Beowulf Characters Hrothgar Son of Halfdane King of the Danes Plagued by Grendel Unferth Grendel Grendel s mother Descendant of Cain Water monster Descendant of Cain Water monster Dragon Dane Insults Beowulf by saying he is unworthy of his reputation 1st attacker attacks the mead hall of Heorot Beowulf rips of his arm and he goes to his lair to die 2nd attacker To avenge her son she causes Heorot more trouble Beowulf fights and she is slayed with a sword but Beowulf returns mortally wounded Beowulf I would expect to see his name for short answer defining Guards hoard greed Terrorizes Geatland 3rd attacker and last First attested fire breathing dragon Son of Ecgtheow Thane of Hygelac also nephew Later king of the Geats Goes to help the Danes and King Hrothgar Hero Young untested warrior Cousin of Beowulf Succeeds Beowulf Only one out of entire army of men sent to aid in the battle between Beowulf and Grendel s mother that stands by Beowulf s side Gives the final blow to Grendel s mother with a sword King of Geats Descendant of the great king Shield Sheafson I would know this Adopts Beowulf so to speak and presents him with many gifts as a reward for killing Grendel Succeeded by Beowulf Important Terms Wiglaf Hygelac Hrothgar s Kingdom Hygelac s Kingdom Danes Ancient Denmark think Danes and Denmark both begin with D people in blue are from Danes Hrothgar Grendel Grendel s mother Dragon Unferth Geats Ancient Geatland modern Sweden remember it by on the map Geats are a part of Sweden people from Geats are green ruled by Hygelac but is eventually ruled by Beowulf followed by Wiglaf Hygelac Hygelac has a G in it think G for King of Geatland Beowulf Wiglaf Heorot Thane Hrunting Tumulus symbolizes royalty mead hall place to dine and eat of the Danes built by Hrothgar during his prosperous years Grendel attacks warriors gather here to drink receive gifts from their lord and listen to stories sung A person who is considered a warrior Follows the king For this story Beowulf is the thane Unferth s sword Lent to Beowulf and used against Grendel s mother Burial ground Dragon guards buried treasure within the ancient tumulus Basic overall plot I simplified the main parts King Hrothgar builds Heorot and when in use lots of noise is produced from the people celebrating and dining in Heorot angers and disturbs Grendel Grendel the monster attacks and terrorizes the Danes every night killing many the Danes suffer twelve years of fear and danger from the monster Beowulf hears of Hrothgar s troubles and sails with an army of men to Denmark Danes in attempts defeat Grendel Hrothgar had done Beowulf s father Ecgtheow a favor once Hrothgar has a feast due to Beowulf s arrival during feast Unferth insults Beowulf by calling him unworthy of his reputation Unferth says Didn t Breca beat you Grendel finally arrives Beowulf fights Grendel unarmed in order to have a fair fight Beowulf tears off Grendel s arm Grendel goes back to his lair the swamp to die and his arm is hung in the mead hall Hrothgar gives Beowulf gifts and another feast Grendel s mother attacks Heorot in revenge for her son s death Aeschere one of Hrothgar s most trusted friends advisor is killed she also takes back Grendel s arm Beowulf ascends to her lair and kills her with a sword lent by Unferth Hrunting and brings her head as a trophy back to Hrothgar Hrothgar praises and rewards Beowulf adopts him so to speak Beowulf returns to Geatland and hands over a lot of his treasures and gifts to Hygelac Hygelac dies after some time and Beowulf takes the throne of the Geats and rules for 50 years A dragon becomes enraged when a thief disturbs the mound where the dragon guards buried treasure begins wreaking havoc upon the Geats Beowulf who is now old know he will die if he goes to battle Beowulf goes anyway with a band of men all the men abandon Beowulf except for Wiglaf dragon bites Beowulf in the neck venom will eventually kill Beowulf before he dies Wiglaf and Beowulf kill the dragon the Geats burn Beowulf s body as he wished and bury him with massive treasure in mound overlooking sea Tumulus Themes Moderate hero just ruler Dangerous journey trials This applies to a few other stories discuss how just rulers are prosperous Mead hall feasting and hospitality This applies to almost any hero and on essay you could discuss how the dangerous journey helps develop the heros and ultimately demonstrates the moral that no challenge worth fighting for comes easy On test can discuss heroes who are rewarded for doing what is considered good the right decision Dragon slayer Freedom to live Prometheus and Coyote Prometheus Characters Prometheus Trickster great to contrast with Beowulf Titan Benefactor of man forethought Epimetheus Pandora Brother of Prometheus Titan afterthought Husband of Pandora First woman to live with humanity Sent by Zeus as a response to Prometheus stealing fire again both Prometheus and Epimetheus are considered second generation titans children of first generation gods Iapetus and Clymene Overall Plot The general idea of this story is the creation of mortals through trickery Prometheus and Epimetheus are ordered to equip and distribute mortal creatures Epimetheus distributes he is supposed to create creatures mortals and gives them the things they need and Prometheus inspects However Epimetheus is not wise and he uses all the attributes and qualities he had to give on the animals leaving man naked with nothing Epimetheus is confused as to what to do but as Prometheus inspects he notices that the animals are suitable but the humans are not neither bed nor arms of defense Promethesus steals the mechanical arts and fire from Hephaestus and Athena and gives it to man this is man s wisdom in daily life Now that man has divine attributes mechanical arts and fire from gods they were the only creatures to worship gods speak and invent dwellings Trick of Mecone then happens gods and mortal man had arranged a meeting at Mecone to discuss sacrifice of men Prometheus slew a large ox and divided it into two piles In one pile he put all the meat and fat skillfully covering it with the ox s stomach while in the other pile he dressed up the bones with shining fat Prometheus then invited Zeus to choose Zeus chose the pile of bones As an act of revenge for being tricked Zeus hid fire from mankind leaving them cold and shivering at night Prometheus steals it again for mankind Zeus sends Pandora to humanity Promethesis punished Heracles Hercules
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