The Anglo-Saxons versus the Classical Greeks: The Epic Beowulf and Homers Iliad

Giovanni Concato P1 12.08.11 English 4 Mr. Phillips

The Anglo-Saxons versus the Classical Greeks: Compare and Contrast the Anglo-Saxon Epic Beowulf with Homers Iliad I. II. Purpose Greek A. Culture B. The Iliad 1. Plot 2. Main themes a. Fate b. Glory/fame Anglo-Saxon world A. Culture 1. Fate and Wyrd 2. Mead hall 3. Warriors B. Beowulf 1. Plot a. Grendel b. Grendels mother c. The dragon 2. Main themes a. Courage b. Loyalty Conclusion A. Comparison of two 1. Cultures a. Similarities b. Differences 2. Poems a. Similarities b. Differences B. Conclusions from comparison

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The Anglo-Saxons versus the Classical Greeks: Compare and Contrast the Anglo-Saxon Epic Beowulf with Homers Iliad Visiting the important ruins of the city of Troy in 2012, the English college student Kate Pippin is amazed by everything surrounding her, but far more from the story of the Iliad, which the guide is narrating to her group. She cannot believe the many ways the poem resembles Beowulf, the great Anglo-Saxon poem. Kate is enchanted by the great courage both Beowulf and Achilles showed in overcoming the challenges that fate or Wyrd placed in their way. She is so captivated by these similarities that while going home to foggy old England she asks herself, What are the most important cultural behaviors shared between the classical Greeks and the Anglo-Saxons? What are the major differences between the Anglo-Saxon and Greek golden ages? Did the ancient Germanic peoples of northern Europe have any contact with the culture of classical Greece? With the monumental contribution that these two pieces of literature have given to their own cultures and to the world as a whole, further research into the similarities of these two epic poems is deserved. This said an introduction to both Anglo-Saxon and Greek poems is needed before deepening in a comparison between these two giant. The story of Beowulf took place in the Danes, narrating how the mighty Danish warriors and their ruler, King Hrothgar, could not defend themselves from the night rampages of a monster called Grendel, that sneaked into their wealthy mead-hall, Heorot, killing many of them. In their help came Beowulf, prince of the Geats, in his fresh tarred ship, with fourteen champions, above whose cheek-guards shone the boar-images covered with gold.

After Beowulf declared the intentions of his mission to Hrothgar, he and his men were entertained at a banquet in the Hall. They slept there, waiting for Grendel to come, and indeed she hunted also that night, killing one sleeping warrior. The monster was attacked by Beowulf, and after a bare-handed fight, which left him bleeding for the loss of an arm, Grendel eventually managed to escape, but only to die later in the mere where he lived. To reward Beowulf of his heroic defeat of the monster, Hrothgar gave him many presents and treasures and then held another banquet in the Hall decorated with gold embroidered tapestries. Mirth rose high, noise of revelry was clearly heard while Grendel's mother came to avenge his sons death, and killed a noble, close friend with the Danish king. The latter asked once more for Beowulfs help, who, careless of death but greedy of glory and reward, traced the steps of the monster to her den. He put on his armor and dived into the lake, swimming to the bottom, where he fought with the wild queen of those deep waters. His own sword failed him, but in the cavern our hero found an old colossal sword, with which he gained the victory. He then cut the head off the dead body of Grendel. As the waters became blood-stained the discouraged Danes went home, but Beowulfs warriors waited for their leader to swim up with Grendel's huge head in his hands. They returned to Heorot, where once again they enjoyed great jubilation and rewarding. Beowulf later became king himself when he returned to the land of the Geats, and ruled well until his own land was threatened by a dragon 50 feet long vomiting fire. The monster was guarding a hoard of treasure in a barrow, when a drinking bowl was stolen, and in revenge he devastated the countryside. Beowulf took a group of eleven loyal

warriors with him, but when they saw the dragon, only one man, Wiglaf, remained at Beowulf's side. With Wiglaf's help and encouragement, Beowulf was able to defeat the dragon, but he was mortally wounded in the process. After his body was consumed by the fire of the funeral pyre made on the cliff by the sea, they heaped up a barrow on the remains, and in it placed the treasure of the dragon, where it remained, as unreachable to men as it had been before. The Iliad instead narrates some events of the increasing tensions among the Achaeans in the tenth year of the Trojan War. Chryses, a Trojan priest of Apollo, asked the Greeks to return his daughter, Chryseis, who was captivated by Agamemnon, the Achaeans leader. As the latter refused to do so, Chryses prayed for Apollo's help, thus causing a plague throughout the Greek army. To end the nine-days-long pestilence, Agamemnon agreed to return Chryseis to her father, but also decided to compensate his loss with Briseis, Achilles's captive. Furious, the latter declared that he would no longer fight for Agamemnon and asked his goddess mother, Thetis, to help the Trojans win many battles, so that the king would realize how much the Greeks needed him. As they became desperate, their leader was compelled to ask Achilles to rejoin them in the fight in exchange of Briseis and other gifts. Achilles angrily refused Agamemnon's offer, but allowed his friend Patroclus to wear his armor in order to scare the Trojans in the battle. Reached the gates of Troy and frightened the enemys warriors as expected, Patroclus was finally killed by Hector, who took Achilles's armor from the fallen opponent. Our Greek hero then swore to take avenge of his friends death by killing Hector once for all. In order to replace the stolen armor of Achilles, a new set is fashioned by

Hephaestus, god of fire, solicited by Thesis. Agamemnon gave to his paladin all the promised gifts, including Briseis, but he remained indifferent to them. The Achaeans paladin, burning with rage and grief, slew every man that tried to stop him in the following battle against Trojans. When Achilles approached Hector, after a brief duel, he stabbed him through the neck. Before dying, Hector reminded his murderer of his fate: to die in the war as well. Achilles took Hector's body and dishonored it while refusing to give it back to his father, Priam. The latter begged Achilles on his knees to have his son's body back for a proper burial, moving him to tears. After the two lament their losses in the war Priam carried Hector's body back into Troy, where he was buried among the grief of the city. From the very beginning of the Iliad, when the poet asked the Muse to reveal how the will of Zeus was accomplished, the author made it clear that the reader is witnessing a story shaped by Fate. Many are the reminders in the story that indicate how it is impossible to escape ones fate. This does not mean though that, just because everything is controlled by a forceful power, there is no freedom for the characters in the story. Achilles has the privilege to choose between a double fate: he will live a long life without glory and surrounded by his family if he decide to go home and dont fight in Troy, but as he decides to do the other way around he will live a short life that will be always remember for its deeds. Therefore as he is aware of his destiny and of the double nature of it, he got to pick a way, even if the options were few. Homer made also clear that the gods don't control fate and the two concepts are not to be mistaken. Even if the divinities have the power to interfere in ones life, they are not the ones that are actually shaping it, because that is Fates duty.

Switching to the great Anglo-Saxon poem, Wyrd is seen as the faceless and invisible power that controls ones destiny, including the events of our might Beowulf. The Geat warrior must be strong, brave, and show no emotion in order to be able to deal with the challenges that Wyrd has place in his way. But the reader has also to consider that in the Anglo-Saxon culture God was really important thanks to Roman Christianity diffusion. Therefore many of the great deeds of a warrior, or things that actually help one to cope with Fate are consider God graces. For example when all seem lost and even Beowulfs sword has failed him, the narrator said that the Holy God sent him victory and gave him judgment to defeat Grendels mother. Therefore the Greek concept of Fate and the Anglo-Saxon Wyrd are actually really similar, but still with a basic difference. In fact, the Greeks believe Fate shape a persons life but giving him some options because the Greek trusted mens judgment and intelligence as a more civilized culture, while the Anglo-Saxon man existence has only one certain way. Proceeding with the analysis of the poem, another foundation of the warrior culture that lie beneath the story of Beowulf is of course the idea of courage. As the Germanic heroic code said, a true warrior's bravery comes from a completely fatalistic attitude toward life and indifference to death. Even Dorothy L. Sayers once stated Death seems to provide the minds of the Anglo-Saxon race with a greater fund of amusement than any other single subject. Someday, every warrior will die and be defeated and everything is going to happen as God and Wyrd wills it; therefore all one can do is approaching every challenge fearlessly, in order to attach to his own name courageous deeds, so that when he dies he will be renowned and remembered for it. Nevertheless, Beowulf has also some cowards in it to emphasize the

bravery of those who live by this fatalistic code of honor: for instance, of the men that Beowulf bring with him to confront the dragon at the end of the poem, only Wiglaf stays by his side while the others flee as soon as they saw the monster. Homer made clear that even the greatest of men cannot escape death. Indeed, he suggests the noblest and bravest may yield to death sooner than others and that each man should try to live his life as honorably as possible, so that he will be remembered well. In fact as ones material creations and body cannot survive oneself, his words and deeds are most likely to last longer. For instance, Paris chose to spend time with Helen rather than fight in the war and got to be treated with derision by the other characters, while Achilles wins eternal glory by explicitly rejecting a long uneventful life at home for a short challenging existence. To fight is then to prove ones integrity, while to avoid warfare is to demonstrate ignoble fear. The latter is evoked in peoples mind by the brutalities of the war as the monsters confronted by Beowulf scared many of his loyal Danish warriors. This similarity shows how, in both Anglo-Saxon and Greek cultures, bravery and consequently glory in the warrior deeds are highly prized in the society. But a difference can be notice between the values of these two concepts. In the Iliad, the military glory predominates over family; Homer, or better Fate, constantly obliged his characters to choose between their loved ones and the pursuit of kleos, and the most heroic characters always choose the latter. This is the case of Hector, who, implored by Andromache not to leave his son orphan, knows that leading the Trojans in the battle against the Achaeans represents the only way to honor his fathers glory and at the same time give his son a good family record and model. Achilles,

though having the chance to return home to live in ease with his aging father, remains in Troy to win glory by killing Hector and avenging Patroclus. The characters, and thus the Greek society, prize so highly the values of honor, bravery, and glory that it is reasonable to sacrifice their bonds with their family and those they love. In Beowulf, on the other hand, the concept of identity, which consists of ancestral heritage and individual reputation, is undoubtedly central in the poem. In fact, to the reader is presented a world in which every warrior is known as his fathers son. Characters seem unable to talk about themselves without mentioning the family remarkable lineage. The reasons why this concern is so vital has something to do with Anglo-Saxon concept of kinship and feeling of belonging to the kin. Therefore a slight difference between the two big cultures compared in this research paper exists: the higher value that Anglo-Saxons gave to family over glory. But still, in the Old-English traditions, the heritage provided models for behavior and help to establish a good reputation, thus solidifying ones identity by honored ancestor courageous deeds, as the Greek culture does. Another similarity that at an accurate analysis of the poems one would notice is the love for armors and the weight that these have in the stories. In the Iliad the armor appears as something more than fortification for a soldiers body. In fact, the armor often separate from its wearer: when Patroclus wears Achilles armor to scare the Trojans and drive them from the ships, Hector quickly see through the camouflage and, once killed Patroclus, he keep his armor which ends up betraying him in favor of its former owner, Achilles. The latters knowledge of its weaknesses makes it easier for him to defeat Hector. Another significant armor is the one that

Achilles is wearing while seeking avenge for Patroclus, the one, fashioned by the god Hephaestus, and described by Homer as nearly impervious to assault. Similarly the unknown author of Beowulf during the fight against Grendels mother depicts the woven mail shirt, outcome of those skilled Anglo-Saxon blacksmiths hands, as an impenetrable shield even for the sharp daggers of the monster paws. Again, in this situation our heros end was certain without that vital armor to protect and save his life. In conclusion of analysis of Iliad and Beowulf, which still need further studies for the mole of information about each respective cultures stored in them, we may try to answer the thesis questions at the beginning of this research paper. It is unlikely that Greek and Anglo-Saxon cultures had any kind of contacts due to their distance historically and geographically. Anyhow, we cannot exclude that the story of the Iliad was known among the England inhabitants in an oral way, as those lands were once controlled by the Romans, which had been considerably influenced by classical Greeks culture. Anyway some of the similarities are explained by the fact that we are dealing with two warriors cultures and that also the distribution of the land were similar. Greece were once divided in the state-city called polis and even when they started make alliance between each other most of them kept an high level of independency from their rival; the lands controlled by the Anglo-Saxon, on the other hand, were not ruled by one single king but were divided between several kin lords, which were likely to compete for territories. We have to consider though that the Greeks were still more civilized than Anglo-Saxons as also the complexity of the warfare portrayed in the Iliad tell us, while in Beowulf we can recognize people that are still confused in the syncretism and that spoke in a really young language, fruit of the mixture of Latin and Anglo-Saxons dialects.

References
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