussed who we personally consider heroes. Some people mentioned historical figures, movie characters, or even general groups of people such as firefighters and military members. Then, we determined what characteristics all of these people share. Here are a few of their responses (you can also see the lists for each class in the powerpoint attached to this post):

• Fearless
• Determination
• Selfless
• Humane
• Brave
• Never giving up

Now, what sets an epic hero apart is their symbolic nature. An epic hero reflects the values of the culture they are derived from. Odysseus, for instance, was exceedingly clever at times. This is due to the fact that the Greeks highly valued education and intelligence.

Beowulf, however, as an epic hero for the Danes, does not possess any great gift of intelligence. That is because the Anglo-Saxon people did not highly value education as a part of their culture. They were more about strength and grit.



So, the characteristics of an epic hero that are listed in the powerpoint below are mainly reflective of Anglo-Saxon cultural values. These were a people who highly valued bravery, strength, glory, and, eventually, Christianity.

Yes, that's right. The original tale of Beowulf as it was passed down through the oral tradition, contained many pagan values and traditions. It wasn't until the story was written down by Christian priests and monks later in history that the Christian values were added into the tale.

Finally, we ended class by practicing inferencing using the image on the last slide. We completed a chart that helped us elaborate our inferences using these 3 categories:

• Say - what does the image SAY? (What details do you notice?)
• Mean - what do these details MEAN? (what can we say about the person in the picture or the nature of their actions?)
• Matter - why does this MATTER to us right now? (Which of the 4 main characteristics of an epic hero does each detail/inference connect to?)

We took all of the notes from the powerpoint below in our notebooks and entitled them "Epic Hero Notes." If you happened to miss class, please be sure to review the powerpoint and add them to your notebook or the paper in your binder.